Creepy to some …. nature’s circle of life to others. A tuft of fur, bones picked clean, a dismembered leg, signs of a deer’s death but symbols of sustaining life for others.
This post was in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge. “Creepy” is this week’s theme. Everyone is welcome to join in the Challenge; further details on how to participate and links to others’ responses are found here.
Ciao! ~ Kat
The background blurs as the boys run playfully by …. years ago …. life is a blur as the years fly …..
These boys are now teens — one in college and the other a high school junior off to college visits later this week. And yet, on some days memories like this snowy October day at the cabin over 8 years ago seems like yesterday. I would love to be able to say I have treasured every moment, lived mindfully each day along the way … but I haven’t. And that’s OK. Life is an imperfect journey, and we sometimes just do the best we can on any given day.
Doing the best we can is all we can ask. That means on some days we yell at our kids, are short-tempered with our spouse, don’t make time for a friend, and regrettably, sometimes learn there is no “next time” to make it up to them. Reminders of the fragility of life come more frequently as we age, but I think as we mature we also learn to appreciate the moments that make up life that much more.
We recognize that the blur of life when slowed and viewed frame-by-frame is not only the major milestones of life — the births, the weddings, the deaths, the celebrations in between — but more than anything, it’s the walk with the dog on a quiet wooded trail; it’s watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “A Christmas Story” every holiday as a family even though we’ve all seen them countless times; it’s banter and debate that grows more interesting over the years as the boys grow up, prompted by programs on Minnesota Public Radio as we drive those couple hours to the cabin and back again; it’s the long talks over a meal about dreams, and hopes, and goals …. it’s the blur of life.
Ciao! ~ Kat
This post was in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge. ”Blur” was this week’s theme. Everyone is welcome to join in the Challenge; further details on how to participate and links to others’ responses are found here.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.” ~ Ferris Bueller (From the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
Many years ago as we drove along the North Shore of Oahu, we stopped at one of the empty beaches and watched the mesmerizing surf.
My husband and two sons walked along the edge of the surf and started racing the water as it licked at their feet.
The waves won that race, but more joyful losers have probably never been seen.
Whenever I look at these photos, I reminded of one of the pleasures of travel – escaping the day-to-day distractions and demands of life, and finding time to be completely mindful of the wonder of the moment. Whether it be for an hour or for a day, the sights to see, things to do, and places to visit need to be set aside from time to time. The favorite travel memories are usually never found in the guidebooks.
Ciao! ~ Kat B.
“Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement. It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won’t happen. We have to teach ourselves how to make room for them, to love them, and to live, really live.”
~ Anna Quindlen, A Short Guide to a Happy Life
For this week’s “Reflection of Gratitude” I have shared another photo from that memorable winter sunset on the frozen surface of Lake Superior. The first photo I shared from that day can be found here. These photos remind me of one of those times it was necessary to make room for a glittering moment, watching as the sun set and trying to memorize every detail of the complexity of nature’s beauty.
Ciao! ~ Kat
“I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
This photo was taken on a cold day in February a few years back. The ice was “talking” as it formed and moved off of Artists’ Point in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Did you know ice talks? It pops, it cracks. It sends out a high-pitched twang from time to time. Lake Superior churned underneath, as the still-forming ice pushed back, creating a conversation of sorts. My boys found it fascinating, as did we.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s “Reflection of Gratitude.”
Ciao! ~ Kat
