My garden

Yesterday was the perfect day for taking photos.  I went into my back garden, armed with my camera and found my cherry tree blossoming and enjoying the perfect sunny day complete with a  pristine, azure blue sky.  There is something about the sun that makes every photo opt perfect.  Look at how happy those cherry blossoms look.  They were actually beaming for my camera.

I also have a three baby squirrels that are nesting on my back porch.  They were scampering around their limited territory yesterday.  Three little black bundles of fur, climbing, chasing and trying to balance on every twig available. They are adorable.  Their mother and father have been with me for about four years now.  The parents come out and hang with me (literally, draping themselves over small branches with limbs hanging down) while I enjoy basking in the sunlight.  They are very comfortable and I award them with peanuts to let them know they are welcome at my home.  The backyard is abuzz with activity of many different kinds of critters and it is just  so fantastic to go out, sit still and see the action happening.

Try taking some photos today around your home.  It is wonderful to capture the beauty you are surrounded by.  Sometimes places and things become so familiar to us that we do not open our eyes and see the world around us.  Have a great day and smile lots, and open up your eyes wide  today.

Hi there come on in....

That's what I am aspiring to do....make my life inspirational.  It is hard at times because you wonder what you have to give...to show others that life is good and you're  moving forward, learning new things despite your aging.  Some great people in history emitted their inspiration very late in life.  I will not give up.  I have contributions to make and fun to have before the day of my demise.  I always want to be open to learning, teaching, writing, reading and being a positive role model to those around me.  Sometimes the best inspiration to others is when things get tough in your life.  It is easy to give off positive vibes and be enthusiastic when things are going well and you are having that mountain top experience. The real test of who you are is when things are going bad and you have to work your way through problems while others are watching your reactions.  That's the real test and truly shows what you are made of.  There is always a solution, always an end, but you have to go ""through until you find it.  Have an awesome day today and smile like crazy!  Take care.

Are you a reject? Be glad....

Such a wise saying this morning and ain't it the truth.  Sometimes our paths are blocked and we know not why.  We get depressed and discouraged thinking our life is over, our day/life is ruined and now what?  Well sometimes doors are closed in our face because that is not the right door for us now.  Nothing is hopeless.  Many, many times you find that if that door would have been opened then it would not have been the best fit for you and the one presented to you at a later time would be much better.

We, as humans, find it hard to be patient and to wait.  We are an instant society that seizes immediately on something and make snap, on the spot decisions.  We find it difficult to stop, mull it over, then wait some more before we make up our minds.  I think that is to our detriment.  If something is meant to be for us then...it will be.  The Bible says that when God opens a door no man can close it.  Be encouraged and of good cheer today.  If you standing in front of a closed door....wait...move away and know that another door will pop up that is meant just for you, that has your name on it.  Have a great day and an awesome weekend.  Go knocking and a'seeking today! 

The Spirit of the Heart: Stories of Family, Hope, Loss,and Healing

Title: The Spirit of the Heart:  Stories of Family, Hope, Loss, and Healing
Author:  Ismael N. Nuno, M.D.

What exactly is a heart?  According the dictionary there are two definitions.  One states it is the hollow muscular organ located behind the sternum and between the lungs; its rhythmic contractions moves the blood through the body. The other probes deeper and says it is the locus of feelings and intuitions.  

This important organ is not only a physical life-sustainer but filter where our life passes through.  Our heart is attuned to our emotions and our spiritual needs - all components when blended together make us human.  What a huge responsibility when your job is to be caretaker and human repairer of hearts.  

Dr. Ismael N. Nuno, M.D., now retired, was a prestigious heart surgeon working in California and from a very early age was destined for that very complicated line of work.  An extremely skilled, caring, humble man of faith, he toiled daily in the land of the broken-hearted and strived to set people free from a variety of heart diseases and pain. This collection of heartfelt stories gives the reader a rare glimpse of the behind scene struggles and of a modern day life saver.  Dr. Nuna showed both integrity and conviction   

as he carried out his tasks reliably.  He was not afraid to admit that a higher power co-existed with the natural world that he lived in. 

He was sought after as a medical consultant for the television shows Emergency and even made a guest appearance on House M.D.  The world would be a much better place if there were more astute doctors like Dr. Nuno who possess steadfast principles and extends unconditional love to those around him. He shares his own heart confessing his triumphs and his failures.  I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it another in a heartbeat.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday morning.....

Think about it.  You are dreaming about a seed that is percolating inside of you.  You are thinking on it continually and a war is gong inside of you....how can you be so silly thinking you could actually do that?  Are you nuts?  You don't know how to do that?  Look at all the other people who are educated, trained, and more than capable of doing an excellent job....blowing you out of the water.  These negative words can totally destroy something beautiful that has been planted inside of you.  Go ahead.  Sleep on it and get up determined to at least give it a shot.  So often we ignore that drive inside of us that wants to move us forward and teach us along the way.  Even if you plunge into something that may not turn out perfectly...at least you tried.  You did learn a lot and who knows you may have fun researching, practicing and getting it right.  Don't be afraid.  You woke up with purpose in your belly...now go for it.  I bet you will surprise yourself  ( and others).  I bet you can!!!!


Have an awesome day and smile a lot today knowing you can!!!!

Celebrating National Poetry Month....

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside a lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay;

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee.

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company!

I gazed, and gazed, but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought;

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude:

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

-William Wordsworth

They were returning from a visit to their friends Thomas and Catherine Clarkson, who lived on the shore of Ullswater, the second largest lake in England's district, a beautiful deep lake, nine miles long, surrounded by mountains.

Dorothy wrote in her journal:  "when we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow park we saw a few daffodils close to the water side. We fancied that the lake had floated the seeds ashore and that the little colony had so sprung up.  But as we went along there were more and yet more and at last under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road.  I never saw daffodils so beautiful . They grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever glancing every changing."

William was impressed by the daffodils too, but William didn't write anything about for at least two years, maybe more.  No one is sure when he wrote the poem "I wander'd lonely as a cloud," but it was published in 1807.  Not only did Wordsworth probably reference Dorothy's journal for inspiration, but his wife Mary came up with two lines:  "They flash upon that inward eye/Which is the bliss of solitude."  William said they were the best lines in the poem.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Get your pencil ready

This is what I will be practising this weekend and in the weeks to come.  I do a lot of writing and I am going to run this off and paste it right in the front cover of my notebook.  We can make a difference in others lives.  We can turn sadness into joy by a smile, a hug, a word of encourage or just by your presence.  We forget how precious we are to others and the mood of the world.  If you need a reminder....stick a pencil in your pocket and touch it often to be a catalyst for you to act.  Have an awesome weekend and reach out to others and love on them.