Posts by Liz

Light in the woods

Saturday morning sunrise through the woods.

I love the light in the woods. I take a LOT of photos of light in the woods. I stand and watch the light in the woods: sunrise, sunset, foggy light, moonlight, starlight.

Saturday dawned clear and stayed that way…a glorious harbinger of Spring and yet cool enough that I kept a small fire going as well. Saturday was a day of taking a break from a “to do” list and just being…enjoying a day spent sitting outside with Bob and Karl, working a bit inside while they napped in the afternoon, shuffling through the woods to see if anything new was making an appearance, hamburgers on the grill, a long talk with a dear friend, off and on house cleaning (that DARN sun coming in the windows :)! )… an exquisite day of peace and joy and love that started with the light in the woods.

Hope all had a lovely weekend and are starting the week rested and refreshed.

Thursday morning sunshine

Through the woods…

Around Karl as he buries a treat…

…digs it back up and then eats it.

On a fresh batch of treats ready for the oven.

He may not be “in” the sunshine, but Bob is part of my sunshine :)!

Outlining the trees and lighting the mountain tops: Thursday morning sunshine.

Redux: To be good and happy today

The quote from Sydney Smith: “We know nothing of tomorrow; our business is to be good and happy today” keeps coming to the forefront of my thoughts today. When that happens there is usually a reason. It is a good mantra when worry about tomorrow threatens or even when today feels difficult. I say the words, breathe deeply, exhale fully, smile, look on Karl, Bob, the woods – whatever is at hand that is good.

The words keep coming to me. Maybe I am meant to throw them back out into the Universe so here they are with the original post from September 27, 2007.

“We know nothing of tomorrow; our business is to be good and happy today”. –Sydney Smith

I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmingly thankful…for everything – for the laughter, the joy, the beauty of my days as well as for the challenges, sorrows and disappointments – for everything! It is all part of my life and I’m grateful for all of it.

If life were one smooth, flat ride the view would be lousy – and boring!! It takes a couple of trips to the valley floor to really appreciate the climb up and the beauty of the grand mountain view. And it is on those tumbles down that we often learn who we are, what we are made of, our strengths and weaknesses – and what we don’t want or who we don’t want to be which helps to clarify what we DO want.

A favorite mystery series I read features Amelia Peabody Emerson, wife of a famous Egyptologist and no slouch herself in that department. It is a fun romp of the Errol Flynn sort with the good guys always coming out on top. Amelia’s catch line when things are on the challenging side is biblical: the last line of Matthew 6:34: “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (King James Version). The more current translation is “Each day has enough trouble of it’s own” – but the first lines are “Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself”. Sometimes, when I find myself distracted by fretting about some future worry I picture Amelia and say the words and laugh – because, it is true and – “our business is to be good and happy today”!

And for today’s “illustration” – this photo is Karl on the right and Sparky, an 11 month old Border Collie belonging to Bob and Inez Love. Bob logged my property this spring and Sparky was normally along. Sparky and Karl bonded immediately and played, wrestled, chased and napped together. I don’t claim to know what really goes on in their little doggie brains but it seems pretty clear that they do not worry about any tomorrows.

Sparky and Karl

Wrapping up the week

Thursday afternoon, before the sun dipped behind the clouds, the sky and lake from Wayfarer’s park looked very different.


Temperature was right at 50F.

…and the above photos are from my newest electronic gadget thingy…

YOWZA! It is the HTC Thunderbolt, Verizon’s first 4g smartphone. I jumped the BlackBerry ship about 10 days ago and have been having more fun and giggles than a 55 1/2 year old person “should” (***) from a new toy :)!

Here it is connected to my laptop syncing contacts and calendar. When I get some music, it will sync that as well. It guesses words I’m trying to type, has animation for weather including windshield wipers and raindrops, falling snow and rolling clouds…. I’m sure the thunderstorm animation is spectacular as if you’ve seen the tv add, the start up is a thunderbolt complete with sound.

I have barely scratched the surface of what the thing can do, but my favorites so far are the flashlight – it uses the camera flash and has 3 beam intensities, and the Kindle app. I have a Kindle, but the 4.3 inch screen on this phone is actually not that much smaller, has great resolution and is very readable. And….the phone and the Kindle stay synced, automagically, so I can go back and forth and each finds my place.

I’m late to the touch gadget thing – friends have iTouch, iPad, iPhone and I’ve seen them and played a bit, but this is the first of my very own and I am amazed at the technology – FUN!!!

It was a good week in every way. The forecast for today is 100% rain which it is doing. I have a humongous pot of split pea soup complete with a ham bone, simmering on the stove. A fire is laid just waiting a match. A thermal air pot is full of my favorite hot tea. Karl and I are off to Whitefish – I have a hair appointment after which we will visit with Karl’s Auntie Kris and Uncle Hal and then home again, home again to light the fire, have a bowl of soup and a mug of tea and listen to the sound of spring rain on the roof.

Bob says he will wait in the nice, dry, warm house for us and to say “Hi” to Uncle and Auntie for him…

***The word “should” is mostly banished from my vocabulary…used here for effect :)!