Lots of folks love trees, me included. Where I live in Texas they give welcome shade, and they just have a “presence”. Trees don’t last forever, they do have a lifespan, and each stage is beautiful to me. Trees provide stability, and our lives would be barren without them. This one is bumpy, is at a transitional stage of growth, and hypnotized me with its colors, texture, and detail.
Favorite dragonfly picture, this little guy seemed to change his posture and is either posing or looking at me.
Butterflies are gorgeous and challenging, don’t know how many I’ve taken , but this is a favorite. I love the in-flight posture, and the relaxed legs of this one.
I visited the botanical gardens, and a kind artist allowed me to capture the wild colors of the painting experience. How we create things is, to me, as interesting as the created object, no matter if it’s art, a building, or a pencil, all things bear the mark of how they were producted, including ourselves!
In Austin Texas at a remodeled auditorium, parked my old ‘96 Lincoln went to take pics, turned around, and this looked like a 1960s car ad.
Taken with my new Iphone, this came together on my desk yesterday, while perusing old journals and finding this picture of my dad. He died at age 39,when I was 5, this is a picture of him on honeymoon with my future mom. I cherish these little reminders of him. I’ve been blessed to have a stepfather now for over 50 years. The coffee cup seemed to fit. An odd sense of joy and healing making this picture, some good friends liked it. Live and love my friends, love is greater than death…
Hey, how ya doin’? How’s your life going?
How are your dreams doing?
My life is a paradox, and here it is:
I’m a small-dreams guy living a life way bigger than I ever imagined.
My internal dream machine is fairly small, started out adult life with a head and heart full of dreams. Today’s dreams are more realistic, less grandiose. Honestly, my personal aspirations are rather small indeed.
Wanted to see what adult life is all about, earn a living, get married, still married to the same awesome woman for 35 years. Having kids tilted the earth’s axis, and we’ve spent most of those years providing for our family spiritually, physically, emotionally, and financially. We’re blessed to have two grandsons, great in-laws. Major gratitude for all that.
My personal dreams are rather small; feel physically good, wake fully alert each morning, have some coffee, spend some quiet time and write, read, enjoy music, movies, walk an hour a day and work out, a nap when I need one, enjoy my stuff, appreciate the beauty of life around me, enjoy people I can entertain/make laugh/bow out when I want. A not so grandiose set of dreams.
Here’s where the BIGGER LIFE comes.
Love causes me to SERVE those I love, and that makes life BIG.
Providing for a family, helping our four grown kids and two grandsons, takes all the money and time we can throw at it. We’re glad to do it; those kids and grandkids go on when we’re gone. Family has saved me from self-absorption and self-destructive behaviors. Love wins out.
I serve a HUGE God. All I do is say “Yes” whenever He calls, and amazed that He seems to call often. I really do not understand all this very well, but I do say yes, and step up to the plate. I serve a HUGE church, thousands of members, serving both groups and individuals. It’s a whippin’ sometimes, but it is also beyond awesome. WAY bigger than anything I had ever imagined. It takes everything and you can’t do it without God. It’s too big, and too much for human effort. Amazed and grateful (most of the time).
That’s my story; a small-dreams guy living a BIG life.
The lesson I’ve gained; Love and serve something and/or somebody bigger than your life.
Your life is an amazing story. As Bob Dylan says “you gotta serve somebody”, well, he actually sings “Yuh gotta suuuuhhhve sumbodeeeee”. Live for someone and/or something that will live past your death. Peace.
Found an old broken mirror in a field, and took some pics. I use myself as a photo subject because I’m cheap,free, and no releases to sign. I also have a rubber face. Seriously, I think we see ourselves in any picture we see, our appearance, emotions, ourselves. My Nikon (or nokiN, as it is in the picture) is a mirror that catches light. I’m hoping you have some Light in your life today.
