A typical New England March day with lots of clouds, and a strong NW wind blowing, of course I live in South Carolina and really appreciated the cooler day. It is better than having the temp in the 70's or low 80's like we have had this early since I have been down here. Laura and I picked up some cinder blocks yesterday for a small raised garden in our backyard. In the cold drizzle of yesterday we laid out the block for the garden. Today, I filled it with about 20 cu feet of soil, compost, cow manure and dirt. We will probably need some more soil to even everything out and then we will plant. Not sure what all Laura will be wanting to plant. Matters not to me, since I'm not much of a veggie eater. Laura still wants to plant a separate garden for Katie to grow pumpkins. The next step is to figure how to surround the garden with something to keep the deer from eating everything. That is what has happen on our past attempts to have a garden. Some kind of netting surround the garden is what we are thinking about.

Fine Arts Photos Sourh Carolina

http://fineartamerica.com/art/photographs/south+carolina

Color assignment

The Practice of Contemplative Photography – Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes by Andy Karr and Michael Wood

Chapters 1 through 3 explain what it means to truly see. The authors differentiate between conceptual and perceptual seeing, using the example of a traffic light.

Seeing a traffic light is conceptual – you are giving it a label. With perceptual seeing, you notice “brilliant, saturated color, the patterns formed by the facets of the lens, the red glow cast by the light on the orange housing, and the light blue sky that surrounds the whole thing.”

They say that to see clearly, one must be able to separate conceptual seeing from the perception.

So the first assignment was to go out and see color without conceptualization of beautiful, ugly, photogenic/non-photogenic, or identifying with the object of the color (i.e. cool car, which I had one).

Here are some of the photos from today's photo trip.

Yule Blessings

Yule Blessings

Blessings to you from the Earth Mother.
She is the Moon.
She watches over all of us by.
The light that she casts over the blessed earth.
Walk her night lit path
And happiness you will find at every turn.
Blessed be!

Blessings to you from the Sky Father.
He is the Sun. He holds us up
And brings us strength. Carry his sword
To cleave the evil from your path
And you will be unmolested.
Blessed Be!

Blessings to you from the Great Spirit.
It binds us all together:
Man to womyn; beast to beast; all.
We are it and it is us.
Blessed Be!

May you have a wonderful Holiday.
The time has come for the sun to be reborn
He lies in his Mother's womb waiting...
Awaiting his reappearance on this plane.
Let us all rejoice in his rebirth and ours.
Blessed Be!
~ author unknown to me

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. ~C.S. Lewis

Laugh more

When you are born you are crying and everyone else is laughing. Live your life so that when you die you are laughing and everyone around you is crying. If you can’t laugh about life you cry about it but laughter is the stuff that gets you through the day ~ Author is unknown to me

Since laughter is one of the secrets to a happy life, here is a lighthearted Irish blessing for you.

May your feet never sweat,

your neighbor give you ne're a treat.

When flowers bloom, I hope you'll not sneeze,

and may you always have someone to sqeeze!

As you ramble through life, whatever be your goal; Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole.  ~~ Irish proverb

Gra, Dilseacht, Cairdeas -- Love, Loyalty, Friendship

/|\ By Land, Sea, and Sky one hundred thousand Blessings to all who read these words!

To bring Peace, be Peaceful … A Celtic Warrior (Ceilteach Gaiscíoch)

zoo 016 - Photograph at BetterPhoto.com

zoo 016 - Photograph at BetterPhoto.com