It rained all day, applicable quote and chocolate fortune

- It rained and rained all day on Sunday, and I liked it.  None of my rain photos turned out well, but you can see the rain droplets on the potted Hosta.  A steady rain, that brought fresh air through the windows and inspired a really great nap.

- A discussion with my Saturday morning walking friend about Barbara Kingsolver and her books.  She:  "Wouldn't you love to have her as a friend?"  Absolutely.  "The Poisonwood Bible", about a missionary family living in the Belgian Congo in 1959, accompanies me on my commute right now in CD form.  The quotes from it are wonderful and I looked up this one, "Everything you're sure is right can be wrong in another place.  Especially here."  That could apply to a lot of things, I think.  :)

- From the inside wrapper of a tasty Dove dark chocolate square:  "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."  Better than a fortune cookie.  :)

Just because, pure magic and cyberspace messages

- Picking up a $5 bouquet of flowers at the market, just because.  And putting them in a vase I once gave my mom for Mother's Day.

- Friend Judy, on her way to Hilton Head, South Carolina nine hours ago, posts on facebook:  "Look at that crazy big moon!"  Which inspires me to step outside at 5:45am to see the moon.  It is crazy big!  Beautiful and glowing.  And the birds are enthusiastically singing, having this time mostly to themselves, except for a lone woman looking at the moon.

- Facebook inspires mixed feelings, but there have been so many good and beautiful things posted the last couple of days:

- Friend Ann posted a beautiful tribute to her Aunt Juliette, who has passed away, "She was loved by everyone who met her."

- Second cousin Anna posts this surprise this morning:  "Saw baby Doodlebug sucking its thumb for the first time today on ultrasound.  At 13 weeks, he or she now has fingerprints--amazing!!!--and is "fearfully and wonderfully made."

- And a young lady, Lara, I used to work with at my corporate job, posts about a coworker who is departing for another job:  "I am so incredibly happy for her, but also sad.  I will miss her face and it's reminded me of all those I've worked with in the past that have touched my life in one way or another."

Amen to that!  I am so happy to have you all in my life and cherish your comments.  Have a lovely weekend, my friends!

Family picture wall, rosemary and bring on the flowers

- Finally getting the family pictures wall in my home office going.  The plan is to cover the rest of that wall with more.  Upper left - my maternal grandparents are in that group of employees of Southern Railway and their families at a picnic in Macon, Georgia.  Right - my aunt and dad as children - taken in Fullerton, California.  Bottom - my dad and lots of other Navy men bound for World War II at Camp Peary, Virginia.

- Picking oak tree blossoms off my rosemary bush and finding that delightful scent of rosemary lingering on my fingers after I come inside.

- From the wonderful emails from Doug and his garden, the end quote:  "Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul."  - Luther Burbank.  More helpful?  Bring on the flowers then!

Happy Earth Day!, Na-Nu Na-Nu and true greatness

- While my walking buddy took a (brief) phone call, I turned around and snapped this photo of where we had just been.  So lovely and green on a fresh air Sunday morning, the day before Earth Day.

- Getting to be an extra for the church scenes for the movie that has been filming in our area and this day, at my church (Details here.)  It was a long Friday night, but worth it to see Robin Williams sitting in the pew across the aisle.  And at one point on a break between scenes, showing a child actor how to do the Mork hand signal.  :)

- A church member from my parents' generation, (the greatest, I think), has passed away suddenly.  An always beautifully dressed and coiffed woman, who had a sweet smile.  I walked out of church at the end of services yesterday with two of her friends and remarked that I hadn't known her really.  "Oh - a wonderful lady!"  "She was in our circle and was the Sunshine chairman."  "She truly lived up to that name - Sunshine.  She faithfully sent cards out to everyone all the time."  How wonderful to be thought of like that.

Dogwood trees, downtown Atlanta and adventures

- A tree so beloved in the south that it has its own festival this weekend in Atlanta.  The Dogwood trees sure are beautiful right now.

- Braving downtown to return a pair of shoes purchased online.  An internet search revealed that the manufacturer has a store in Peachtree Center, right in the heart of downtown Atlanta.  Something about the scent of it (food, cigarettes, transit vehicles) made me think of being in New York City.  And for sure, the street around Peachtree Center was filled with tourists, visitors, conventioneers.  A fun (and windy!) 20 minutes and then home to the 'burbs.  :)

- A fun, rollicking read:  "The Adventures of Black Jack Pepper" by M.L. Madison (aka our friend Riot Kitty).  It is meant to be a children's book, but I found it a fun read about a wonderful family that includes a French Toast loving cat.  Details can be found here, if you'd like to order this ebook.

It's the weekend again!  I'm ready for it!  I hope you have a wonderful one!

Outside looking in, blessings and the view

- Most of the items I kept from my parents' home have finally found a spot in my home.  This was one of the teapots from my mother's collection - the shape and color of a Georgia peach, sitting in the baker's rack in my kitchen.  I like seeing it there when I'm coming home.

- A Christmas film with Robin Williams and Candice Bergen is filming in my community and a friend reports that "the filming of the movie on our street brought us blessings where we got to meet all our neighbors."  Plus - one of the movie crew thought she was Candice Bergen when she was using the weed eater in her front yard.  :)

- Making the turn from I-85 south to I-75 north every morning on the way to work and getting a brief glimpse of midtown Atlanta skyscrapers.  It's just at that moment right before sunrise when the city is coming awake and the buildings are still lit up for the night.

Wisteria, music on the main street and garden gate

- After my walk on Saturday morning, I was driving away from the park when I spotted this artfully draped wisteria and had to photograph it.  Love the dogwood tree framed by the arbor.

- Such a beautiful entrance into the garden.  I'm not sure if anyone lives in this house or not - there is a sign in front of it calling it Music on Main Street.  They have live music on Saturday nights and you are invited to bring a picnic and listen to music.

- I love that garden gate with the wind chimes that must tinkle when the gate is opened.  Music in itself.

Patch of beauty, hushed and made it

- These purple and blue flowers in neighbor / friend Beth's courtyard, snapped on Sunday morning.  Seems as if something is blooming everywhere I look right now.

- Hearing the hushed voices of The Masters play by play announcers coming from a coworker's cubicle.  I love how visitors by television or computer can see just now lovely the state of Georgia looks right now.

- Making it home just as the first large raindrop fell.  (Many more followed last night.)

All is calm and quiet this morning.  I hope your weekend is merry and bright!

Pink clouds, he's a keeper and special time of day

- When I passed these trees in front of the elementary school on my street last Sunday morning, a woman was photographing two little boys in front of them.  They were laughing and romping around - I'll bet those photos turned out great.  This photo was from my return trip from my walk in the park and I couldn't resist photographing these trees myself (from across the street, using the camera on my phone).  They look like pink clouds in person and I wish my photo did them justice.

- This message from cousin Anna on facebook this a.m. regarding her son Jack's birthday today:  "Happy 9th birthday to the best big brother, wonderful son, puppy lover, chicken chaser, Harry Potter reader, loving son, and kind friend that a mother could ever hope for!!!  Love you, Jack, and am so blessed to be your mommy."  

- Loving the time (Monday through Friday) between 5am and 6am.  After the initial getting-out-of-bed resistance, there is such quiet and peace.  No talking, no TV, no noise at all, except for the distant sound of the train whistle a mile away.

Spring has sprung, lovely language and so good

- One source of the pollen that has finally descended here in the south - the "blossoms" on pine trees (pictured above) explode at some point.  No complaining here - it'll be over soon and it's worth it to see all the green popping out.

- Hearing so much conversation in Spanish during my visit to the Frida Kahlo / Diego Rivera exhibit.  And finding that I can understand much of it (but not speak it myself.)

- Making Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie for Sunday lunch.  The recipe can be found here.  So good and I liked that you could use already cooked chicken in it.  It overfilled the 9-inch pie plate for me (should have measured that chicken - I just used all of it), so I slid the whole thing into my 10-inch iron skillet and that worked just fine.

There it is, memory lane and contributing joy to the world

- There it is - my potted Hosta emerges after a long winter nap.  Someone asked me once why I have a "weeping" angel on my porch.  It is actually a "shy" angel, according to the tag that was on its bottom when I found it in a dusty antiques warehouse sale.  I've always loved it.

- The angel is perched on two bricks found in my late grandmother's back yard, the last time I saw it.  The house was sold and empty, floors gleaming from the sunlight pouring through the bare windows.  There were so many memories in the back yard, a rope swing hanging from the huge pecan tree, the little dog Penny, always so excited to see us.  The yard was long and extended with a little pear tree orchard in the back.  There was the "Judy tree" - planted for the first grandchild who arrived.    (She is a grandmother herself now.)  That day, I spotted two bricks sitting by the back porch steps.  "Could I have those?" I asked my mother.  She shook her head, chuckling over her always fanciful daughter, "Yes - take them."  And there they are.

- Roger Ebert passed away on Thursday.  Thanks to the "quotes" label from past posts, I found a quote I posted in January 2011:

>>From an article about my favorite movie reviewer, Roger Ebert, who can no longer speak or eat as a result of cancer surgery to remove his thyroid, comes this quote from him that sums it all up for me,

"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do.  To make others less happy is a crime.  To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts.  We must try to contribute joy to the world.  That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances.  We must try.  I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."  
Jones, Chris, "Roger Ebert: The Essential Man." Esquire.com, 16 February 2010,
http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310>>

An hour ago, I had no idea what I was going to post today (it's been that kind of week.)  It's raining right now, but it's Friday!  Yay for Friday.  :)  I hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful day and weekend.  

All lined up, snow came and recorded for history

- Great niece Mina lined her dolls up on the fence, in a texted photo her mother called, "Yay Spring!"  Yay, indeed - just a week earlier there were pictures of her playing in the snow (in the DC area).

- Looking into my grandmother's Bible to see if she had recorded the exact birth date of a child who died in infancy.  (My sister is working on a genealogy project.)  And finding that inside the cover she had written various names and telephone numbers (a good place to keep them, I guess), some scripture references, and these words, "Snow came Jan. 12, 1982."

- There was a legendary snowfall that day in Georgia, almost six inches.  Stop laughing, you all in the north!  That's huge for the south.  And momentous enough for the family matriarch to record it in a treasured place.

A letter a day, the sincerity of children and just do it

- An Atlanta based writer named Randy Osborne began a project in January called "A Letter a Day in 2013" - in which he will write a letter to anyone who asks.  I was delighted to receive my letter a few weeks ago.  How nice to see a personally addressed envelope in the mail amid the bills and catalogs.  There's an article you can read about his project by clicking here.  If you scroll to the bottom of the article, there are details in how to contact Randy to ask for a letter.  He might just bring back the art of letter writing.  I hope so.

- Spotted on facebook yesterday, a group of children from the third and fourth grade in Omaha, Nebraska, asked Randy great questions via their own letter.  When asked on facebook if he had answered, he says he has, "A sincere question, more difficult than it looks.  People think they know the "why" of a thing, but it's the children who bother to verify, who seem to want to know what's really going on, rather than what they have already decided is."

- I was looking around for stationery, so I could write back, but it's proving difficult to find.  And then I realized it doesn't really matter if the paper is nice, it's the doing it that matters.  I will send a letter to him this week.