My Husband, The Artist

During our last trip home to East Tennessee, we got to enjoy a pretty good snow. Even my husband got in on the snowman building.

He was cracking me up. After he got the body built, he's add a little something then step back and critique it. He kept doing this until he had it finished. The finishing touch was the shaggy hair he made using a pine needle limb.
He later confessed that this was the first snowman he had ever built. And it's not because he grew up where it didn't snow. That's just sad to me.

So I'm glad he finally had a chance to build one. I admired it immensely and took lots of photos as proof of my admiration. Isn't his finished product cute?

Good Advice!

We Have Enough Time

Sorry this is so small. Double click to read it better.

Henry Miller on Light

The writer Henry Miller, who made his home in Big Sur, California, had this to say about light: "There are two magic hours of the day which I have only really come to know and wait for, bathe in, I might say, since living here. One is dawn, the other sunset. In both we have what I like to think of as 'the true light': the one cold, the other warm, but both creating an ambiance of super-reality, or the reality behind reality....Everything is brush and cones, umbrellas of light-the leaves, bought, stalks, trunks standing out separate and defined, as if etched by the Creator himself."

Since so many of my photographs are taken at these two magical times, I most assuredly agree with him. I love the warm nature of the slanted sunlight. It makes everything delineated and magical; sharper and softer at the same time.

A Wise Quote from Samuel Rutherford

"When I find myself in the cellar of affliction, I always look about for the wine."

A little history on Samuel Rutherford. He was born around 1600 near the borders area of Scotland. He was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author.

His most famous work is Lex, Rex, a political book presenting a theory of limited government and constitutionalism.

After the Restoration of Charles II of England, the authorities burned Lex, Rex and cited Rutherford for high treason, but his death intervened before the charge could be tried, lucky for him!

He was also one of the Scottish commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. This group of righteous men was appointed by England's Long Parliament in order to restructure the Church of England. They met for six years from 1643-1649. Out of this assembly came the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Directory of Public Worship, and the Confession of Faith. These are the major confessional standards of the Presbyterian faith, of which I am an adherent.

Andrew Bonar, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, edited Samuel Rutherford's letters. Andrew was the youngest brother of Horatius Bonar, the great hymnist, whose songs we sing including Blessing and Honor, Here Oh My Lord I See Thee Face to Face, Not What My Hands Have Done, No Not Despairingly, Thy Works Not Mine O Christ, When The Weary Seeking Rest, and Yes, For Me He Careth and many, many more.

So the next time life gives you sour grapes, remember Samuel Rutherford and look for the vintage bottle of wine

A Zest for Life

Is there anything more beautiful than a sleeping child? I've taken photos of all my grandboys this way, and they're some of my favorites.

This particular one is grandboy #2. His given name is Landing but is nicknamed Crash. He's the one who runs at life head-on. He comes up to me about fifty times an hour to hug my legs and say, "I love you, Nana!"

He doesn't do anything by halves. I love his vivacity and cheerfulness. He never meets a stranger, and within two seconds they're lifelong friends. He loves and lives hard. He's a good example for us all.

Be Curious Today!

"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect." Samuel Johnson

A new week filled with new hopes and possibilities. What are you curious about today? What have you always wanted to know something about? What new thing have you always wanted to try?

Try it today, or at least plan out how you can start learning this week. Take a small step toward your dream, and you'll be one step closer to seeing it realized.

Begin!