Category: Beauty

Wishes for the New Year

Once again, the old year passes away.
We greet a new year at the dawning of a new day.
May we each find a way,
To be kind in all we say.

May the New Year bring us hope,
And a new found strength with which to cope.
May we always find a strong hold no matter how steep the slope,
As well as the sense to know when to say, “Nope!”

May we always show love and kindness
To family and friends even in duress.
May we not be overloaded with stress,
And may goodness of character, we always possess.

May we always remember the power of a kind touch,
And how it can mean so much.
May we never hesitate to lend a hand or be a crutch
To those who for strength to us clutch.

May we remember the very young and the very old
And not forget their hands to hold.
May we have courage and be bold,
That what is right we may always uphold.

May we always show love,
In the manner shown to us from above,
Wrapped around us and others as a glove,
A sign to all who meet us, of His love.

May blessing abound in your new year,
Bringing you hope and good cheer.
May your way be clear
And your course easy to steer.
Have a Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving All

I had planned to post something  that I had written in the past for Thanksgiving, only to discover I couldn’t find anything I had written in the past for Thanksgiving. How sad, I thought, such a wonderful holiday and I have never taken the time to write a word about it. Well, now I shall remedy that, even if at the moment I have no idea what I plan to say. So you will just have to bear with me a bit!

It is odd that I haven’t taken the time to write about this holiday since I know it is one of my favorites and I know many say the same. I think it stands out as such because it involves all the wonderful aspects of a holiday without so much commercial fuss.  Yes, it does still have some, but not like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween.

It is designed as a holiday of thanks and sharing of all that we have, so we take the time to get together with family and friends and prepare and share food, 1452392_687153997972401_473183348_nfellowship, fun, parades, football, hunting, church, prayer and thanks. We share sheer joy at just being together. Our gifts for this particular holiday are our food, our joy, our love, and our companionship. We wrap them in smiles, hugs, tears and laughter.

We relax, visit, watch football, play games and eat all day long, and in our case late into the night. In fact sometimes it becomes a campfire party later in the evening.

The biggest stress is preparing food and cleaning at the house. Yes I said it that way on purpose because quite often all the cleaning never gets done (mostly dusting, the floors and bathrooms are clean-hey if you can’t handle that, write your name in the dust and then politely leave through the same door in which you came),  and my family never seems to mind. What didn’t get done will get finished as the Christmas decorations go up next week. Besides, I live in a sand field and I can dust today and it will look like I never did by tonight, especially if the windows are open which they have been off and on lately. But I digress, that is not the point. The point is we get together for this holiday to give great thanks and to just plain eat and have fun.

The stressful stuff starts on Friday as we start shopping for that next biggest holiday of Christmas.  But for Thanksgiving Day, wake up, watch the sun rise and go enjoy your family.img_8693 I know that is what I am going to do. Actually most of them are coming to my house. I wish every last one of them was, but unfortunately some due to circumstances just cannot. I pray that where ever they are, they are safe and have a wonderful day anyway.

God bless and give thanks for all you have, and pray for those less fortunate than you that may not being having such a wonderful day. May God bless and keep them and fill their needs as well.

Happy Thanksgiving All may you have a wonderful and blessed day.

Day 331-The Blubonnet-Wildflower Trail

Steve, Rebel, and I went for a Sunday drive through the Texas Hill Country yesterday to see the wild flowers.  We took a route from Fredericksburg north on State Highway 16, driving first through the Willow City Loop IMG_9576which was beautiful as  usual. The Willow Loop is worth the drive with or without flowers, but the flowersIMG_9592 were very nice this year.

After returning to Highway 16 we drove on to Llano, and then detoured off onto Highway 71. The Flowers along this stretch were also gorgeous, but from there we took County road 307, better known as Slab Road and traveled along it into Kingsland.IMG_9764 It’s a great drive through here as well.  It is so wonderful to see the water flowing so strongly over the granite at the slab again. IMG_9769There were plenty of people enjoying the warm day in the water and a nice array of flowers along the route as well.

We ran into some friends in Kingsland. That was an unexpected treat, so we stopped and visited a while and let our little travel companion, Rebel, IMG_9837my son’s white Heeler run around a little.

We returned along Althaus Davis Road. Unfortunately though there were some flowers, this route was relatively bare,except at the Blanco County end,IMG_9784 unlike it had been in past years. We cut back through Willow City again and then took the Eckert Road off Highway 16. There were little to no flowers through this area. It was a nice drive through the neighborhood though.

Farm to Market 965 is said to have a wonderful display off flowers this year from Enchanted Rock to Highway 16. I plan to get out there sometime this week. If you are planning to see the Bluebonnets it would be best to do so this week because we observed that they were already going to seed so they won’t be around too much longer, probably only a week of two. Of course there are and will be plenty other flower varieties  to fill in and make the drives just as beautiful. IMG_9832

Day 328-The Sun Rises (Villanelle)

The waves glisten as the crash upon the sand;
The beach shimmers in the early morning;
The sun rises with colors so grand.

Seagulls dance along the strand,
In the water’s edge they are playing;
The waves glisten as the crash upon the sand.

The surf, still cold upon my hand,
Against my skin is crashing;
The sun rises with colors so grand.

Pinks, golds, purples, oranges and blues reflect across the water and the land;
In the sky, higher and higher the sun is gliding;
The waves glisten as they crash upon the sand.

Darkness gives in to dawn at nature’s command,
As clouds take on a gold lining;
The sun rises with colors so grand.

Wonder and beauty surround me as on the beach I stand,
Captivated and watching,
The waves glisten as they crash upon the sand;
The sun rises with colors so grand.

GB

So this is my April’s Fool on myself, because this poem is about the beach. It takes place there, where I am not but would like to be. And now the irony, is that is where my son is enjoying a weekend with buddies at a State Skills USA competition.