It is that time of the year once again when we honor our fallen soldiers and decorate the graves of those who have gone before us; and once again it is time to break out the grills and let the barbecuing begin! Summer has officially begun!!

I wish you a very joyful one with your family and friends! As we wave the flag and consider the cost of the ones who have left their all so that we may enjoy the freedom we enjoy, let us take a moment to thank them and remember them and then let the festivities begin!!!

Have a wonderful week-end!!

It seems we are inundated with so many news reports in today’s society. Just when does it overwhelm us and become too much? Back in the day, news was hard to come by, and I wonder if we may have been better off by not hearing about so many tragedies all of the time. We don’t want to bury our head in the sand, but I feel sometimes we are just too overwhelmed with bad things happening all of the time. News is everywhere, and do we really need to hear about every single thing that someone is doing on Face book? Grant you, it is a great way to keep up with family and friends; as a matter of fact, I recently heard a woman say she could find out more about what her children were doing on Face Book than she could talking to them. It is a great tool if used wisely. But it does seem to me, we hear all of the bad things happening in the world much more than we do the good things. And our perspective can become distorted. I am glad we have all of the resources that new technology has given us, but sometimes I think we just need to step back and take a breather from time to time from the world at large and concentrate on the beauty around us. Thanks to all of the great photographers and painters for allowing us to do that with their creativity and talent. The world is a much more serene place because of you.

Recently JC Yates had a “Picture of the Day” entitled “Water, Stones, and Light at www.todaysphoto.org. And now she has her own web site at www.vtcreativeart.com.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome JC to the world wide web, and I wish you much success in your future.

Just having had almost record breaking heat waves, we are once more dealing with cold temperatures, especially at night. But we will have high temperatures and sunny days soon; I hope you were not one of the ones that had already planted crops and had them frost bitten. Warm weather is most certainly here to stay soon.

I hope you had a wonderful “Mother’s Day”, and received the attention that all moms deserve. As a human being, we are sure to disappoint and hurt at times, but we all surely strive to do our best. Only after children have children of their own do they realize the sacrifice and hard work that goes along with parenting. The joys make it all worthwhile, and even in the days we are living in, parents still love their children and want the best for them. They can’t always give their children what they desire to, but I do believe that most mothers and fathers love their children dearly, and despite differences in character, they truly want their children to have a better life than they did. There are of course exceptions to this rule, but I truly believe that the biggest part of humanity has this fervent desire.

Here is to mother’s everywhere. Where would we be without them?

Today we celebrate the first day of May; the official arrival of spring. However you choose to celebrate the day, I wish you a joyful one.

A friend of mine once told me that they use to leave flowers on their friends door step on May Day as a sign of friendship. I thought that was a lovely idea to wake up to fresh flowers on your door step.

I have no special rituals for May Day; but I am most certainly happy to see it arrive; especially this year after such a harsh, bitter cold winter. Three cheers for spring!!!