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!!!

I love your first “Picture of the Day” Jeannie. Great job!! Now everyone will know that you are not just a talented artist, but a skilled photographer as well!!

You can view Jeannie’s picture Water, Stones, and Light at www.todaysphoto.org .

Thanks again for taking the photo for the back of my book Lemon Days and Strawberry Nights.

We will be looking for more pictures from you in the future. Congratulations on a job well done!!!

We are told we should always be thankful for the things we have; and this is certainly true. We have so much to be thankful for we would sure appear to be ingrates if we took for granted all that we do have. But as humans, we get tired, bored, and cranky some times. And it is hard to see the big picture of things when our selfish selves think of only what we want.

When times like this come, we should just be thankful anyway; because  we know that better days are coming. They are just behind the storm clouds on the other side. The sun is just waiting to burst through and bring sunny days again.

We all have times when we are not feeling our best, and at those times, we need a little  encouragement to help us keep perspective. So if you are feeling a little down, please let me encourage you to keep on the sunny side of life. The storm clouds will move and the sun will shine again, and all will be right with your world again.

Just be thankful anyway; even if you really don’t feel like it right now. Feelings are a lot like the weather; if you don’t like it-stick around and it will soon change; even if our feelings are not as they should be now, they are sure to change also.  Many sunny days to you!!!

Life is sometimes like that old saying, “April showers bring May flowers“; sometimes the weeds of life make it hard to see the big picture of things. When you are dealing with the frustrations of life; the daily struggles, the patience waiting, the hard work, it is hard to remember that your labor will bring forth the most beautiful of flowers, with the sweetest of  aromas, that will have made all of the hard work worth it. The end result will have been worth it, and when you are enjoying your flowers, it will have seemed like a labor of love. The investment of your time and patience will have been well worth it.

I hope all of your April showers bring forth May flowers!!!

Spring has finally arrived, and with it lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. The kind of weather that makes you get a bad case of spring fever. It just makes you want to call in sick (if you are still fortunate enough to have a job) and go outside and play a while. Given our tendencies to fore-go the simple pleasures of life to be  a responsible adult, we go on to work any way and sigh at what could have been. Seriously though, it really is wonderful to see the flowers and trees blooming once again, and life renewing itself once more. Enjoy!!

Here we are in April and I hope no one gets “April Fool” on you. I don’t usually go in for the big pranks, but I might try to pull a small silly one on you if given the chance.

Given all of the changes we have had lately in the last few years, wouldn’t it be nice if someone said, “April Fool” , and it would all be over ? Somehow I don’t think that will be the case, as in life, things usually take a little longer to work out. But I hope you have a good day and don’t let anyone fool you too badly.

Easter weekend is almost here, and I want to wish you the very best of Holidays. I hope everyone will enjoy the day and remember the reason for it. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Without Him, I wouldn’t even want to try. He doesn’t make  all of our problems go away, He just helps us to deal with them. And sometimes He amazes us with His goodness. Sometimes things happen that we know He made happen, because we never could have. And that is why vengeance has never been an issue for me. If you believe what Romans 12:19 says, then you can rest assured that you have an avenger that can take care of your enemies much better than you ever could. For those of you who don’t know, it reads in the King James Version of the Bible, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” saith the Lord. I try to live in peace, and when others feel they need to retaliate against me for things they may feel that I have done, I don’t need to try to come up with a plan to get even, because I know that I don’t need to. I have a Heavenly Father that will take care of the situation much better than I ever could. Hate is a terrible place to live, and sometimes it intrudes on our lives, but we don’t have to stay there. We have to let go of it, and allow the joy to come back into our lives. He paid the price, so we don’t have to. His peace allows us to lead our lives in a much more loving, forgiving, manner. If  you don’t know this peace, then please ask the one who can give it to you to come into your life and change your heart.

Happy Easter dear friends!!

This month has moved so fast; I suppose it is because this month has been fairly uneventful, unlike last month when we were battered with one snow storm after the other. Still it is March and it has had it’s moments.
Another month of the winter of 2010 has almost ended, and I for one am very glad; every day puts us one more day closer to spring; of course I realize the calendar says that it is spring, but here in this part of the country sometimes it takes the weather a while to catch up with the calendar. People tell me that the Farmer’s Almanac says that we will have one more huge snow storm; and I sincerely hope they are wrong. But we will have to take whatever we get; but one more month along, and warm weather can’t be all that far behind.

Personally it has been a very trying month, and maybe I will share some of that at a later time, but for now, I will just say that March has come to an end, and as we welcome April, I hope the showers will be minimum!