Here is a duet done by two great artists, Yo Yo Ma and Alison Krauss. The lovely music along with the sound of the deep sound of the cello and Alison’s angelic voice make for a beautiful piece here. I did post a video with this piece early on when I first started this blog, and I feel I just have to post it again. If you feel stressed out lately, just sit back and enjoy this one. It seems to bring everything back in perspective. Nice video, too. Enjoy! :)
Early in the summer, my daughters and I went to the park not far from us that is right on the water. We love to go there when the air is still and it’s not too hot. Then it is perfect. If you go during the week, it’s even a bigger plus because you don’t get all the noise from kids and loud motorcycles and such. Just perfect quiet. The boats glide out over the water and the only noise you hear is the water hitting the rocks on the wall.
What I really think is neat when I go there, are the strange trees that are just grouped together in the picnic area. They are not too tall, very light in leaves, and their trunks are “wavy”. I think they are beautiful, but I’ve never seen trees like this. I keep telling myself that it was probably the wind that made their trunks grow like that, when they were growing. I don’t really know. Anyway, they make for some very interesting pictures…as you see here.
The Very Interesting Trees
Now this day that I brought my camera, I did the usual shots of the kids, the water and then the trees. Although the trees were beautiful, there was something else in those pictures that was just as beautiful, that I captured almost by mistake. Look closely….. Do you see it???
The Other Beautiful Picture
Yes, that picture was perfect. I could not have taken a better picture. I hope my husband and I are just like this couple here in the years to come. So cute!
So, next time you take a picture, look closely…you might just find another treasure there. I did! :)
This post is about fathers and how important they are in our lives.
There is something to be said about the father figure in the home. To me, as a child, I think I would have been more fearful without that certain quiet, strength my father seemed to emanate just being in the same room with him. Sure my mother made us feel safe, to an extent, but there was something more with my father. I always felt more at ease.
My father was strong when he needed to be, and he disciplined us when we needed that, too. But he was also gentle, especially with his daughters. As kids, we knew what we could get away with with our Mom, but we knew we had to tow the line with Dad. And we all knew when my father came home from work…it was like a change in the weather. You could feel it. It was back to business. Things were more serious. Don’t get me wrong, he was a funny man and made us laugh plenty of times with his little antics and jokes, and that’s what made him so lovable. He knew where to draw the line. He was everything rolled into one and just made things feel more stable when he was at home.
As a grandfather,he loved his grandkids. He was like a big kid himself, making them laugh and teasing them. You know, the typical “pull my finger” and all that. He also loved holding them and making a big deal of them. I remember one day not long after my mother passed away, dropping off my 4 year old daughter with him to help him keep his mind off things. He really enjoyed spending time with her, and he seemed so comfortable and at ease with her. Nothing special, they just spent time outside raking leaves, played a bit and even had a snack together. It wasn’t like watching baseball on television I’m sure, but he was definitely in heaven, and I don’t think he even wanted her to leave that day. My dad…he was just an awesome grandfather!
Now my husband, as a father, is the same in our household. Everything takes on a more serious note when he is home. He is definitely a strong presence. When the kids were younger, he would play with them and help them with homework, but as far as discipline, all he had to do was raise his voice a decibel, and they would take notice. If they got out of line while he was at work, he was good for that typical Mom statement, “Wait ’til your father gets home!” It always worked, too! They would think about that line and suddenly, the bad behavior would come to a complete halt. Funny! The kids, now in their teens, know they can’t get away with much, and God forgive them if they disrespect me. All hell breaks loose! He will listen to them and help them, but he never lets them wimp out on something, where I might tend to give in. Together , I think we are a good match as I sometimes remind him when he needs to be softer with the kids, and he reminds me when to be stronger with them. It’s a good balance.
When I was growing up, I remember I wanted the perfect Dad. A dad like Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon) or John Walton (Ralph Waite) on the Walton’s. I admired them so much and how they fixed all the family’s problems and grew from each one and also realized their own weaknesses , but remaining the steady rock in the household. But that is Hollywood and this is real, and no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes and we have to understand that, as long as the lesson is learned from those mistakes is what really matters.
In my eyes, my Dad was perfect and I will always remember him fondly. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Well, maybe just a few more hugs and “I love You’s”, but that’s ok. He made up for that in his last years as he realized how short life can be, and he said it to us all the time. I thank him for that.
So keep up the good work all you Dads, and to Dads that are yet to be. Your strength, as well as your gentleness and understanding is needed, and I know it shapes the children into what they become and ever hope to be. It can be a very big responsibility! You don’t know it, but you are a rock in this scary place, this world we live in today, and I’m sure you are and/or will be, “perfect” in your own family’s eyes. Happy Father’s Day!
My Dad with his granddaughter Caitlin. So peaceful and content.
My father-in-law with my daughter, Kelsey. She's admiring his sips of lemonade..ahhh!
My son,Patrick (around 1992) walking with his Dad. I think this picture says it all,
Today, Kelsey with her Dad. Just perfect!
Amish Buggy
Amish Family
The freaky 111 door
Well, my family and I came back last Saturday from a week in Lancaster, Pa. We stayed at the Bird-In-Hand Family Inn, like we have done may times before. As many times as we have gone, we always see something new and still love the familiar things as well. It’s like home away from home.
We’ve been coming to Pa. now since the kids were small, and my husband and I, even before that. I guess in total, about 25 years. We would skip some years in between, but this last time was the longest stretch yet. We went last in 2005, so it was 5 years we hadn’t gone-and it killed me. There was too much going on with school and such, and the kids had lost interest , as they were now in their teen years. But just last year, the kids started saying they missed it and wanted to go back. I put it together, the kids got their work schedules figured out, and we all went together. It was great.
Just to see what has changed and what hasn’t, was interesting enough. Also, the Amish family (Christ and Katie Stoltzfus) we had made friends with since our first visit there, had lost their granddaughter in the Nickel Mines shooting in 2006, and I hadn’t seen them since that time. When we went to their farm(I wrote Katie and her family that we were coming), I didn’t know what to expect. She turned and saw me as I entered her quilt shop and gave me a hug, and she hadn’t changed a bit. Her daughter, Kathryn, who became pen pals with my daughters, was now 20 years old. We knew her since she was 12 or 13. Over the years, we went to her school and were guests, gone to dinner with the family, and even had dinner in their home. It was so nice and they were very friendly. I was hoping the shooting didn’t change things. Katie seemed to study me a lot more when I talked, but she was the same. She had put together a cookbook and had a memorial made in the back of the book for the kids who died. So sad. It is a very nice cookbook.
Other than that, we took nightly rides around the farms and looked at the beautiful scenery. Enjoyed the beauty and the quiet of the landscape. Went to Hershey’s Chocolate World and did the usual Chocolate Ride Tour, and of course our mouths watered for a piece of chocolate at the end of the tour. We went to the Hershey Museum this time and that was interesting-and you’re not going to believe this-but I wrote a post regarding seeing the number 111 everywhere.(Check out that post) Well, on the trip, we parked next to cars with license plate numbers that read 111, there was a license plate in an antique store there that read 111-all small random stuff. But in that museum they had a door encased in a glass box that had the number 111 right on it. My daughter freaked and she dragged me over there. That was so freaky. It was supposed to be the original door to the building on that spot “111 Chocolate Avenue” or something.
Then it was eat and eat and eat-all that great food. And then buy, buy,buy all the country stuff I could, because it all costs double back home. Then drive around and try to steal some pictures of the Amish without them seeing me. I take the pics through my windshield, then fix them up in iphoto when I get home. All in all , it was a great trip. The kids enjoyed it as well. Kelsey, my 15-year-old, is like me. She enjoys the quiet and the friendliness-and lets not forget the animals, which are in abundance over there, too!
I’d do it again tomorrow if I could….but I just may have to wait another year. Maybe I’ll invest in a vacation home instead…..hmmmmmm.:)
Amish Couple
There are times when you just have to relax, get away and just have some quiet time. Get away from the phones, the pagers and everything else that is constantly in our daily lives every hour of the day. I believe, no matter how much we love the conversations and constant interaction with others, sometimes we just have to break away and just find a quiet place,close our eyes, and enjoy the peacefulness.
Go outside and sit on your deck, or go for a ride and park near a pond, park, or quiet woods. Turn off your car and just sit (no phones allowed). Close your eyes and just listen to nature. The sounds that you were meant to hear, but are blocked out daily by all the technology in our lives today. Wow…birds!!!! Look at that sunset! Are those tree frogs I hear??? It’s amazing. When your mind has time to be free and is able to wander, it’s amazing all the things that come up in your mind that usually you wouldn’t even think of. Dreams you have always had, memories of times when you were young and free, maybe you could foresee a vacation in your future.
There are many times I feel the need to get away and sit by myself away from everyone. In the summer, I do this alot. After I clean up the supper dishes and the dog is all set, everyone seems to go into the living room and watch tv, or go in their rooms and turn the radio on, sit at the computer,etc. I retreat and go onto my back deck, sit on my bench with the soft pillows, lay my head back and listen. I could sit there all night long… listening… watching…and I usually do, until I hear through the screen door someone say, ” Hey,where’s Mom???” That’s usually when they find me, and before I know it, I have company enjoying the quiet with me.
It’s refreshing, especially for the soul. I really believe it helps me to be more creative. It must have something to do with all the “senses” coming into play. I don’t really know, but I know that is good and I know that 
it is necessary.
Anyway, that is what this quote is all about, and I believe it with all my soul. Enjoy. 
Cheryl
This is another quote I love. I illustrated this quote in a different style. It is not so lifelike and has more of a greeting card look to it. I like doing illustrations like these sometimes because it can be more free-flowing. I don’t have to worry about getting the shading just right, and I can add little bunnies and butterflies and give it an all over “cute” feeling to the design.
I would like to do this quote over again sometime, in a more realistic look, but I really like the way this turned out. She looks so sweet with her toes turned in and her pale summer dress. I used to love wearing dresses like these (in the summertime) when I was growing up. Barefeet and all!
This picture makes me want summer…now! Enjoy!
Rest Your Spirit
