Category: heart

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Oh how we say time flies, but then there are those days that just seem to stay frozen in time. It was just about two years ago that I had to put my good friend down. I still feel a little lost without him. I miss his fierce protection of all under my roof. I miss his smell. Probably only true dog folks can follow that, but every dog I have owned had their own distinctive smell along with their own pedigree of personality:

Samantha (the sweetest), Pork Chop (the happiest), Midnight (a troubled black lab I could never quite follow), Clovis (the only dog we ever paid for, unconditionally the smartest and who was so tight with his pack) and then comes Grace (our blue-eyed deaf rescue found abandoned at a West Texas railroad station and who is now my only four-legged shadow).

I have loved each of them greatly and differently. Each one has brought me their lifetime of joy and buckets of tears upon leaving. Clovis was my poser dog. Whenever I got out my Nikon, he was quick to notice and quicker to upstage anyone and anything.

Since I lost Clovis, I have not, with any degree of seriousness, picked up a camera. He just took that out of me. I have tried to shoot at some images, but every time I pick up a camera I hear his tags a jingle, a bump on the leg wanting to know where he should pose. My heart goes adrift and the camera back in the backpack.

I am a sentimental old coot and damn but I miss them all and can pull up many a tearful memory. I have to ask, how can a dog steal my vision? Hey, if they can steal your heart, vision is pretty much a simple task.

Get busy living or get busy dying!…”Red”…aka S. King

Peace Out,   jasL

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #885 – The Heart is on the Vine !

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I am stuck on a leaf kick. But hey you work with what falls on your heart.

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”    Helen Keller

Wear your heart where it grows! Monos en theos †† james

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #880 – You got to find your path!

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I am having fun working in my Kelly Rae Roberts e-course on mixed media and collages. I still have not really dove into the mixed media part of the class. Some of it is fear and some of it is just the comfort of working in a familiar tool: Photoshop. Plus it gives me a venue to see some of my old images in a new way. Or hell, maybe it is just being lazy. Anyhow, my latest effort was done just for fun. Plus I got to discover and read a little of J Cole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Cole  Not someone I had ever known and works in a genre that I would not normally put my ear to. Warning, not all his lyrics are this calm and nice.

monos en theos ††† james work

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #866- Autumn falls

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My Autumn Leaves

“I watch the woods for deer as if I’m armed.
I watch the woods for deer who never come.
I know the hes and shes in autumn
rendezvous in orchards stained with fallen
apples’ scent. I drive my car this way to work
so I may let the crows in corn believe
it’s me their caws are meant to warn,
and snakes who turn in warm and secret caves
they know me too. They know the boy
who lives inside me still won’t go away.
The deer are ghosts who slip between the light
through trees, so you may only hear the snap
of branches in the thicket beyond hope.
I watch the woods for deer, as if I’m armed.”
                                                                  BRUCE WEIGL
Along with the coming of November comes our first frost…
stay warm & young at heart…†…monos en theos…jim

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #865- Finding Contentment

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“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion….In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.”

William Henry Channing

A powerful manifesto to live by…†…monos en theos…jim

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #862-May we all grow into children

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“To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.  Most persons do not see the sun.  At least they have a very superficial seeing.  The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and heart of the child.  The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Grow into the child…monos en theos…†…jim

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #861 – Making a wish!

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Has anyone ever asked you to blow on a dandelion and make a wish? If you live in an area where dandelions grow, the chances are you have made a wish on them at some point, but did you ever wonder where that tradition originated and what the meaning behind it was?

Although the exact origin of the dandelion mythology isn’t known, we do know that these myths go back centuries and can be traced to the ancient Celts and the French. In fact, the name “dandelion” is an interpretation of the original French word for the flower dent de lion meaning “lion’s tooth”. For ages people have made wishes on dandelion seeds in the hopes of them coming true. Much of this may be attributed to the medicinal properties of dandelions. Before modern medicine, dandelions were used to treat infections, liver disease, cancer, and was used as a diuretic. Because the dandelion seemed like such a magical herb, folklore began to develop around the bright flower developing into the dandelions myths of today.

Wishes

Dandelions bloom a bright yellow/orange color but change into gray/white seeds when they are ready to disperse. The gray/white seeds are what you blow on to make a wish. You are supposed to think really hard on your wish and then blow off all of the white seeds, sending your wish flying into the air in a beautiful display. If there are no seeds left on your stem then your wish will come true.

Luck

It is widely believed that if a bride used dandelions in her bridal bouquet then her marriage will have good luck. Or if you dream about dandelions that your will be blessed with good luck.

Growth

Children often make a game out of trying to find the tallest dandelion in the field because traditional mythology holds that the length of the dandelion a child picked was equal to the number of inches they would grow in the next year.

Romance

Many people believe that if you blow every seed of the dandelion off while thinking of a loved one it means that they love you back. Another legend is that if you pick one seed off the bloom and concentrate every ounce of love you feel for someone and them blow it in the direction of where you loved one is, they will feel your love. Conversely, if you then blow on the bloom and there is at least one remaining seed on it, it means your loved one is thinking of you too.

Dandelions are cheerful, bright, and magical flowers, but most people look at them and see nothing but weeds. Next time you look at a dandelion and see nothing but a weed, think about how magical they can be. And if you don’t believe in magic, then think about all the medicinal properties of dandelions, many of which, are still used today. And, if you still look at them as weeds, pick one up, blow, and make a wish that your yard will be free of weeds!

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #860 – OUR HANDS

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I have always been aware of my hands. From an early age as I viewed my hands outstretched in front of me, I somehow felt that the image of my hands would always be there. That one would be able to frame the present through those same hands and measure the passage of time by seeing the change upon the frame.

My hands now carry the scars and memories of my life. As do most everyones. I have always heard that the eyes are the window to our soul, but I believe the hands expose a more detailed view of our story.

My hands are stiffening with age. They carry the pain of arthritis. Having never thrown a punch in my life, I still somehow question how I could even have the grip to toss a baseball, much less a punch.

Deadheading flowers in the garden is about as tough a foe as I deal with.

It is a marvel to find details of life within the wrinkles of time.

What story do your hands tell?…monos en theos…†…jim

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #857…A Portrait of Pride

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One of the more pleasurable benefits of moving to a new part of the state is the getting to know new people. The added enjoyment comes from getting to know different cultures.

It Southwest Texas we were very blessed to become entrenched with the Mexican culture. We were very privileged to become close to many families and the learning was constant.

Now moving to North Central Tx we are also have the extreme pleasure of getting to know our Black neighbors.

This young man worked a full day of really hard labor cutting Bamboo and using the cane to built a fence for us. He was extremely proud of his work. When I pulled out my camera he wanted a photo of his fence. While impressed with his fence, I was much more enthralled with his confident heart that beamed through his face.

Come to know your neighbors and you will find and receive love…†…monos en theos…jim