Tag: death

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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

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WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR TEAM’S LOSING…

‘It ain’t over till it’s over.’ Thanks, Yogi Berra. Yesterday, the legendary baseball player died at age 90. He was known for his catchphrases and his catcher skills – he won 10 championships with the Yankees, and appeared in more World Series games than any other player. He was also a Hall of Famer, named MVP three times, and inspired a cartoon character. And he knew that ‘when you come to a fork in the road, take it’ (yes, that was another ‘Yogi-ism ‘ attributed to him) — Berra became a MLB manager and coach after he retired from the field. 

I was always a Yogi fan even before his great “Yogi-isms” began. I loved him because he always reminded me of the last guy to be picked to play. But after the game started you quickly realized he should of be picked first!

“You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.” Yogi of course

Images of small things from the biggest county in Texas #530 – One that you don’t see or hear much about – the male black widow

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I found this male black widow occupying a web along with two other live males and one dead male. The female was also in the same web. I wish I had a photo to show the size comparison between the male and female, but they seemed to be having a tiff and were at opposite ends of the web.

The blacker colored female was easily 3-4 times the size of the brown colored males. It hardly looked like it would be a fair fight. In researching the myth that the female cannibalizes the smaller male after being impregnating is not totally true. Nor has it ever been documentmented.

And it is now being reported that the reverse of who ate whom also exists.

“Black widow spiders get their names from the belief that the female devours her partner after sex. But this gruesome ritual doesn’t always happen after mating and sometimes, the roles are even reversed, researchers say.

For choosy female black widows, sexual cannibalism is an extreme way to assert their partner preference, with less desirable males more likely to be chased down and eaten after they insert their sperm-coated palps into a female.

But in the species Micaria sociabilis, males are more likely to eat the females than be eaten, a new study found.” Megan Gannon – Live Science web site

It is just a spider eat spider world we live in, find some peace ††† en theos ††† jim work

Photos on the journey #473

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Mom & Dad on their wedding day, July 5,1941 Anne Mae EnWright  Work & Lawrence Oakley Work Jr.

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads, you know who you are!

Well happy fathers day to you dad – seems like forever that I have seen you, touched you or smelled you. But, in reality you come alive to me several times everyday. Today is  no exception. So hard to find that you have been gone 22 years, you would be 96 were you still here.

I can remember so clearly the day that you left. Checking on you early that morning, you were sleeping soundly and breathing peacefully. I went to make us a cup of coffee. In the midst of it brewing, while gazing out your kitchen window, I felt you pass bye.

I went back to your room, you had a far off stare, now sleeping peacefully but not breathing. I knowingly searched for an unfelt pulse, realizing that once again I would not find what I was looking for. I put my head on your chest and heard nothing but the solitary echo of my own heart. It was a loud and solitary beat. I savored the moment, once more finding myself somewhere I was not ready to be. I had a lot of growing up to in what felt like much too short a time.

I told mom you were gone, we cried together on your bed, tears falling on the bed covers, mixing with your smell. I called the funeral home and finished brewing coffee for one. I went outside for a walk pondering the change. Trying hard to put on clothing that felt too large a size for me.

I rounded a corner to witness your best friend and neighbor lowering his flag to half mast. My worry came down along with the flag. I walked back to your home my vision sharp through the blur of unending tears.

I have tried to fill your shoes even though your were an eleven and I a nine. As always, I found myself two bricks shy of a load. I know that I could never totally fill your shoes, but now mine fit me just fine.

PEACE ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Photos on the journey #449

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 The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.

“Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ That’s the message.”….Matt 28:5-7

Peaceout ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Photos on the journey #445

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RIP TOMMY P ADAMS

Sorry for lack of post yesterday. My heart was somewhere else. Off today for a 500 miles journey to say goodbye to an old high school friend. One that for a time, we shared most everything. We had some true adventures together and I have had not near as many since we went our separate ways in the early 1970’s. Thought of him often but never quite enough to pick up the phone and reach out. Call a friend today, let them know what they mean to you, you won’t regret it…………Fly away friend, fly away.

The End of a Perfect Day

by Carrie Jacobs Bond Song

When you come to the end of a perfect day,
And you sit alone with your thoughts,
While the chimes ring out with a carol gay
For the joy that the day has brought,
Do you think what the end of a perfect day
Can mean to a tired heart,
When the sun goes down with a flaming ray,
And the dear friends have to part?

Well, this is the end of a perfect day,
Near the end of a journey, too;
But it leaves a thought that is big and strong,
With a wish that is kind and true.
For mem’ry has painted this perfect day
With colours that never fade,
And we find, at the end of a perfect day,
The soul of a friend we’ve made.

en theos ††† jlawrence

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #329

We pass this vine that grows by a dumpster on our daily walking route. It always seemingly speaks to me on the expression of “dying on the vine”. Sometimes we die before we ever get a chance to produce fruit. How a plant can seemingly have life and death on the same branch?“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:1-8)Don’t die before you even bear fruit on your journey†nada te turbe†jim

via Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #329.

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #259

“We are like butterflies who flutter
for a day and think it’s forever.”~~Carl Sagan

I found this dead CHECKERED WHITE (Pontia protodice) floating on the edge of a small spring on our morning walk. With the exception of the Monarch which has a life span of nine months, most butterflies flit about for a short period, 1 week to 1 month.

I would guess that the butterfly just like us, has no idea how long they will be here.

Don’t waste your time or your life on your journey†††nada te turbe†††jim

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #72

It just never ceases to amaze me what God will bring to you when you are out looking for bugs to photograph. Once again I am chasing butterflies. I am sitting within range of several flower blooms, waiting. This big (for a fly) fly keeps landing near me. I try to ignore him but he never flies more than a few inches and lands again. So I bring him into focus at one location, he flies 2-3 inches to another spot, I shoot a couple more frames, he moves and lands on this little rock. He sits there and lets me get extremely close ( 3-4 inches). I bang off a few more frames and move on to look for my beautiful butterfly.

I finally tire of chasing the illusive butterfly, those guys are harder to catch up to than you think. I download the images and I can see why the big guy  couldn’t fly very far. He was carrying lunch with him in the form of another insect. Amazing what nature brings to your plate…..enjoy….nada te turbe…..jim