Chapel at the American Rose Center, Shreveport, LA

How sweet on a clear, Sabbath morning,
To list to the clear ringing bell;
Its tones so sweetly are calling,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.

From the church in the valley by the wildwood,
When day fades away into night,
I would fain from this spot of my childhood
Wing my way to the mansions of light. - W S Pitts

Louisiana Roses

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck." ~Emma Goldman

"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses."~Alphonse Karr

But, I Thought It Was a Unicorn!!!

"When I was growing up my best friend was a unicorn
The others smiled at me and called me "crazy"

But I was not upset by knowing I did not conform

I always thought their seeing must be hazy.

The unicorn and I would while away the hours

Playing, dancing and romancing in the wild flowers

And we'd sing

Seeing is believing in the things you see

Loving is believing in the ones you love.

Seeing is believing in the things you see

Loving is believing in the ones you love.
- Peter, Paul and Mary

Easter Sunday

"Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time." ~Martin Luther

Good Friday Planting

"Where man sees but withered

leaves, God sees sweet flowers growing." ~Albert Laighton

I've Got the Blues

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." ~Margaret Atwood

Oh it's a blue world
It's a blue world
It takes somebody to help somebody

Oh it's a blue world
It's a new world
It needs somebody to love somebody

Oh it's a blue world - Moody Blues

Rock Me Gently

"Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral." ~John Burroughs

"How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew!" ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Second Childhood for a Tree

"It ain't over 'til it's over" Yogi Berra

"You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old." ~George Burns

A Visitor

"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia." ~Joseph Wood Krutch

"You cannot look at a sleeping cat and feel tense." ~Jane Pauley

Reflection

"Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror." - Kahlil Gibran

Hiding

Hiding

by Dorothy Aldis

I’m hiding I’m hiding and no one knows where; For all they can see is my toes and my hair. And I just heard my father say to my mother -“But, darling, he must be somewhere or other;” “Have you looked in the inkwell?” And Mother said, “Where?” “In the inkwell” said Father. But I was not there.
Then “Wait!” cried my mother -“I think that I see him under the carpet.” But it was not me. “Inside the mirror’s a pretty good place,”Said Father and looked, but saw only his face. “We’ve hunted,” sighed Mother, “As hard as we could and I am so afraid that we’ve lost him for good.” Then I laughed out aloud and I wiggled my toes and Father said - “Look, dear,I wonder if those toes could be Benny’s? There are ten of them, see?" And they were so surprised to find out it was me!

February Daffodils

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom." - Audra Foveo

McCarron Airport, Las Vegas - 39 degrees

"How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!" - John Muir

Ice Storm, the Sequel

"O, wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Winter Evening Sky

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." ~Vincent Van Gogh

Ice Storm

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Robert Frost

"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia." Frank Zappa

On Boxing Day

"The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers." ~Basho

Another Gulf of Mexico Sunset

"When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator." - Mohandas Gandhi

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." - Rabindranath Tagore

"There is nothing more musical than a sunset. He who feels what he sees will find no more beautiful example of development in all that book which, alas, musicians read but too little - the book of Nature." - Claude Debussy

Thanksgiving

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. - W.T. Purkiser

O Lord that lends me life,Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.~William Shakespeare

The year has turned its circle, the seasons come and go.

The harvest all is gathered in and chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures, the fields, their yellow grain,

So open wide the doorway, Thanksgiving comes again!

Waiting For His Ship to Come In

November in Cozumel.

Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think. ~Robert Henri