Easter Laugh and Love

Easter/Passover Blessings everyone!  I hope that this holiday brings you much love and many laughs since that's what holidays are all about.

For me, one of the best parts of any holiday is pulling out the decorations, especially since I often forget what I have.  While decorating for Easter this year, I was thrill to pull out my favorite little candy box.  This was found at a junk sale and I just HAD to save it!  I couldn't believe that someone hadn't beat me to it.  The box brings back so many childhood memories..simpler times. I'm not sure that I want to but this away right after Easter ends..it may hang around until spring is over!  How could you not love this little box! :D

Top of the box

Well, I tried uploading more pictures, but with no luck...so I guess this will give you an idea :D

 

The Full Pink Moon of April

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I LOVE watching the night sky and especially the moon. 

Since the sky was super clear tonight, I decided on a whim to hop in the care and try and catch the moon rising from a hilltop near my home.  I was soooooo thrilled to see it just rising over the hill!  It was a sight of grandness...a huge orange ball shining down on the valley below.  Oh, I could have just watched it for hours. 

I was able to get a few pictures, but had to cut the trip short due to a child (who demanded to come along) who was scared because we were standing in front of a 200 year old cemetery while the moon was rising...Bad mommy choice lolol. 

I really hope that some of you got to see the fabulous moon tonight, if not here are a few pics to give you an idea of what I saw.  These pictures in no way do the scene justice, but I hope you enjoy them anyway :)

Full Pink Moon 2012

The moon was so orange...I wish you could see the detail

Shining on the Valley Below

One of my new favorite pictures

The view behind us was also amazing

A Giant Halo

From the title of my post, I bet you're thinking that I must have earned a giant halo tonight for being sweet or doing a good deed...right?  I wish!!  I was just lucky enough to watch in awe, and capture, a giant halo around the moon.  It was a beautiful sight.  I often wonder if I'm the only one who gets such a thrill from seeing sights in nature like these?  :)

Happy World Autism Awareness Day

Today has been declared World Autism Awareness Day, and is also a recognized day here in Maine.  It was a special day in my house since I have one of the 1 in 88 children on the spectrum.  My 12 year old boy was diagnosed with Aspergers Disorder in first grade, and living with AS has made our lives interesting in many ways. As part of WAAD, Autism Speaks had a campaign to "Light it up Blue", and through this campaign encouraged everyone to light up the night with blue in anyway they could.  As, luck would have it, we had an appoint in the "city" today and we were able to stop at Home Depot and buy our Blue light for Autism.  My son was impressed to see that HD carried blue lightbulbs especially for "him".

Tonight the our lamp post was shining bright in blue...and my son's smile was just as bright.  Worth the $1.98 and the 5 minutes it took to install it..you betcha!! :) Though the following picture is a bit blurry (taken after dark) I thought I'd share it anyway. :)  

Coincidence...I think not!!

Sometimes you just need to be pointed in the right direction

I've been debating about getting back to blogging since I have been have a great time visiting other bloggers pages, and reading about their lives. This past week I finally got the little push that I needed thanks to Pam.  While I was checking out some decorating blogs the other day, I came upon a linky party that was featuring folks favorite kitchen feature/item.  As I was clicking through pictures, I came across one that caught my eye, so I clicked on it.  The picture didn't take me directly to the kitchen picture that I was looking for, but took me to a wonderful group of pictures from King's Landing in New Brunswick Canada.  I was thrilled to look through them since we visited it when I was a child. and I only have one photo from the trip.  It was like I was looking through my old photos and my heart/soul were moved.  After looking through the pictures, I left a comment on the blogs page about my experience, and much to my surprise the lovely lady that the blog belongs to emailed me!  Pam encouraged me to start blogging again...it was the gentle nudge that I needed!  Thank you so much!  Was it coincidence that I happened onto her page??  I think not...I believe that everyone is placed in your life for a reason! :)  Please go and visit Pam's lovely blog @ http://playingwithmycamera.blogspot.com/  You won't be disappointed!

Patience Leads to Success

On a recent trip to my parents summer place, I had a few photo goals in mind: 

To photograph

1. The eagle

2. The Bubbling Spring

3. The full moon

4.  The ducks & loons

5. The dragonflies

I was successful  in all except for the dragonflies...although there were, at times 20 or more around me, they never were still enough to get an acceptable shot.  One little guy even spent an hour teasing me flying back and forth, but never landing.  This behavior frustrated me to no end. Why, oh why, couldn't they just cooperate.  After spending vast amounts of time and energy trying to capture these elusive little creatures, I will admit that I gave up. 

On the way back home (a 4 hour drive), the kids and I stopped at our favorite "rest stop" in Milo, Maine.  It's a little park with a gazebo along the river.  They also have floating docks for boats and the kids love to play on them.  As we walked out on the docks we noticed darning needles flying around and some other critters swimming happily about amongst the lilypads.  I sat down to take some pictures of the darning needles, when lo and behold a little dragonfly starts flying around me.  I sort of brushed it off thinking that he was just going to tease me again, so I didn't bother to try and capture a  shot of him.  This little guy wouldn't hear of it.  He swarmed around then landed right next to me on the dock, facing me as if saying, "here I am...take my picture."  

Needless to say, the dragonfly and I had a great photo shoot and I feel that once it was done we both left satisfied.  Looking back, my lesson in this is that sometimes we have to wait, be patient, and be still to be successful. :)  Or, when the time is right, what you seek will be found.  Thanks little dragonfly for reminding me of this. 

It Shouldn't Be So Hard to Let Something Go...

Each time that I've used my favorite towel over the past few months...okay maybe even longer...I've known that it's time to retire it.  I bought it about 17 years ago (yes you read right) when it was love at first site...oh, how thick, plush, and huge it was. I can still remember my mother stating that it would take forever to dry them and that I shouldn't have spent the money on it. 

Okay, it did take forever to dry, but I loved my big fluffy towel and I wasn't giving it up for anyone.  Though time has passed, my towel is still there to go to the beach with me and to give me a daily hug after getting out of the shower. But right before my eyes, and without me noticing, my old friend has aged; it's now frayed, has holes, and is a thin a a piece of paper. It really doesn't even dry all that well...so, why then do I keep it?   

I've been contemplating that question all day and have realized that I tend to hold onto objects (and people) for sentimental reasons.  Even when I know that I've outgrown an item or it has outlived it's usefulness, I have a hard time letting go. Some soul searching may be needed to understand the reason behind my tendencies...so time will tell.  Until then, I'm sure that there is a nice fluffy towel out there waiting for me to buy it. First I must say good-bye to my old faithful and let it go...

Or maybe I'll make it into some rags that can live in my cupboard... lol