Past's Silhouette

The past is our definition.
We may strive with good reason to escape it
or to escape what is bad in it
but we will escape it only by adding something better to it.
~Wendell Berry

213/365

Hidden Blessings

Better to lose count while counting your blessings than
to lose your blessings to counting your troubles.
~Maltie Babcock


I have been sick with a cough and/or cold since September.

I kept putting off a doctor's visit because I thought it would go away.

After 2 months....I was finished.

I am now on a list of medicines
and hopefully will be turning the corner.

On the drive to the doctor's office yesterday~
this little building was waiting for me on a corner.

I jumped out of the van onto the gravel road and started clicking.

This is in the middle of NOWHERE.

and I looked up and there was a state trooper watching me.

I waved a friendly wave....

he waved back.

and that was that.

But he probably did think I was a bit insane.
Probably thought I should see a doctor.

Probably wondered....

Who would take a picture of this raggedy old thing?

I would.

I did.

I love it.

and I wouldn't have it if I weren't on my way to the doctor.

There is a silver lining after all.

210/365

Weathering

You have to leave the city of your comfort
and go into the wilderness of your intuition.
What you'll discover will be wonderful.
What you'll discover is yourself.
~Alan Alda

I have been feeling a new sense of self-realization.
Maybe because I've changed so much through trials
that I didn't recognize this new self.

It's a strange phenomena to watch....
becoming a different person in front of your own eyes.

208/365

barns

Autumn Greetings


One of the pleasures of reading old letters is the knowledge
that they need no answers.
~Lord Byron

203/365

old barns

Bare Bones


The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination
as the future.
~Jessamyn West

198/365

barns

The Open Window

Every time I close the door on reality,
it comes in through the windows.
~Jennifer Yane

196/365

Open Ended


I like to go on what I call Photo Drives.
Do you have these too?

I get in the car.
Cameras in tow.
Plenty of gas in the tank.

Some sort of drink in the holder.

Usually my girls are in the backseat.

My drive yesterday was alone.

It was a perfect weather day~
Partly sunny.
Indian summer.

Jamming to the beautiful harmony of the Avett Brothers.


I feel very lucky to be within a few minutes drive of being in the countryside.
Out where farmers give you the two finger steering wheel wave.
The universal sign for Hey there~ hope you have a nice day.

The windows were down.
The leaves were crunching under the tires.

Part of me felt completely happy and free.
Part of me felt miserably sad and torn.

I have this longing not to drive in the countryside.
But to live in the countryside.

A dream where there are chickens clucking in the yard.
A horse grazes in the field and swishes her tail at the flies.
Kittens peak from the barn door.

My girls can run and pick wildflowers...and gather eggs....
and wear muddy boots with their dresses.

I've never told this dream before.
Maybe I didn't realize how I wanted it until yesterday.

Hmm.

184/365

old barns

Beyond the Lichens

The past lies quietly undisturbed.


I'm very excited for Tricia's new weekly barn theme.
Barns are one of my favorite things to photograph.
~old~
~rusty~
~weathered~
~chipping~
~and completely enveloped in memories~

Good stuff.

179/365

Gathering


We cannot waste time.
We can only waste ourselves.
~George Adams

178/365

The Farm Still Stands

A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place.
A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse below and dreams of home.
~Robert Brault


There is this lovely farm on my running route
{back when I was running}
It is starting to get surrounded by neighborhoods...
but it still stands there~
beautiful....open....proud.
I hope they never have to sell their land
and that the farm can remain for decades to come.

173/365

Isolation

No where can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
~Marcus Aurelius

159/365

Provisions

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above
and comes down from the Father of lights....
James 1:17

158/365

Rickety

You can fall in love at first sight with a place as with a person.
~Alec Waugh

I find myself drawn to items with old wood...chippy paint....rust...
I think it is the romantic side of history that makes me notice these items.
Imagining what it looked like in its glory.
Picturing the people who were busy at work in times before us.
Wanting to be part of a simpler less hectic life.

All that from an old fence post.
Funny, huh?

137/365

Farm Fresh

Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds
Exhilarate the spirit, and restore
The tone of languid nature.
~William Cowper

The Unwritten Past

History is a cyclic poem written by Time upon the memories of man.
~Percy Shelley

Hanging in There


If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.
~Flavia Weedn

Fallen


Into each life some rain must fall
Some days be dark and dreary.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Forgotten

All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.
~Ellen Glasgow

Withstanding the Test


I am almost hypnotically drawn to the old barns that dot our Midwest landscape.
To think of their rich history....the struggles they have seen and the stories they could tell...

Old Tearstains

Let your tears come. Let them water your soul.
~Eileen Mayhew

I thought it looked like this old truck had been crying rusty tears.
Do you see it too?