Perhaps ....

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come. ~Chinese Proverb

Sandpiper Flight

Exude happiness and you will feel it back a thousand times.
 - Joan Lunden

Unexpected Pleasure

Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. 
~ Samuel Johnson

The Simple Goodness of a Life

That man is happiest who lives from day to day and asks no more, garnering the simple goodness of a life. ~Euripides

Another one from the archives ~ A Snout Butterfly from last year. 2010 was the first year I had ever seen these butterflies. This looks more like a Southern Snout to me because it is paler - but I am not sure.

Take a Deep Breath

Smile, breathe and go slowly. 

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Another shot from my archives of last summer. Not sure what kind of turtle this is. Seen at the Heritage Park Pond - Blacksburg Virginia - May 2010.

Voyage of Discovery

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. ~Marcel Proust

This image is from a few years back. When I first saw this little guy I thought he was a beaver but I do believe he is a muskrat. The tail wasn't quite right for a beaver. It was a quite a magical moment for me!
To see more neat critters ~ Visit ~ Camera Critters

Upward Motion

Everything is in motion. Everything flows. Everything is vibrating.William Hazlitt

I really like to capture movement in the birds. This little house finch cooperated nicely.

Actually these shots for me are Pure Luck - but I'll take it!

Kate at Chronicles of a Country Girl has caught a LOVELY Chickadee in motion - Check it out: Here And if you aren't following her already - I encourage you to do so. Her images are Fabulous!

Count Your Life With Smiles

Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll. ~Unknown

Wednesday Wings ~ Defending His Family

Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted.

~Paul Pearshall

Music to My Ears

Taken thru my dining room window looking out into my backyard. I LOVE to watch the birds sing. They throw their head back, close their eyes, and belt it out! And the Carolina Wren has QUITE a Song!

It was his nature to blossom into song, as it is a tree's to leaf itself in April. ~Alexander Smith

Steady and Constant

It's the steady, constant driving to the goal for which you're striving, not the speed with which you travel, that will make your victory sure.

~Unknown

Visit Lisa HERE for more Macro Monday images!

Always Music in the Trees

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.

~Minnie Aumonier

Letting Go

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. ~Havelock Ellis

Put on a Smile Today

I think this White-breasted Nuthatch was smiling at me :) Have you ever noticed how hard it is to be angry when you are smiling? Smiles are attitude changers!

Everyone smiles in the same language.
~ Unknown

An Irish Blessing

I found my first and only Four Leaf Clover in August of last year. I didn't pick it - I wanted it to continue to grow. So I did the next best thing - I photographed it so I could keep it forever.
May brooks and trees and singing hills
Join in the chorus too,
And every gentle wind that blows
Send happiness to you.
~Irish Blessing

Grateful for the Abundance

Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend ... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present-love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure-the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth. 
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Live Up to the Light You Have

It seemed the Sun was shining directly on this Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. (Taken last June)
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.

~Abraham Lincoln

Holding It Together

Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength. ~Unknown

Something Good In Every Day

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day. ~Unknown

Don't Lose Hope

Every thing that is done in the world is done by hope.
- Martin Luther

Reach Out

Taken on a very Wet and Dark day at ISO 3200 - Very Grainy - but I am happy that I got his wing outstretched.

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. 
~ Norman B. Rice

Fragile Threads

Dragonfly from last Summer

We're all only fragile threads, but what a tapestry we make.

~Jerry Ellis

Sunset On His Wings

~
A Sunset as His guide

He colored in the wings

of the Blackbird
~

A Joyful Existence

A Cardinal caught in MID-Jump!

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. ~Osho

In Season At All Times

A White-breasted Nuthatch with a Treat.
And a quote that has absolutely nothing to do with the image - but one that speaks to my heart.
Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand. ~Mother Teresa

Roots and Wings

 
There are two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots. The other is wings. 
~Hodding Carter, Jr.

Taking the Moment

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next. ~Gilda Radner

Color Your World

Grackles have some AMAZING colors in their feathers. I had never been able to capture their iridescence until now.
Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up. 
~Allen Klein

There Are No Shortcuts

I am fascinated with the "motion" of birds and I take a LOT of pictures trying to capture them in motion. I have often thought of doing a "bloopers" post to show the zillions of pics I have with maybe one wing in the frame, or just the tail feathers. Most of the time I end up with nothing at all as they've left the frame before I can even get a shot off. It has been VERY hard for me to capture the entire bird in the frame. This is NOT a great picture - BUT - I caught the entire Downy Woodpecker in the shot :) I have posted before of a Red-bellied Woodpecker In Motion - Here and a Female Cardinal in Motion - Here. So I will keep trying to capture the birds in motion - and someday in focus too :)

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. ~Beverly Sills

Little Wood Satyr ~ Kindness Mutliplied

Little Wood Satyr - May 2009
Kindness is ever the begetter of kindness.

~Sophocles

Singing in the Rain

Taken thru the window looking out into my front yard.

This little guy was singing his heart out in the rain one Monday morning. Beautiful music!

Truly to sing, that is a different breath.  ~ Rainer Maria Rilke