Small Steps

Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps.

~Saul Bellow

Family Day

For the past several days I've been visiting my son who is in OSUT at Fort Benning, GA. This was the first time we had seen him since March 6th when he left. Friday was Family Day and we were able to be with him through Sunday. It was a FANTASTIC weekend!! The smiles on their faces tell how happy Brother and Sister were to be together again!

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ~Maya Angelou

Mallard Mom and Baby - Friday Feathers

The family is one of nature's masterpieces. ~George Santayana

Spider - with Lunch!

Always show the you in you that makes you the you that you are. ~Chidinma Obietikponah

I know this shot may creep some of you out. A few years ago it would have creeped me out. Now I find it fascinating how the little creatures of the world go about their daily business - just being themselves.

Taken at the Izaak Walton Park - Christiansburg, VA - 05-21-11

Ladybug with a Smile

A smile is a facelift that's in everyone's price range! 
~ Tom Wilson

Dipped in Diamonds

To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light. 
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Ant - A Small Wonder

The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is. ~Phillips Brooks

Mourning Dove

Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire. 
~Virgil

Brown Thrasher on a Branch

But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day. 
~Benjamin Disraeli

Hummingbird Moth with Transparent Wings

In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.

~Marc Chagall

Very busy here and it has rained a LOT - so another one from the archives.

Hummingbird Moth - August 2010 - Deerfield Trail

Eastern Towhee - Beauty on a Branch

A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.

~William Arthur Ward

The Eastern Towhee is from my archives - May 2010 - Heritage Trail - Blacksburg, VA

Rain Drops Keep Falling

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. ~Ashley Smith

Canada Goose in Charge - Wednesday Wings

We must look for ways to be an active force in our own lives. We must take charge of our own destinies, design a life of substance and truly begin to live our dreams. ~Les Brown

Bending but Not Broken

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. ~Peter Marshall

From the archives - July 2008.

Macro Monday - Emergence

The ground we walk on, the plants and creatures, the clouds above constantly dissolving into new formations - each gift of nature possessing its own radiant energy, bound together by cosmic harmony. ~Ruth Bernhard

Please visit Lisa - HERE - for more Macro Monday Images.

Hands of Love

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.

~Abraham Lincoln

Tree Swallows - Let's Talk

It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much. ~Yogi Berra
Captured on 04-11-11 - Izaak Walton Park - Christiansburg, VA

Chickadee Ballet - Friday Feathers

Gracefulness has been defined to be the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul. ~William Hazlitt

I am fascinated with motion. I thought this little one looked like a ballerina.

Butterfly - The Departure

Not to understand a treasure's worth till time has stole away the slighted good, is cause of half the poverty we feel, and makes the world the wilderness it is. ~William Cowper

From the archives - 09-13-09 - Heritage Trail, Blacksburg, VA

Gull Landing

We have not wings we cannot soar; but, we have feet to scale and climb, by slow degrees, by more and more, the cloudy summits of our time. 
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Queen Anne's Lace ~ Wildflower Elegance

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common - this is my symphony. ~William Henry Channing

Beetle Close-up ~ Macro Monday

I'm passionately involved in life: I love its change, its color, its movement. To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings - it's all a miracle. ~Arthur Rubinstein

A very colorful beetle - not sure of the ID - seen last summer 07-14-11- Deerfield Trail, Blacksburg Virginia

Please visit Lisa - HERE - for more Macro Monday Images.

Dragonfly - Close-Up!

The Universe is one great kindergarten for man. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson.
~Orison Swett Marden

  Taken 06-02-10 Deerfield Trail, Blacksburg, Virginia