Sunrise and Rainbow

I chased the last sunrise of 2011 ......

And got a Bonus Rainbow!

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.

~ Oprah Winfrey

Ducks in Flight Over The New River

I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.

~ John O'Donohue

About the image: Taken at Bisset Park, Radford Virginia during a walk along the Riverway Trail on the New River

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters - HERE

Blue Skies

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

About the Image: Taken 12-30-11 (from the car) on my iPhone.

Skywatch Friday - Great Blue Heron In Flight

Be like the bird in flight . . . pausing a while on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, yet sings knowing yet, that she has wings.

— Victor Hugo

About the Image: Taken 12-26-11 - Izaak Walton Park

Visit Skywatch Friday - HERE

Woodpecker - Ready for Launch

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

~Confucius

A Red-bellied Woodpecker - getting ready to take off.

Decorated by Nature

I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy.

~Hamlin Garland

Holiday Bokeh II

More Holiday Bokeh! 

Carolina Chickadee - Simply Living

The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.

~ Steve Maraboli

Mallard At the Duck Pond

Just let awareness have its way with you completely.

~Scott Morrison
About the image: Taken on Christmas Day 2011 at the Virginia Tech Duck Pond. The Duck Pond is part of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail. More info on the VBWT found - HERE

It is a great resource!

A Pooped Pooch

Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest.~Henry Van Dyke

Merry Christmas

Wishing You 

Merry In Your Christmas 

Peace In Your Home 

Joy In Your Family 

Blessings To Each One

Blue Jay - Taking A Big Bite

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Have I Mentioned That I LOVE Birds?

That should come as no surprise, right? These little creatures bring me such joy!

A White-breasted Nuthatch enjoying a little treat.

The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach, is Joy.

~Fra Giovanni

Skywatch Friday - Salmon Colored Skies

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

Another Iphone Pic

Visit Skywatch Friday - HERE

White-crowned Sparrow in the Falling Snow

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!

~Hamilton Wright Mabie

About the Image: Taken on Christmas Day 2010

Sharing Is Loving

Puffed Up Grackle - A Rainbow of Colors

Don't miss all the beautiful colors of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold.
~Unknown

Sunrise Greetings

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!
~ John Muir

Taken on my Iphone one morning when the sun was just starting to peek thru the trees.

Dark-eyed Junco On a Branch

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.

~Anna Quindlen

Frost On the Berries

Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, a touch that never hurts.

~Charles Dickens

Lisa hosts Macro Monday - HERE

Cedar Waxwing - Watching Me

First you need only look: Notice and honor the radiance of Everything about you... Play in this universe. Tend All these shining things around you: The smallest plant, the creatures and objects in your care. Be gentle and nurture. Listen... ~Anne Hillman

Mockingbird Close-Up

Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

~Henri Frederic Amiel
Do you see the berry juice on his feathers?

Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters - HERE

Mourning Dove - Golden Moments

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.
~George Elliot

Enjoy the Golden Moments of Today!

Sunset Sky

When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator

~Mahatma Gandhi

Little Bird - Big Leaves

Above - So small against the big leaves

Below - a closer look

I believe this to be a yellow-rumped warbler.

Wings of Friendship

Cedar Waxwing Conversation

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!

~Dr. Seuss

I wonder what this Cedar Waxwing is "saying" to the other one?

About the Image: Taken on 11-25-11 - a very dark morning. The waxwings were in the backyard tree. I took this thru the window - at ISO 1600.

Learn, Live, Hope

White-breasted Nuthatch - On the Climb

That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much, who has gained the respect of the intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Cardinal in the Snow

Remember

This December,

That love weighs more than gold!

~Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

About the Image: Taken on Christmas Day 2010.

Hearts in Nature - Frosted Heart

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles. 
~Washington Irving

About the image: Seen during a morning walk 12-03-11 - Izaak Walton Park

Singing Titmouse

Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.

~Emory Austin

White-throated Sparrow - Outside My Window

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.

~ Ralph Marston

Bluebird Celebration

~Celebrate Each Day~

Let Your Heart Guide You

Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen carefully. 

~ Littlefoot's Mother, Land Before Time

Skywatch Friday - Sun Setting on the Branches

Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wind and the rain and the thunder in the sky. Life is matter and is earth, what is and what is not, and what beyond is in Eternity.

~Seneca

Taken on my Iphone last weekend.

To see more cool Sky Shots from all over the World - Visit - Skywatch Friday - HERE

Carolina Wren - All Puffed Up

A wonderful realization will be the day you realize that you are unique in all the world. There is nothing that is an accident. You are a special combination for a purpose - and don't let them tell you otherwise... only you can fulfill that tiny space that is yours.

~Leo Buscaglia

Mushroom Discovery

I embrace emerging experience. I participate in discovery. I am a butterfly. I am not a butterfly collector. I want the experience of the butterfly.

~William Stafford

I "think" this is a Shaggy Ink cap Mushroom. ID help is appreciated!!

Preening Mama Mallard

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness Flutters .....

Laugh, Think, Cry - Make it a Full Day

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.

~Jim Valvano

~ This Quote Speaks to My Soul ~

Journey-work of the Stars

Carolina Chickadee - Eye to Eye

You can observe a lot by just watching.

~ Yogi Berra

The Art Of Living

Let Go of the Worries ~ Hold On to Your Hopes and Dreams

About the image: I used a bunch of textures by Kim Klassen - can't remember which ones. Visit her blog - HERE - to see the details on getting free textures and tutorials on how to use textures.

Wispy Dandelion - Macro Monday

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

About the Image: Dandelion Pappus - 12-03-11 Izaak Walton Park - Christiansburg, VA

I didn't know what the little "wispy" part of the dandelion was called. I looked it up and Wikipedia tells me that it is called a Pappus (Pappi would be the plural).

"feathery bristles of the pappus function as a "parachute" which enables the seed to be carried by the wind" I LOVE learning new things!

For More Macro Monday shots - Visit LISA - HERE

Bare Trees - Reflections

This is actually the "upside down shot"

Trees reflected in the pond.

Seeing, in the finest and broadest sense, means using your senses, your intellect, and your emotions. It means encountering your subject matter with your whole being. It means looking beyond the labels of things and discovering the remarkable world around you.

~ Freeman Patterson

About the image: Taken 12-03-11 Izaak Walton Park - Christiansburg. Virginia

Hearts In Nature - Tree Bark Heart

Cultivate a heart of love that knows no anger.

~Unknown

About the image: Taken 12-02-11 - Deerfield Trail - Blacksburg, Virginia

I love finding hearts in nature!