Just Something to Think About....

Big ass birds.
Big ass birds have always simultaneously fascinated and scared the shit out of me.
But I would love to check this thing out in it's deceased state.
Even though I have always been told not to mess with dead birds because they have mites.
Morbid?
Maybe.


*thought for the day brought to you by this place.

Friday Pool Party!!!

Have you noticed that I'm doing good to get one post a week around here?
What do you mean, that's all you've ever expected from me?!?
Okay. Okay. This actually makes two this week, smarty pants.

Anyway. I couldn't help but throw in a pool party. This pic is breaking my heart wide open. As much as I love autumn, I don't really like my feet being cold. I'm pretty sure that I would be warm as sunshine lounging there on those pillows.

I'd love to stick around a bit, but it's time to go workout. Gotta keep the blood pumping in order to keep the toes toasty.

Happy weekend, darlings!


*pic from here via here.

Hometown Tourists

The Hubs and I spent our Saturday pretending to be tourists in our own backyard. There are so many pretty places to see where we live. So many sights. So many hikes. So many waterfalls and vistas and mountaintops. We all take field trips to these places when we are small, but it's easy to forget about them when we are actually old enough to appreciate them. We take it for granted and overlook the things that tourists flock to see every year.

We drove to Mt. Mitchell, which is the highest peak east of the Mississippi, via the Blue Ridge Parkway. While there, we hiked a loop that smelled so strongly of spruce trees that we sniffed and grinned the entire time. After stopping at every overlook on our way back, we decided to hike down to Crabtree Falls. A nice long hike on very rocky trails. I would like to thank whoever it was who blazed these trails and built stone staircases and retainer walls and bridges and benches. And I'd like to thank God for making the things that are worth the effort to see.

So if I get behind you on the road during tourist season and you are driving ridiculously slow, I will probably cuss you a bit under my breath. But truly, I can't blame you one bit. My big backyard of the Blue Ridge Mountains is one spectacular sight to see.



*all photos are my own.

Soul Sharing

I am a crier. True story.
I wasn't always a crier. No. Quite the opposite, actually. I was stoic. I could hold back emotion like nobodies business.
But there is something interesting about having depression. You see, you either learn to let your emotions flow so you can deal with them......or, you hold them inside and let them eat at you.

I remember sitting in church as a child and feeling such raw emotion roiling inside of me. I would be on the brink of tears and, yet, I would hold them back like they were wild beasts waiting to eat everyone in my path. But it was always there. The emotion. Those tears. They were always there. When a song moved me. When a movie tugged at my heart-strings. When a harsh word was thrown my way. When a flock of birds flew over my head and I could feel the pounding of their wings in my own heart. Those tears. They glassed over my eyes and pooled at the edges, waiting for permission to fall.
But, no. I would tilt my head back and take a deep breath and blink wide so the air would dry them before they escaped.

Then something happened. I lost control of the beasts. Like a den full of hungry wild dogs, they would attack me. They would come with no warning. They poured from my eyes for no reason at all. Nothing would trigger them. And they would drop at the most inopportune times.

I had lost the leash.

You see.... that's the thing about tears. They don't actually dry up. The only way that you can really make them go away is to let them fall. Otherwise, they just gather in the deepest part of your heart. And the longer they stay down there...the longer you keep them stifled and chained, the wilder they get. The more they yearn to be freed.

Let them out. Trust me.
Let them out before they eat your heart.
Your tears are hungry. Feed them air.


*photo from here.

Hugs

In need of a warm embrace.......


*all these images from this beautifully explicit (there's your warning) pinboard.

Flowers For Friday

Just thought I would share a few pics with you. Some pretty pink, indoor blooms. And the hub and myself before going out for a friends birthday. FYI: It's hard to give a guy with thick, curly hair a fauxhawk. But I still like it.

Hope you have good things planned for this weekend.
Hugs and Sunshine to all of you. XOXO

It's Almost......

October, people! It's right around the corner.
And I'm feeling very much like this pooch. I want nothing more than to curl up on my couch and take a nice, cozy nap.

Autumn always brings about a major push/pull in my emotions and energy level. I find myself wanting to sit and relax and enjoy every little thing. But, at the same time, I can't seem to calm myself long enough to do so. I laid out of work this past Friday, hoping to have some alone time at home. Instead, I worked ten times harder than I normally do at "work". I dug up what seemed like a ton of hosta and daylilies and cut a huge section of forsythia down to the nub. It was a hell of a job. Those forsythia were as big as ornamental trees! It took a set of hedge clippers and a hacksaw. ..... Then, on Sunday, I did a major overhaul of my living room. Rearranged furniture. Cleaned. Weeded out the unwanted items. I've been going non-stop. And it all caught up with me this morning, when I couldn't hardly give myself a good enough reason for getting out of the bed.

This is a problem, folks. And, apparently, I am not the only one who noticed. My Yoga Journal magazine came in the mail the other day and there is an article inside about the benefits of doing a fall detox. It's the perfect time to slow yourself down from the fast pace of summer and get yourself in order mentally. Not only that, but it's also the perfect time to reinforce your immune system and be prepared to fight off the inevitable viruses of winter. I'm seriously thinking about dedicating a week and following their sage advice. You can check it out for yourself right here. { I should also add that this is not the kind of detox that normally pops into peoples heads at the mention of the word. }

September is usually one of my very favorite months of the year. I can't believe that it's almost over already. This has not been a normal September for me. Maybe taking some time to slow down and take care of myself will help me enjoy the remainder of my favorite season. ~

On a completely unrelated note: I piled all of the plants that I dug up beside the road and put up a sign that declared them "FREE" to whomever wanted to pick them up. A friend of mine told me that this method would not work because people have some sort of thing about freebies. And, to be honest with you, I agreed. But I tried it anyway. And guess what! It worked. Within a few days, every single one of those plants (and trust me, there was a massive pile) were taken. So.....to my friend of little faith. You were wrong. ;)


*pic from here.