quote monday

                             

                           Life is a succession of lessons
                      which must be lived to be understood.
                                                           -Helen Keller

Happy Monday!
~norma~


The above photo was taken at Waimea Canyon in Hawaii. It was a beautiful treat when we took a drive to the canyon. 
The view was large and colorful and seeing the waterfall in the distance was a surprise. 

I took the photo as my phone saw it. Chuck took it with his camera with a bit of a zoom and a 
filter setting to enhance the colors. 

Here is his version:

A bit of a WOW don't you think?

glass beach and rock balancing

While we were in Hawaii in January, we visited a small beach that we had heard about on our last trip there. Supposedly, it is where glass "trash" from far out in the ocean washes ashore. Evidently, there are many such beaches and some people even keep it a bit of a secret as to where good glass combing beaches are located. Talking with a woman the second morning I visited here, she said there is actually a Facebook page dedicated to glass-hunting lovers. I haven't checked it out because I'm not sure I'm really at that level of a gatherer. Not yet anyway.

With my propensity towards looking for tiny treasures along the waters edge, I suppose it could happen. And of course, with my daughter's new found love of making rings, and my long admired interest in learning the particular skill of silver work...I may become a gatherer at the next level. 

So, this is Glass Beach.

                       It's not very big, but instead of sand granules, it is all little pieces of glass.

Sea glass galore. Most of it is brown as you can see, but the challenge of the whole experience is finding larger pieces and mostly good colors...like the blues and the greens.

It was really a surprise when I looked closely and saw that it is a beach of full of sea glass with a few sand grains and small rocks mixed in. I found a pretty nice collection of good pieces here and Chuck and I followed a path around to the lava rock coast where we hiked down and found some more pieces and some little shell and coral treasures as well. An interesting adventure!

The second morning that I visited, I was there earlier and by myself for a few minutes. When I looked over towards the end of the beach I saw this rock sculpture that someone had stacked. It was not there the day before, in fact, in this same spot there had been a monk seal basking in the sun. I snapped a couple of pics of this balancing act that was actually about waist high, before continuing on my glass seeking expedition. Soon, another couple joined me on the beach. I turned to point towards the balancing rocks telling them they should check it out. But, as my eyes searched the beach it was no longer there. Instead, I could see wet sand and just one of the toppled rocks closer to the water. The tide had brought the waves up higher and had erased the stack just minutes after I had been there. I felt like I had stumbled onto something special that no one else would see that morning.

The entire time we were enjoying our Hawaiian beach stay, I was finding one heart shaped piece of coral or rock after another , so when I saw this... I felt like a rock star!

Speaking of rock stars, do you remember my post last summer about the sand sculptor Ray, that did that amazing elephant in the plaza in town? You can refresh your memory by clicking here to see his wonderful work. He's back again and working on a new one! I went by yesterday and saw Ray and his helper Nickoli working on their new sand wonderment! I hope to get more photos of the progress they make each day. While I was there, Ray had taken a break to 'balance rocks', which is another one of his talents and I believe a way to break from the sand and re-focus his mind. I blogged about it last year too, when I discovered a young boy trying his hand at it after learning some tricks from Ray. You can read all about it here , if you want.

I asked him if it was ok that I stand close to watch and he said "yes, of course'. It is so very fascinating that he can balance these rocks with such precision and steady hand. He had tried to get the round rock, in the above picture, to balance on the big one without success, so he moved on to the smaller stack to the right. He kept trying, but it just wouldn't 'catch', as he called it. And then they all tumbled. He turned and smiled at me and said...'you can try it now", as he walked away to work on his sand sculpting once again.

So, this is what I stacked. Not quite the balancing act that his was or the one on the beach, but very much me.

I considered it a success and walked away with a smile!

And a reminder to keep your heart balanced and not let the heavy things weigh you down.

Also, to remember that no matter how big the accomplishment...everyone is a rock star!

quote monday

Oh hello.

                               “You may say I'm a dreamer, 
                                            but I'm not the only one. 
                             I hope someday you'll join us. 
                                And the world will live as one.” 
                                                                                                                    ― John Lennon


This past week and a half were good ones. We had so many connections with friends and relatives, mostly from Colorado. It was so very nice to spend time with each and every one of them. Visits like these are great! They do a heart good.

As we were sharing stories with two such heart warmers...I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I said to our friends..."very slowly stand and turn around and look at the door."

SLOWLY!

They followed my instruction and were greeted by this little fellow looking in our back door at us. He locked eyes and stood long enough for me to snap three pics and then he moseyed on his way off the patio and out of sight. We tell people stories about sightings of wildlife in our yard all of the time and they get to see pictures, but things rarely happen when others are around. So, for our friends....this was a treat!

I was reminded this weekend by someone to "embrace the ambrosia" in my life.  She was referencing something from a few years ago, but as I've given it new thought I've decided "well yes, don't we all need to do that?"  The sweet and the sour, the mild and the spicy, all the ambrosia given to us, let's take it.

Whether it leaves a lump in our throats or a satisfaction in our belly. Whether we need a drink of water to wash it down or an antacid to chase away its bitterness, let's chew it and enjoy the best parts and thank our lucky stars we have each other to enjoy it with.

Savor your ambrosia!
Happy Monday

~norma~

quote monday

                       It is not happy people that are grateful 
                                    it is grateful people that are happy.
                                                                                                   -unknown


Happy Monday!
Happy Tulips finding their way in my grocery cart and on to my table.
Be Happy everyone!
Be grateful.
~norma~

ode to the toad

We lived in Lima, Ohio, for four years during my 4th through 8th grade years. It was one of five states that I lived during my "school age" years. And, when I reminisce about the different places we lived while growing up, I'd say... without a doubt, it is on the top of the list of places that we lived as a family. The neighborhood was a good one for kids and of course it was still a time when we could play outside all day, only checking in at the time we were suppose to be home.

My best friend Melanie lived right next door. Very convenient, especially since we were the same age. She went to a private school but, after school, weekends and summers, we played together a lot. There was a reservoir up the street from us which made for a great sledding hill in the winter.  In the summer, we practiced rock skipping and fishing. It is where I perfected the wrist action of the trusty Zebco with my Dad while fishing for a sunfish or two. There was also a creek that ran through the neighborhood, where we spent a lot of time crawdad fishing, wading and even ice-skating in the winter. I clearly remember the day Melanie's skate broke through the ice and her leg fell in up to her knee. I was skating right beside her and pulled her to safety when she grabbed onto me in a panic. I remember it as the "time my friend almost fell through the ice." In reality, I'm not sure how deep that creek really was... but it certainly scared the two of us enough to end our ice skating for the day. Besides the fact that she had a frozen wet foot!

 

Another fun summer activity that we enjoyed was to catch toads. They were plentiful in the neighborhood. As plentiful as skinned knees, mosquitos and lightening bugs. We would play with them like pets, stroking their dimply, textured skin and  loosely tying string around their 'necks' so we could take them for walks. We also set up little habitats in our window wells, complete with beds, swimming pools and playgrounds.  And we fed them lightening bugs. We would hold the live bug on our finger an inch or two from the frogs mouth. Its tongue would leap out and grab the bug! That in-itself was cool, but did you know... if you do this at dusk, catch the bugs and feed it to the toad it will swallow it  and expand its 'rib-it' neck and the lightening bug will light up and you can see it glow through the toads skin?

I kid you not.

Tangent happening here: Recently I went into a Sephora store to get some foundation that I was out of. I like a particular brand that I've been using for awhile, because it has SPF protection and is a pretty good match for my skin type. I've never had luxuriously silky skin and have had my fair share 

(time to say enough already at this age) of acne, which has left my skin less than smooth. I  started browsing a different brand that has a particular item that I use as well. I started wondering if I should make a foundation change. So, I asked the make-up professional if she thought 'brand A' was still a good selection for me, or would 'brand B' work better?  She took a close look at my face and said....   

"Well, I think that 'A' would still be the best choice for you, it works really well on textured skin." 

  

                                        Okay.

So, back to Ohio and the whole toad story. One day, Melanie and I found a whole pool of tadpoles in the creek. Thousands and thousands of tadpoles. We got the very good, very scientific idea to scoop  a couple of handfuls of those tadpoles and creek water into buckets and bring them home. So we did. We rode our bikes, while carrying our buckets of tadpoles, all the way home.

                                              We were going to hatch toads!! Or frogs!! 

We kept our buckets in her garage and checked on them often. They were so cute with their big black heads and little wiggly tails swimming around in those buckets! We waited patiently. I don't remember how many days passed while we checked on our little tadpoles. But, I do know that soon  little arm and leg buds started popping out. The little buds got longer and started looking like 'frog legs' and our little tadpoles were beginning to look a bit more like frogs/toads...with tails. So exciting! We were like little scientists! And then I don't know what happened...if we lost interest for a couple of days or what, but all we both remember is her Dad calling us out to the garage one day....

 ...all over the garage floor were tiny little frogs. Dead, dried up little frogs. They had turned into frogs when we weren't looking and jumped out of the water buckets and then dried up and died. We were crushed. I think we had to sweep them up and throw them away. We had killed them. 

So, all of these years later, Melanie and I have kept in touch. We have laughed about those little frogs or toads, whichever they were. It was an honest mistake that any kid could make. Who knew they would jump out of the buckets? We've laughed over a lot of good memories from those years on Barnsbury Drive. A fun place to live!

This Christmas a box came for me from Melanie. This adorable cement toad was inside. Her note said, "It's not like the wild pool side friends [in your yard] but maybe it will remind you of Ohio!" 
I love it!! It is from Carruth Studios in Ohio, where the artist casts stone garden creatures. It's a perfect addition to my outdoor yard decor and yes Melanie...I will think of Ohio and you and those great memories of fun times we had together! Especially with the toads!
                                 

                                                                    The end.


P.S. Thank you again Melanie for this cute little guy. I love him!

quote monday

                          I hope you always 
                             find a reason to smile.
                                                       -unknown

These two cute birds were on one of the beaches we were lounging on recently in Hawaii.

I looked them up and found that they are called the Red-Crested Cardinal.  They, however, are not closely related to the Cardinal family but a Tananger instead. We had fun watching them frolic around picking their way through the sand.  Similar to the two of us I suppose. We enjoy frolicking around and picking our way through the sand too. There are always treasures to be found like little bitty shells, little bits of sea glass, coral and the ocean. Oh yes, the ocean. Lots and lots of ocean.

Thank you little red headed birds. You were fun to watch and you certainly made me smile.

Happy Monday!
Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow.

~norma~

quote monday

                             I believe in the ocean curing all bad moods. 
                  I believe in the waves wiping away all worries. 
                                  I believe in seashells bringing good luck. 
                  I believe in toes in the sand grounding my soul.
                                                                                                       -author unknown

I believe I was meant to live near the ocean.
I love everything about it.
But then I would miss the mountains.
And the salty air makes my hair really unruly.
But, a few weeks here and there?
That would be good for my soul.
And who doesn't need a better mood now and then?

It really is a magical place...the ocean.
Yep...take me there anytime.

Happy Monday.
Happy New Year.
Happy I'm back to posting.

~norma~