We are home.

Through experiences of life,

you are growing and you are

unfolding the great potentials

that are within you. Everything

is working for good.

--- Mary Kupferle

We got home last night from our lovely get-away. The weather was fabulous and the ocean is beyond words. I have a few more pictures I will share over the next couple of days, but I wanted to at least get 2 posted now. (below) The whale pictures didn't turn out....too far away, but I tell you, it was a highlight of my life to see those darling little whale "puffs" out in the ocean. And then just the skim of their backs. A couple of times we did see their glorious tails too ! We hope to get back there next month while the motel is still having their "2 nights for the price of one" special. Hopefully it will be clear and some of the mother whales will be heading north with their babies. :o) The ones we saw were still heading south to Baja.

HAVE A GRATEFUL DAY!

WHALES !

I don't know what your

destiny will be, but one thing

I do know, the only ones

among you who will be

really happy are those

who have sought and

found how to serve.

--- Albert Schweitzer

I had to do a quick post. We ended up heading to the coast a day earlier (yesterday) and guess what? We saw whales today! Dozens of them ! This isn't a picture of mine, but you get the idea! :o) I have been going to the beach forever (Santa Cruz when I was a kid and teenager) and then for the past 25 years, I was always on the lookout for the whales and have never seen them. BUT this morning there they were! It was so amazing to see dozens of them all day....their little whale spout's spraying!
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HAVE A WHALE-OF-A-TALE EVENING!

Fulfill your Life

Life is a promise;

fulfill it.

--- Mother Teresa

Another postcard from 1909 - one hundred years ago.

It looks like we will head over to the coast tomorrow...yippee! The weather is suppose to be in the mid-60's and clear. As you all know, I absolutely love the ocean and each time we go it invigorates me for at least a couple of days! :o) We are also hoping to see some whales as it is whale-watching season on the North Coast of California. (usually Dec. thru Mar.) Let's see, I can't remember if they are coming or going on their journey! Now if I can get everything ready at a decent hour so we can leave before noon. That is one of my challenges....getting out of the house with everything done and completed!

HAVE A PROMISING DAY!

Baby Steps !

We are all meant to shine,

as children do. We were

born to make manifest the

glory of God that is within

us. It is not just in some of us;

It is in everyone.

--- Marianne Williamson

Postmarked 1909

We are heading to the store again today and I actually worked a bit on my website last night. Baby steps.
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HAVE A GLORIOUS DAY!

Where did the rain go?

Come what may,

we can push on,

rise up no matter how

many times we fall down,

and turn even failure

into success.

--- James Dillet Freeman

Can you imagine the difference in the weather as Laura was in San Diego, California and Mary in Warren, Ohio? Especially in February! I guess just like today, but somehow it seems like it was even colder in 1911 without our "modern" conveniences. :o)

We are off to the store today and I will be going to Santa Rosa too. The sun is out, which is nice, but we need the rain !

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HAVE A SHINING DAY!

Let's go

Life loves to be taken by

the lapel and told:

"I'm with you kid.

Let's go."

--- Dr. Maya Angelou

My lab results were back last week (they didn't take as long as we thought) and I saw the doctor on Friday. Yes, the lyme's test was positive. So I do have some form of lyme's. Although that is what we thought all along, and the other test indicated, I still don't know what to think and feel very discouraged.

I will need to go on antibiotics, but will wait until the end of Feb. so I can finish up some of the other things I have been doing. I went off my sugar wagon on Friday and had a Starbucks and lovely chocolaty cupcake after 2 1/2 weeks of neither. One foot in front of the other and soon you'll be walking out that door.....remember that song from the 1970 Christmas special "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"?

Put One Foot In Front Of The Other
by Jules Bass

from www.santasearch.org

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking out the door

~~~~~

You never will get where you’re going

If you never get up on your feet

Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing

A fast walking man is hard to beat

~~~~~

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking out the door

~~~~~

If you want to change your direction

If your time of life is at hand

Well don’t be the rule be the exception

A good way to start is to stand

~~~~~

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking out the door

~~~~~

If I want to change the reflection

I see in the mirror each morn

You mean that it's just my election

To vote for a chance to be reborn

~~~~~

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking out the door

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I never knew all the lyrics to that song...love them!

HAVE A BABY STEPS

KIND OF A DAY!

Boldness and Begin

Whatever you do,

or dream you can,

begin it. Boldness has

genius and power

and magic in it.

--- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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HAVE A THRILLING DAY!

First Steps

Take the first step in faith.

You don't have to see the

whole staircase, just take

the first step.

--- Martin luther King, Jr.

From 1910. I love how Clara

invites Irean to "come down

next summer and we will have

watermelon"!

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HAVE AN INSPIRING DAY!

KINDNESS IN FEELING

Kindness in words

creates confidence;

kindness in thinking

creates profoundness;

kindness in feeling

creates love.

--- Lao-Tzu

Postmark 1909. I wonder why "Mamma" took her out of school until next Feb.? That would have been a whole year.

There has been a bit of rain up our way, but not pouring. We still may head over to Mendocino tomorrow, rain or not. :o) How I miss the ocean. I am still working on items that reflect that love and they will be for sale soon.

Enjoying the sun from last week.

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As you can tell from some of the cat pictures of past, there are pumpkins galore. We just threw out the rest of the pumpkins and decided to cover them with soil (and a fabric weed-covering so the cats don't use it as a toilet) and see if the pumpkins sprout this year. I got pumpkins once this way (actually we didn't even cover them with soil or anything, they just came up and produced pumpkins all by themselves) when we lived in Fortuna....what a treat that was! :o)

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HAVE A DAY FILLED

WITH NEW BEGINNINGS!

How big is your heart?

The size of your body

is of little account;

the size of your brain

is of much account;

the size of your heart

is of the most account of all.

--- B.C. Forbes

My honey is home and for more than a week! We had planned to go to the coast for a quick getaway, but it is suppose to start raining and continue for most of this next week. (which is technically a YEAH! but I do wish our nice weather would have held 2 more days!) It is cloudy today, but so far no rain. We may still head over tomorrow and just enjoy the view and company. :o)

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HAVE A LOVING DAY!

Yes, you can, Yes, we can !

He who cannot forgive others

breaks the bridge over which

he must pass himself.

--- George Herbert

I was touched and encouraged and pleased with President Obama's speech today. Realistic words that we can all practice within our own lives. "Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint." --- from President Barack Obama's inaugural speech.

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HAVE AN ANYTHING

IS POSSIBLE

KIND OF DAY!

Are you playing?

Lost! Somewhere between

sunrise and sunset,

twenty four golden hours,

each set with

sixty diamond minutes.

No reward is offered,

for they are gone forever.

— HORACE MANN

I think this quote is not only meant for getting things done. It can also mean to enjoy your Life... make time to play, laugh, relax and have fun.

Another sweet image, this one by Frances Brundage. Date on the bottom front, 1912, but postmarked on the back, 1913. This will be my last New Year's postcard...on to Valentine's Day.




I wasn't going to do a long post today, but when Life calls, do we listen? Something I am trying to learn and practice. First, I hope everyone is reflecting a bit on Martin Luther King's Day and how it affects us all, not just in terms of equal rights and race, but in our own personal journeys of growth and fulfillment. I think this is the same with Barack Obama becoming our 44th president tomorrow. His call to service (very much like John Kennedy's) reflects a message of hope and truth. We can only be truly happy and successful when we are helping others, and in the process we help ourselves. It is a very fine line, yet really not a line at all, as we are all interconnected with each other, whether we want to believe it or not. As John Donne's quote includes "no man is an island", we are all in this together, for the purpose of fulfilling Life. What does that mean? I think it means that everything we do, our thoughts included, make up all of what is our life on this beautiful planet. (Someone once said that all of the thoughts that you have ever thought are here still, surrounding us. Yikes! That is probably not a good thing most of the time.) This is why the little things matter the most. Being attentive and courteous while you are driving.(no cell phones, use your blinker, no tail-gating, check your blindspot) Patience while you are standing in line.(make sure you have eaten and used the bathroom before errands) Calm when someone seems to get a rise out of you. (Breathe and bless this person because who knows what they are experiencing) and for you parents out there (I know, I have no children, but I do have eyes and a brain) what are you really teaching your children about Life when you, yourself, are frazzled, stressed, depleted? I will tell you, you are continuing the cycle of distress by example. What do you truly want to give your children? That next new toy or designer shoes or a sense of accomplishment, a love of helping others and the ability to keep themselves centered and relaxed during good or challenging times? Let us know that the sun, literally, will shine again (for those of you back East), the economy will be just fine (cycles of life) and that we can all contribute to the health, peace and joy of our planet just by being our true self (no ego and no worries of the future), the you that you are meant to be. (And deep down, each one of us really knows what that is.)
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"EACH ONE HELPS THE OTHER, SAYING TO ONE ANOTHER, "TAKE COURAGE"!"
--- Isaiah 41:6
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Today I planned to just post the below photos and instead ended up a bit preachy! (which is, I guess, what blogging is all about sometimes! :o) Anyway, I took these pictures yesterday morning as these 2 little goofballs were playing and carrying on. They are siblings, but I have no idea if they are male or female. They were sure having fun and as you can tell by the end, they both just sit there like, "now what do we do?"

Time to switch places, mid-playing.

NOW WHAT?

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HAVE A DAY FILLED WITH PLAYFUL PATIENCE!

FOCUS on the task at hand.

Do not brood over the past

or dream of the future

but seize the instant and

get the lesson from the hour.
--- Orison Swett Marden

I love this postcard image!

From December 1907

I hate to rub it in, but the day is suppose to be a comfortable 65 again. Yesterday it said it was 70, but my thermometer said about 64. I'll tell you though, it was warm enough to sit out in the sun with a skirt and tanktop at 2:30 in the afternoon. (which I should have been doing all week and didn't!) I stayed out about 30 minutes and was warm all the way down to my toes! Which is such a relief as my toes are usually freezing! :o) To all of you east of the Rockies, hang in there! (I know, easy to say, but hey, would you rather have me say, "Ha, Ha"?) The sun and warmth will return before you know it. As you know, we need some winter rain here so desperately and hopefully we will start getting some this next week. This lovely weather is suppose to break on Wednesday and drop about 8 to 10 degrees. So as we start getting our rain and cooler weather, the rest of the country will warm up! :o) It always seems to do that every year. Remember?

- Hunting birds -

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HAVE A FOCUSED DAY!

Angels and a Alligator

Be not forgetful to entertain

strangers, for thereby some have

entertained angels unawares.

--- Hebrews 13:2

I was only going to post my daily postcard today, but then I received an email from my Dad showing the below photo! Yes, it is a true photo taken in March 2004 by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The story accompanying the photos in the email is not accurate but the pictures in the water are. Go here http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2004/r04-073.html

to read the whole story and see more pictures.

Go here http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp to read what snopes.com had to say. (love that site for checking stories) I have always had an interest in science (at 5 years old I thought I would be a scientist) and detective work ( I am a closeted detective ) so when I received this email I thought I would check the facts to see if it is true as now-a-days you can doctor any photo with photoshop. Isn't life amazing!

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HAVE AN AMAZING DAY

FILLED WITH WONDER

AND SURPRISES!