sunshine – Living, Loving, Laughing….

“Bring me then the plant that points to those bright Lucidites swirling up from the earth, And life itself exhaling that central breath! Bring me the sunflower crazed with the love of light”

-Eugenio Montale

I think Sunflowers are nature’s sunshine. They bring forth a gasp of joy to see them soaring over the pruned and the trimmed.

Look! Sunflowers!

When I look at them I do get crazed, not just for their long-standing love of light, but for my very own love of LIFE.

If sunflowers were like daisies, I would count the petals on each one and give thanks for every love I hold in my heart.

Kinda like this…..

I love the sun…..watching it rise……watching it set. All the colors, a brilliant painting in the sky, every morning, and every night. The colors display violent orange endings, and bright pink new beginnings. There is hope, because the sun says….I am one true thing. I will rise every day. And even on cloudy days, I will be waiting for the storm to pass.

I love the feel of the wind whipping up from the shore. My face presses against it and my hair wraps around it. It makes me feel refreshed and revived. The wind knows no boundaries, it only wants to soar. I want to soar with it, and rise up, high above in wild abandon.

I love the first sip of coffee in the morning. The warmth that travels down and settles deep. A constant comfort I can count on to begin my day. It lifts me up and holds me tight. It is my first hug every morning from the inside out.

I love the feel of soft fluffy fur. The grunting sounds of puppy sleep. The happy prances of uncontainable happiness – at dinner, at greetings, or at anything really. Their fuzzy cuddles at night, and their constant adoration, so full of loyalty, and gratefulness. It is unchanging. If I had my dog’s life, I would know every secret of the soul – simplicity in action.

I love holding hands as I fall asleep at night. The touch of a loved one that says…..I am here. Hold onto me. Never let go, just rest. I slumber into sweet sleep knowing……I am safe……I am loved.

I love the beauty of nature. God’s touch in a gorgeous canvas of color and light. A landscape of wonder and design. The careful work of the pollinating bee. The curve of the flower’s lovely stem. The ripple of newness made from oldness, in a way that continues on, and on – just like life, and just like love.

Don’t forget to count your loves, even if you don’t have a sunflower.

Photos by Angelia. Taken at Veterans Park in Arlington, Tx. If you like the photos…please like my Photography page.

Sorry for the lack of posting and blog visiting. Seems the spring cleaning bug bit me while on my trip. This is good! I have a lot to get done before I start work again and I need all the help I can get (aka motivation). I plan on catching up next week. I will be training out-of-town and won’t have the distractions: hungry teen, laundry, dishes, plants, mowing, dogs to potty/clean up after, commuting. It almost sounds like another vacation, yes?

Please send Jason some good vibes. Not only will he be dealing with his “normal” crazy life, but he will be stepping into the role of teen parent – helping me out while I’m away – seven years sooner than he should be. Pray. Ha!
🙂

Our trip was amazing. The wildflowers are blooming, especially between San Antonio and Corpus. Purple, pink, blue, yellow, and red stretch like flowing waves as if God dipped his paintbrush and painted a canvas of color. Pictures would not have done it justice and had we stopped for each beauty mark we would have never made it here and back (at least for many, many, many days).

We had a great time. Residence Inn had plenty of space for all three of us. The beach was just as sweet and calming as I had imagined. I never wanted to leave. Ever.

Trip pics

We didn’t forget the sunscreen, in fact, SPF 100 works very well. Yes, 100! I had no idea they even MADE that. Wow.

I love the seagulls. I don’t love feeding them, because they turn ugly real quick, but this one in the air is what I love most. The swift glide they have, and their soft float landings.

Just like a rock star, I really do wish I had her sense of fashion. It truly is inherit and not environment, or environment not inherit, whichever – her aunt is very stylish.

Sand art, courtesy of Jason, believe it or not, someone actually came by and took a picture (besides me that is). Heh!

~~Bug eyes and I~~ Sydney and I took a nice two-mile trek along the beach. This was before, you don’t want to see the after. Walking on sand? Not easy (for me anyway), but I love it just the same. The exercise and the sights. We got to see a bride in her wedding dress being photographed. Awesome.

Bird? Plane? Size of shark? Don’t you love playing charades in the ocean? Surely she wasn’t jumping over that teeny wave? Hmm.

Perfect ending to a perfect trip. The eight-hour drive back wasn’t even that bad…. considering that SYDNEY drove a big part of it…YIKES. Luckily I had the sea breeze to meditate on – that doesn’t work when parking at Starbucks REAL close to another car if you’d like to know – but the sounds of children playing, seagulls calling, the smells of the salty air, and the gorgeous palm trees flapping in the gust. Ah. Those. Those work wonders while driving with a teenager.