Morning Shadow

I was trying to photograph flowers but my shadow kept getting in the way as I moved to find the right angle. So, I snapped my shadow instead.

Reflections #3

Yesterday’s puddle
made by the spring rain
Everything dull gray.

Late Winter

Happy that winter
Wouldn’t quietly retreat
In a mushy mess.

Winter, 2017

Reflections 2 and Haiku

Lonely winter day
Overlooking the Great South
Bay from Long Island.

Winter in New York

This was taken on a cold day in February on Long Island in New York. The sun could barely penetrate the cloud cover and even the rays that did pop through seemed to stop short of the earth.

Source: Winter in New York

Haiku

Earth of rock and moss

Underneath is gravity

Holding, hugging us.

Source: Haiku

Winter Landscape

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Snow brightens the scene
No amount cloud cover
Takes beauty away.

Hope

Sky Over Jones Beach

Hope is a useful attitude. For me, the idea that something may be obtainable has carried me through some tough times.  When my sister was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, hope induced me to research treatments and pharmaceutical trials. After all, she was young and she possessed the strength to pursue harsh medical protocols. Of course, the less obtainable something becomes, the less hope we feel. Once it became apparent that the treatments didn’t work and that there wasn’t that much out there to do anything but prolong her life a month or two more, it was time to reassess the situation. Hope was no longer a motivation. The main concern became alleviating her pain.

Just this year, I realized that decades ago I gave up hope of ever being loved again. Yes, all these years I have been in a relationship. We have worked together, raised children together, traveled together and prepared for old age together. Yet, the love aspect of the relationship withered a while ago leaving us in a business partner/ friend position. That’s fine.  Many, many couples experience this role progression and make it work. We are too.

Still, I think of resurrecting that hope–of somehow, in some way  feeling in love with someone again.

Ten Surprising Things That Happen When You Fall In Love.

 

Roslyn Harbor

1. You are much more likely to smile when you are in love. Your reactions to the world around you are tempered by the addition of tender feelings.

2. When there is a problem that affects you, you are less likely to place blame preferring to give the benefit of the doubt to people around you and work from that point.

3. Love is a surprise that delights the soul and provides buoyancy so that we seem to float through the day.

4. Your imagination expands and provides a spring board for ideas and alternative options when there is love in your heart.

5. Love makes our touch tender and brings calm to the tumult around us.

6. We allow ourselves to expand our horizons–to see beyond the usual, the expected  when love enters our thought process.

7. Love brings happiness and that becomes a sturdy platform for hope.

8. We are more tolerant and willing to accept feelings, behaviors, and beliefs that are different than our own.

9. Love keeps you slightly off balance preventing rigidity from taking over your thoughts.

10. You are kind to others when you’re in love.  There is no reason for animosity.  Friendly relations are preferred.

Please feel free to add other surprising things that happen when you fall in love in the comments below.