Beauty is Hard to Capture in Photos

We have a beautiful snow falling today! I tried taking pictures but it just doesn't capture it! It reminds me of the view of Mount Hood visable driving down certain roads in our town. It is so beautiful that it takes my breath away every time I see it, yet it doesn't show up on my camera.

Some things need to be experienced, and cataloged in our memory banks rather than our digital photo albums. But I keep trying!

A friend of mine from Chicago once told me that the smaller the snow flakes, the bigger the accumulation. You would think it would be just the opposite! Chicago certainly gets their share of snow, and I have found her words to be true! Today's snow comes with small flakes, so the accumulation will probably be big. The snow from Sunday is still here as well, so this is looking like a winter wonderland!

The girl who lives next door knocked yesterday on our front door, asking if she could 'borrow' some snow from our front yard to build a fort with her friend. I told her sure, have fun. I was pleased that she was so polite.

I remember as a child, building forts with my brother and sisters. It was so much fun! We loved building snowmen, too. My boys and I have built some great forts and snowmen as well. It is so much fun! These days, however, when I come in from playing in the snow for hours and hours, I ask Tim to remind me next time that I am no longer 12! Nowadays, after a day of snowmen, snowball fights, forts, etc., I discover muscles I hadn't used in a while and feel it the next day! But the next time it snows, I'm just as eager to get right out there and play. Today I'm opting for warmth by the fire and yummy soup for lunch!

What are your favorite memories, recent or distant, of playing in the snow?

Every Education Has Its Price

I have used this quote many times since hearing it from a friend many years ago: every education has its price.

Some education experiences cost tuition and time to attend classes, do homework, etc. Other education experiences happen quite differently than that, and the cost varies as much as the experiences do, but has no less a cost.

What was my cost with my education this week? Splinters. Lots of them!

The lesson: put on gardening gloves before you start an outdoor project, not halfway through once your hands are scraped, bleeding and full of tiny splinters!

I realized a few years ago that I have no talent in the area of trimming bushes. I usually trim them so much that it takes years for them to look good as a result of my efforts!

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When I realized that the bushes at the entrance to our driveway had the potential of scraping my beautiful new Dodge Charger, I decided to try trimming again! It actually worked out fine for the bushes this time! They look great! I tried really hard not to scalp them. However, I didn't wear gardening gloves and, as I mentioned, suffered for it! Please keep in mind in the photo above that three of the bushes have lost their leaves (one is evergreen) so that may not look great right now!

When my son, Ben, got home from school that day, he helped me. Before he started helping, I immediately offered him gardening gloves! Why am I so automatically protective of my children but not always protective of myself? He declined (I wonder where he gets that inclination?!). I think it was simultaneous a few minutes later when we both made the decision we needed gloves, but it was a bit late! I have learned that even tiny splinters hurt a lot!

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Much of our education comes as the result of consequences experienced due to the decisions we make in life. Next time, I plan to grab the gloves before I start whacking. With our kids, we try to save them some of the consequences we've experienced by sharing the resulting wisdom. Like us, though, sometimes they listen and other times they have to get that education for themselves. And every education has its price.

What price have you paid for your education experiences in life? --and-- How can we avoid some of those 'splinters' in the future?

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Beauty in Unexpected Places

I looked out of our kitchen window into our backyard on Thanksgiving Day and saw this beautiful rose! Wow! Portland is known as The City of Roses. Apparently, the climate here is ideal for growing roses. We have 8 rose bushes in our backyard! It surprises me that they are still blooming in late November/early December! It will be interesting to experience our first winter in the Pacific Northwest!

This reminds me that, in life, we often find beauty in unexpected places! On our cross country drive when we moved here this fall, we found that to be true. Kansas takes a long time to get across, and is mainly boring scenery! However, even Kansas has a beauty all its own! The farmlands are beautiful. The scenic flinthills are unique. It reminds me that beauty is sometimes very easy to see and sometimes we have to look a bit harder to see it. This happens in people as well as places.

Think of a time in your life when you found unexpected beauty.