Share The Beauty...
 

Boy! The Northern Lights are putting on a spectacular show tonight! Maybe has to do with that solar flare..but really takes your breath away and makes you realize there are higher forces at work.

How about in your little piece of the world? What did you see today to make you stop and be glad you're alive and where you are?

While walking to work today I saw a flock of geese flying on their way south for the winter! It's really amazing how they line up in a V formation!

The beauty of the turning leaves as I drove around today. Also a birdbath full of robins. They have been gone from this area for at least a month. These are just travelers on their way south.

Here in the West Indies we had a beautiful sunset over the ocean, which was calm as a lake. After sundown, we had a wonderful lightening show all night. We, too, wondered if it had anything to do with the solar storm.

i drove through shinnecock hills golf course around sun-up this morning. looking at the leaves turning and thinking just how different the scene will be in june when they play the u.s. open there.

It rained again last night and everything in Sicily is becoming lush and green. The weather was clear and crisp this morning with a little snow atop Mt. Etna and a little puff of smoke billowing out, set against the pink backgroud of sunrise. Its a sight to see.

Was on the beach here in Naples, Florida for my walk/jog this morning by 7:45. The tide was out, the sky is clear, the humidity is down, the temperature is right at 70, the sun was shining, the tiny waves were barely lapping, the pelicans were feeding, the birds were flying. Yea, it's a great day.
Oh yes, I did stop for my Starbuck's skinny latte afterwards.

Last Thursday evening I took a bus going west, and the sunset colors were gorgeous, right in front of me. Tonight I'm going to the same class, although I don't expect the sunset to be always that spectacular. San Franciso, bus #2 "sunset" :)

After about a week of fire and smoke in my area of Los Angeles County, last night I went in the yard to water down the lavender fields and saw the sky was clear and the stars were twinkling. I sat in the garden and smelled the perfume of the lavender which was mixed with the smell of smoke and just thought how fragile life and beauty can be. I was grateful to be sitting where I was and prayed for all of those whose lives have been changed by the ravages of the fire storms. I just had the strongest feeling that Love is there even though it may be hidden behind smoke and hate for a while.

Here in central New Hampshire it's a sunny, cool day, temps in the 50's - quite a change from the 4" of snow and 25 degrees we had last week. The leaves are well past peak color, but there are a few flame red maples still hanging on. Flocks of geese have been passing over head, and I've got to get my firewood in the basement. A beautiful time of year! Since it's clear today, maybe we'll see the light show tonight.

I always love looking out the window here at work. My office is located several miles outside of town and our building backs up to land that is owned by a stable that breeds/raises/boards horses.

From my office window, I can often see these lovely creatures frolicking in the wide-open field. It always makes me smile. They are out right now, as a matter of fact . . . probably because the weather here today (central Oklahoma) is beautiful . . . about 80 degrees under an endless pale blue sky with white clouds.

Jennie :)

It's bright and sunny, the northeast wind is blowing and the falling leaves are swirling on the street. Birds seem to be flying sideways and the clouds are moving very fast in a southerly direction. A school bus just stopped outside my office window and a class of small children on a field trip to the nearly museum huddled against the wind, colorful mufflers wrapped around them and warm mitten and hats. I love the Pac.NW at this time of year.

What a nice thought you had klondike, to start this thread...

Ok...I'm near Barb in the Pacific NW and looking out my office window my lovable German Shepherd just walked through a grove of huge Douglas firs, cedars, and maples turning yellow while my neighbor's horses graze in the background. Even though in exactly a week we're off to Spain for 3 weeks, I always love coming back to the natural beauty around me here.

Have a great day, everyone!

The frost is not yet on the pumkin, the only spooks so far are on Tv..tommorrow the gouls will arrive. Oh blondie. sent me some lavender, my pot awaits.

This morning while I was doing my routinal walk around the trail of the golf club in the base, the sun was shining, the birds were singings, the squirrells were playfully chasing each other up and down the trees, the Blue Angels were practicing their stunts on the nearby flight line,for the base open house this weekend, I felt so peaceful and thankful of my everyday comfortable routine.
Thankful, that I was able to walk, run, and doing simple natural things that some people because of health problems were not able to do it.
A quote from Marcus Aurelius, the famous, gentle, philosophic Roman Emperor came to my mind:
"When you arise in the morning, think of what a Precious Privilege is to be Alive, to breath, to Think, to enjoy, to Love...."
Have a Good Night...

Yesterday my kids pointed out how the sun had turned a bright orange. All the smoke in the air had changed the sky and amongst all of the trajedy, the sun looked so beautiful.

The Fall is winding down, the colors so reminiscent of Italy, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, sap green, are starting to fade...except for the brilliant, unnamed gold color set against the dark Black Walnut trees in my backyard. The soft pile of leaves stirred little in my courtyard as the tiny Bluebird sought it's dinner while the squirrels chased one another over my red roof.
The early sky was so blue it looked like crisp winter sky. It didn't stay long as the grey, somber clouds moved in to spend the day. It was just a lovely day.

Trick or treat!

We had rain here in London last night and so many leaves have come down now. I was afraid that was going to happen - I planned to nip to Cambridge to take in the fall colours this weekend. Oh well, we managed to get some gorgeous shots of trees in Hyde Park last weekend.

What an unexpected joy it was to read this thread this morning with my morning Pret coffee!

Well, I have to jump in because today we are having really beautiful weather here in Toronto. 20 C! And I have the day off!
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the trees are still blazing red, gold and orange. I live in an old neighbourhood with Victorian houses and plenty of trees, and I just had a lovely walk enjoying the crisp autumn atmosphere. I love the earthy scent of decaying leaves. This is fall weather at its best.
Happy Halloween, everyone!(~~)

What a lovely thread. Autumn has reached Gainesville, Florida, in subtle ways. It can get quite cold in December and January, but for now the sky is a denser blue, the air feels lighter, the nights are cooler, shadows longer, but we still have sunny warm afternoons. My garden, finally finished after six years, invites a multitude of butterflies floating on light breezes, and bees hum happily as they make their final collections. The fall flowers are mostly yellow, with some purples and oranges, a mixed palate made more brilliant by the clear air. I?ve quit my hideous job and now have time to stroll about the garden, clipping the faded blooms, listening to the fountain bubbling in my tiny pond. These shorter days remind our biology of lean days coming, so I will build a fire tonight in the patio chiminea to hold back the chill for a bit longer. The cats will make their evening check around the perimeter and all will be well. To anyone who is troubled or grieving, my prayers and thoughts are with you; to those whose lives are, for now, quiet and satisfying, enjoy and appreciate these days!

What lovely thoughts Shanna!!!
I could use some prayers, my DH is going to surgery for an Hip replacement, Nov the 5. We have Been married many many years,I was 20 and he was 23 years old:) and this will be the first time that he is going to an hospital,although that he worry about it, is relieved about the operation, because lately his pain is immense.

Bravo, klondike. I can hardly believe that all of these posts are for real, and yet I know they must be. It's wonderful to read descriptions of home soil seen through the eyes of travelers! Sometimes I think we look at our travel destinations with different eyes than we do the rest of the year. So here goes.

I commute to my teaching job by driving across the Atchafalaya Swamp Causeway and then through the sugarcane fields. The cane-picking tractors are like prehistoric creatures, and the white egrets flock around to see what they can scrounge from the black soil. In the morning fog, the cane trucks toddle around, and (unless you happen to be behind them on the narrow roads) their dark rickety frames look pretty against the horizon. There are a couple of tiny bayous to cross, and then, voila, we're in James Lee Burke country. This is the best I can do on such short notice. J.

Kismet - I?m sure you and DH will face this with courage. A friend of mine had both hips replaced and while the recovery was long, he said it was like paradise to sleep through the night without pain. What I remember most is the utter calm I could see in his face. November 5 will be day of good fortune for you.

What a delight to come home after several days with our children and grandchildren and find these beautiful word pictures of autumn!

Here in west central Alabama the leaves of our big oak trees are falling, falling, falling, and this year's acorn crop must be the biggest on record. Walking on the driveway is like stepping on ball bearings, and late afternoons on the patio are an adventure--when we hear the squirrels high in the trees, we know it's time to duck for cover. Here comes a fusilade of tiny bombs!

We've had one direct hit in John's wine glass, but this is a minor inconvenienc. It's a wonderful, beautiful fall.

kismetchimera, our thoughts are with you and your husband. I'm sure the surgery will be successful.

Byrd

It has been a gorgeous weekend in Brewster on Cape Cod. Yesterday we walked out on the tidal flats under a clear blue sky, alternating between sand flats and fingers of water quite a way out into the bay. As the fingers of water got thicker and the patches of sand got smaller, we turned and came back in with the tide.

Thank you very much Shanna and Byrd for you thoughts and kind words. I feel much better already...
The surgery is planned for tomorrow morning at 7:30, is going to be hard for awhile for my DH, but it cant be worse than is now, the poor man is in constant pain .


Kismet