Life lessons
The beginning of a new year is often time to take stock:
I don’t make resolutions as they tend to go in one year and out of the other!
But I do hope that I grow and learn a bit every day. Here are some of those lessons:
Make the most of those festive moments with people you love – you don’t know how long they will last.
Try out new perspectives and angles;
Remember to enjoy the view
And have some fun (even if you look silly);
And, finally, take the time to dwell on what you have
Rather than on what you don’t have.
Carpe diem!
Seize more moments here: Our World.
And don’t forget Skywatch.
In with the old and the new
Out with the old and in with the new?
Yes, out with old worries, grudges and bad habits
As long as you’re not replacing them with new ones.
As for us, we have something new for the New Year —
Meet Ruby, Oscar’s great-granddaughter.
We’re fostering her for a few months before she’s due to go off to the breeders again for another litter of puppies.
As for the old —
Well, Oscar makes life golden with his sweet, white face
And humour and grace.
He doesn’t really have white hair – these are his wisdom highlights!
Wishing you all a new year filled with light, strength, beauty, good health and laughter.
For more good wishes, please visit: Our World Tuesday.
Building bridges
This photo was taken during the deliciously cold winter of 2010.
I like the symbolism of the bridge connecting two small islands of land:
It reminds me that we are all connected
And that it’s never too late to reach out
And mend bridges.
For more connectedness, please visit: Our World.
Two pasts and a present
To celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, I offer you three photos taken on successive new years.
When I stand on our wobbly jetty and look to the left,
There is a spit of land with trees on it called ‘The Hill of Love’.
In the New Year of 2010, the sunrise bathed the ice on the lake and the trees in blue.
In 2011, the afternoon sun presented
A glorious landscape of diamond-studded snow (on the iced over lake).
This New Year, the mild sunset surprised us
With lilac and gold
And perfect reflections in a lake still waiting for the big freeze.
May the dragon roast your marshmallows to perfection this year without singeing your eyebrows!
For more lovely skies, please visit: Skywatch.
Cherishing the old
New Year is often a time when we want to start anew – and throw out the old.
But it’s not just a time for re-invention. It’s also a time to cherish the old treasures within us; to rise above petty things; to improve what we can and — above all – – a time to embrace ourselves with all our faults and wonderfulness.
Do you make resolutions at this time of year?
I don’t… because they go in one year and out the other!
New skies
As it’s Losar in Tibet and New Year in most of Asia, I thought it only fitting to post the skies we had here on New Year’s Day (Jan 1).
The sun rose optimistically in the sky
Casting a glow on sleeping football nets
Pregnant with the hint of rosy promises to come.
By lunchtime the sun had cast off any show of shyness
To burst into a firework display
Of candy-floss spun clouds
And veils of pink and blue.
Click the pictures to really see them!
For more pink fluffy skies, visit: Skywatch!
HAPPY NEW YEAR if you are celebrating one!
Going to hell
Do your New Year’s resolutions go in one year and out of the other? Or are they just a way of making a fresh start on old habits?
As Mark Twain once said:
New Year’s Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.
Have far down the road to perdition have you come?
By the way, remember to go to PaddyK and check out our Blog Carnival! The circus is in town… and it certainly puts the Blo into Blog! I’ll be hosting the carnival next time, so if you want to jump on the bandwagon and bang your own drum, then send me some links to appropriate posts about your experiences of living in a foreign country.
Re-solution … or seeing in the new
I don’t know about you – but New Year’s resolutions tend to be as fleeting as a politician’s promises or a toddler’s attention span! So this year, I have decided to make a resolution that I can keep…
As Joey Adams said:
“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions!”
Oh – and to round off this year, here is a picture that has nothing to do with anything.
Who says what?