I was in Indiana enjoying the fury of Lake Michigan. The temperatures dropped; it was cold and windy there. I realized I could see the Chicago skyline. I took this picture with my IPhone, but I couldn’t capture what I was seeing “in person,” a crisper and more distinct looking skyline.
Distance photos should be taken with a high powered camera.
Today is BLACK Friday. It’s the official start of the Christmas season. If you are shopping, I hope you find some GREAT deals out there.
Winter is coming, the leaves are falling. However, when I am walking, I see there are STILL some flowers alive and well. The colors are so vibrant for this time of year. Look at those ornamental cabbage plants. I rarely see those.
This is my favorite type of weather to walk in. It’s border line cold, but still fresh outside for a brisk walk. Allows time for creative thinking.
I leave you with this yellow rose. What does the yellow rose mean? Friendship??
Do you have funny thoughts when you are walking? I went to visit a friend. We were walking the neighborhood. As we were talking, I stopped, giggled and had to take this picture.
I’ve always enjoyed gardening. Trimming the hedges, raking leaves, etc. I saw this bush, and immediately wished I had my gardening sheers with me. All those funny shoots sticking out, needed trimming.
Further on our walk, we came across this gigantic sunflower. Isn’t it amazing?
All alone, it grew so tall in such glory. There is a daintiness in this sunflower’s stance too.
There is beauty all around us. We just have to slow down to see it.
Life is interesting. Yesterday, I knew I needed to go walking, but I was going back and forth on “when.” You know how that is. One side of our mind says, “DO IT NOW,” but the other side says, “It’s cold outside, wait until later when it has warmed up.” The good old excuses.
I decided to get it done. Near the park where I walk there is a Catholic Church. When I go walking, I always stop and visit Jesus, say a quick prayer, and continue walking.
When I got to Jesus, I was amazed to look up and see the sun shinning perfectly on his face and his right arm/hand as if he was going to bless my head. Might sound silly, but as I was raised a Catholic, that was the first thing that popped in my mind.
I did apologize to Jesus for not going to Sunday mass. I just don’t enjoy it. I go to church when I want to. I like to go during the week, just pop in, sit for a few minutes in the quite dark church with many candles lit and feel at peace for a few minutes. OR as I mentioned, make a point of walking by church and stopping by when I go walking. That offers comfort too. No matter what struggles, we know we are not alone.
In the end, I would say most of us feel we are spiritual, we do believe in prayer or God or “something,” and we pray “our way.” That’s the best. My mother always liked the Buddhist teachings. We can pray anywhere.
There are so many things we need to pray about right now. Wars in Ukraine/Russia, now Israel, natural disasters, the migrant situation, inflation, illnesses, family/friends passing away, the list goes on.
So, I say, “Thank you, Jesus, for making me smile.” The sun shinning on you, was special indeed.
We can all sense a storm coming in. The wind starts to change, the clouds come in and THEN our IPhone’s go off. Flash Flood Warning Alert.
That’s what happened this weekend. I was close to Lake Michigan, stopped by the Lake and saw this incredible view of the dark clouds slowly moving in. I had to be quick to get the photo.
The waves were rather calm for the storm that was coming. Even so, I sensed from the dark clouds looming over head and the way the temperature felt that I had to take cover. A tornado could form in this type of storm. While I was mesmerized by the colors of the Lake and the dark clouds, I had to find shelter.
In the end, the storm came, pounding rain, then after a short period the sun came out. Yes, the bright sun as if a storm had never come through our town…
My car was in desperate need of a car wash. I had parked my car in a nice shady spot. I was so proud of myself for finding such a good parking spot. Well, a few hours later, I was mad and horrified to see these massive bird droppings all over my car. I couldn’t even drive it. I had to clean my windshield off first. So, my great shady spot turned out to be the worst spot ever.
Fast forward to the car wash. My car needed vacuuming. As I got out of my car, I looked down and thought I saw a penny. The car wash is a perfect place to find all sorts of things on the ground. This object was so dark blending in with the pavement that I had to look twice.
Sure enough, it was a penny. Look how interesting though, it had a hole in it. How in the world did that happen? This penny had been through a lot. So old and beat up, I can’t even see the date on it.
My next thought went to, “Find a penny, heads up, you’ll have GOOD LUCK!” I did find a penny, heads up, but it had a hole in it.
Does the hole nix the “Good Luck,” I was supposed to receive? BIG question!
If only pennies could talk! I’d be interested to know what happened to him.
I haven’t looked at clouds for a long time. Yesterday, I was waiting for someone. Lost in thought, I realized that while the sun was shinning on one side of me, on the other side it was dark. So, I looked up into the sky and saw this dark cloud coming in.
I always think of The Wizard of Oz movie when I see dark clouds like this. Remember Dorothy sitting on her bed, while the tornado spins around her? Great idea to have scenes from “back home in Kansas” viewed through her window. Then her house lands in Oz, she’s not in Kansas anymore. She’s welcomed by Glinda (the good witch) and the Munchkins. Fabulous!
We’ve been having a lot of storms lately in Chicago. High winds, thunder, lightening, etc.
Summer is almost over. However, I remember last year reading that summer was at the end of September. How could that be? Is that true? Our weather now feels like late September.
It’s Friday, time for some humor. I saw this sign, laughed and thought you’d enjoy it too. It was in an auto shop, but really it can apply for almost any business.
My friend and I were driving in the car this weekend when she burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny,” I said, keeping my eye on the road.
“THIS sign for tattoos,” she said.
Luckily, she took a quick photo, so I could see it. She really had good eye sight. From a distance, you have to squint your eyes to read the sign. I zeroed in, so you could see it better.
What a clever advertising idea. Tattoos are painful.
Having worked in advertising for a long time, I really enjoy seeing “humorous” signs.
This one was a WINNER! Now to find out, does it bring in business?
Recently, I saw a video that showed how different pets wake up their owners. There were some really aggressive pets. One dog pulled himself up on the side of the bed, took his paw and proceeded to hit the owner in the face, multiple times. It was funny, well, not to the owner. Another clip showed an owner sleeping and the cat went on top of its owner and bit the owner’s nose. OUCH!
My daughter was asked to watch a friend’s daughter for a week while they went out of town. Here’s what’s comical. My daughter was hoping all would go well with this young girl. Turns out the girl was easy, it was the cat that was full of drama.
The cat would constantly whine and cry. She didn’t know what to do. She gave it food, water, petted the cat — WHAT else? I laughed and said, “You used to do that when you were a baby, I couldn’t figure it out.”
One morning, the cat wanted breakfast. The cat jumped on the bed. THIS is what she saw, two eyes staring at her.
I don’t have any pets, just an alarm clock with a rooster sound. You laugh? It works, I hate it, I get up!
Brilliant Viewpoint 