IF Toy

Red Riding Hood likes her LITTLE wolf toy. This is just the right size for her. I seem to be obsessed with Little Red Riding Hood lately. I guess the color red makes me happy. I don't have much pure red in my home but touches of shades of red are all around.... I heard today a young man that I knew had passed away. He died peacefully in his sleep and the night before he passed he shared with his Sister how happy he was. He isn't the first one to go lately that had stated just how Life was really good for them. We joked and said we would try to remember not to say if we were really really happy. I'm not really really happy as I believe there is so much more that I can do. I would love to see my Grandchildren grow up and know more of the story and how it turns out. I am pleased for my friend as he had a tough time with a mental illness. So to know he felt so good pleases me. I know we never know what lies ahead and I truly try to take it one day at a time. I try to remember just how short life is and to tell those I love that I do love them. I try to remember to really feel the Sun on my face and the wind in my hair. And to capture and save the smiles on my Families faces. Life can be wonderful and can be sucky too. I think we all just put one foot in front of the other and try not to trip and fall. I know I do just that and when I fall I get up and as the song says dust myself off and start all over again.......

IF Cultivate

Sorry to have missed last weeks topic but I had a horrible cold and my computer caught a virus too. No matter what I do I seem to find myself online in the wrong place and a nasty virus disables me for a while. My Son is so good and fixes it asap but I always feel guilty for catching it. I don't know how I do it. We have virus detectors and no forbidden sites were viewed, nothing fancy but I forget to look at the sites names and my Son says that is a dead giveaway for something that isn't right. I was looking for my old ballet teacher from when I was a child and some of the places that came up were confusing. But I won't go there again!...... Went to the Doctors yesterday as the cold that kept on giving just wouldn't go away. I feel better already and was just plain old tired of being sick. Thankfully it is minor compared to what many people go through on a daily basis.....especially those in Japan....I can not even grasp what they are going through and what they have if anything to look ahead to. I'm not sure we are being told the truth about the power plants and the impact it is having on the environment....somethings are just to frighting to even think about.......back to the IF topic Cultivate. I chose this painting of this little gardener happy and proud of what she has cultivated. We have some bulbs that are tiny yellow freesias. My Grandfather gave them to me 40 years ago. Each year in spite of being poked and mowed they come up around this time. What a sweet smell and how it brings back the wonderful memories of my beloved Grandfather. It is amazing how the sense of smell can bring back things. I talked to my Sister and she had one flower come up in her backyard. She ran around sharing it with her family and finally realized that Mother and I were probably the only ones that would truly appreciate the miracle it was. And she was right...we giggled and remembered together...I hope the people in Japan will soon be on the road to getting some kind of normalcy in their lives. But I wonder if they ever will, sometimes you just can't rebound !.......I am thinking of them and sending healing thoughts across the sea..........

IF Warning

This motley trio is trying to decide whether to heed the warning on the gate sign! Should we stay or should we go? That is what they need to know. If it wasn't so dark they could clearly see the danger that lies ahead behind the gate. Just like in real life it might be easier to know what lies behind every decision we make and to clearly see the outcome of that choice. That might save us from things going wrong, but in the long run I think the way we react to unpleasant things shows what we are made of. I try not to beat myself when I believe the choice I have made might have been made with more thought. And at night when I go to bed and look in the mirror I know that I have done the best that I could have. I try always to be kind and to try not to hurt anyone. But sometimes, or should I say most of the times we can't all get what we want. And facing the word NO really shows how we deal with life. So should the trio stay or go into the unknown?......I tend to be on the conservative side so I would vote for safe. And look for adventure somewhere else.......Had a good week and I had forgotten how beautiful Laguna Beach Ca. truly is. The view from my friends house is breathtaking. They are high on the hill and the coast below is sooooooo great. Had a wonderful lunch discussing our lives and what lies in the future for us. We are optimistic and full of hope for a better world even when it seems to be falling apart all around us. We vote for keeping our immediate surroundings as pleasant as possible and trying to make life better for those around us and those that need some help. Back to making someone feel happier and good for a while is a good feeling. So maybe I should vote for going behind the gate...unto the unknown...after all isn't that what we do everyday that we are lucky enough to wake up? We don't really know what the day will bring as my Grandmother used to say sometime it is all we can to but to "Scratch our Ass and feel glad"! Please excuse my language but without the word it looses in the translation.....have a great weekend and hang in there it is the only game in town make the most of it.....and maybe carefully check behind the gate!!!!