sunset on cranberry twp, pa 11-14-16
The sun sets
The moon rises
The earth turns.
The heart beats
The eyes see
The ears hear.
The clock ticks
The calendar flips
Time flies.
The hands touch
The nose smells
The mouth tastes.
The wind blows
The trees sway
The birds sing.
The soul feels
The brain thinks
The human being loves.
Experience every second
Appreciate every minute
Cherish every moment.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Super Moon over Mars (PA) November 13, 2016
Oh the mysteries of the moon and earth
You never realize how quickly our earth is actually rotating
until you try to pause long enough to capture a photo of the moon.
From afar, I always see a face…
the “man on the moon” I called it as a child.
As I look at this photo I took late Sunday evening,
it almost appears as if the moon is a large mirror
reflecting back the earth it sees.
The beauty of nature
It makes you feel small and insignificant
and large and important
all at once.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The wind has picked up a determined strength.
And the cheerful orange leaves are all but lost.
The hours of daylight have grown shorter in length.
The morning’s dew has turned into frost.
Autumn’s time is growing near her blissful end,
And winter is waiting for her turn to shine.
Snowflakes and icicles will soon impend.
and warm crackling fires under woolen fleece blankets will be so divine.
One season’s sad retreat
makes room for the next’s joyful beginning.
Goodbye Autumn – it’s so bittersweet
as we prepare to welcome winter’s first inning.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Red Autumn Leaf on Rusty Spring – Mars, PA
Spring or Fall?
The things you find on an Autumn walk
that resonate with your thoughts….
Like the old rusty box spring
that has been sitting for years
against a pile of well seasoned cut and split firewood
on a path I pass frequently on my walk.
It sits there as if its purpose
is purely to create artistic beauty
A paradox…
a contradiction.
Just like a crazy 74 degree November day
in the little town of Mars, PA.
Is it “Spring” or is it Fall?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Looking up
past the bare
tangled
web
that tries to
block our view…
Looking beyond
what is
closest
and darkest
and right before
our line of sight…
Is beauty
and brightness
and color
and possibilities
and hopefulness
and mystery.
Look up…
Look beyond…
See the beauty.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Weeping Willow Tree, Conneaut Lake, October 2016
When the physical things of this world
blur and fade through the lens of our eyes,
A different kind of vision
grows stronger and clearer…
The ability to see the weeping
in the leaves of the willow tree,
The arms that extend and embrace
in its branches,
The foundation that centers and steadies
in its strong, solid trunk.
The weeping willow
is crystal clear
in our heart
and soul
and mind.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The Old Dogwood,
in her Autumn crimson cloak,
steals the show again this season
on the green carpet.
Nature….
the best show in town.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
September Sunrise – Mars Cemetery – Mars, PA
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
-Mother Teresa
Don’t let it stop you
because it’s not grand…
because it’s not important enough…
because it’s just something small.
Do it anyway…
knowing it matters,
because it has been done
with great love.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Autumn Glow September Sunset, Mars, PA 9/26/16
Thick, heavy clouds part briefly
revealing glimpses of glimmering gold
and twinkling sapphire skies
above the emerald carpeted lawn
sprinkled with the first fallen leaves
that will soon crunch beneath our feet
as we walk the familiar lane…
on a sweet September sunset.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
One of these things is not like the others…
Who remembers this song from Sesame Street?
One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
I took this picture of some chrysanthemums and pumpkins in my front yard, and when I looked at the picture, I was startled to see “the thing that doesn’t belong.”
Can you find it?
My oldest son, Jake, LOVED Sesame Street when he was little. He was transfixed when it came on, and he learned so much from it. Sometimes I joined him, and other times I did housework while he was pre-occupied and entertained, but so many of the songs still run through my brain triggered by the most unusual of things.
It is funny how something as simple as this can take your mind to a specific place and time and song.
Memories…
The wonderful, whimsical, wacky wonderment.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 
