walk

Celebrating Friendship at Stony Brook State Park

/ Jodi / 28 Comments
Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY - Girlfriend Camp GFC 2019 - August, 2019

Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY – Girlfriend Camp GFC 2019 – August, 2019

Celebrating Friendship at Stony Brook Park.

Climbing stairs

Crossing bridges

Converging pathways

Circulating blood

Conversing thoughts

Circumventing hazards

Communing with nature

Connecting souls

Contemplating life

Considering options

Challenging opinions

Cooperating ideas

Confessing truths

Collecting memories

Celebrating friendship

#GFC2019 Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY - August 2019

#GFC2019 Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY – August 2019

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Celebrating Friendship at Stony Brook State Park

Rise and Shine

/ Jodi / 44 Comments

Rise and Shine.

Do you feel it?
Are you excited about all the possibilities the day may hold?

All the opportunites to make it special?
All the reasons to wake up?

Rise and shine
and cherish the moments!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Every time I hear or read or say the words, “Rise and Shine,” I think of Grandma. 

As a teenager, I loved to sleep in late – much like most teenagers – right?  I vividly remember hiding under the covers to keep from seeing the sun streaming in the bedroom and hearing Grandma  cheerfully holler from the bottom of the stairs on a weekend or summer morning, “Rise and Shine!”  She was always so excited and ready to start a new day.  I smile remembering that hope and excitement in her voice.  She didn’t work.  She didn’t even have a license to drive.  Her days were mostly spent at home working hard – inside and out – making it a haven for anyone who visited or lived there.  And yet she woke up so cheerfully each morning excited for what the day might hold. 

I have to admit – I love the early mornings these days – especially on  weekends and days I get to stay home.  I love thinking about having the whole day ahead of me. 

I baked Grandma’s Apricot Nut Bread yesterday.  It is a recipe I have shared here before.  And it truly really begins to feel like Christmas when I smell this bread come out of the oven.  The memories just come flooding back of Christmases past at Grandma’s house and the joy that radiated from her in everything she did.  

So rise and shine and cherish the possibilities this day will hold!

Happy Father’s Day

/ Jodi / 51 Comments

Father and Daughter and Red Balloon Watercolor 11×14

Happy Father’s Day.

Happy Father’s Day to my Dad.
So glad we have the opportunity to make up for lost time.

Happy Father’s Day to my Hubby.
Sharing parenthood with you has been one of my life’s greatest joys.

Happy Father’s Day to my Son.
Watching you be a dad melts my heart.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 I painted this watercolor to create a card for my Dad for Father’s Day.  I wanted to create a feeling with art that represents a bond that can’t be broken.  The bond between a father and daughter.  A representation of the feeling of being Daddy’s little girl – no matter age or time.  Love you Dad. xoxox

What We Would Miss

/ Jodi / 62 Comments
A Snowy Stroll at Sunset - January, 2018 - Mars PA

A Snowy Stroll at Sunset – January, 2018 – Mars PA

What We Would Miss.

If we didn’t go out
to explore
or saunter
or simply to
unwind,

think of
all the
things we
would
miss.

Walking
isn’t always
just about
the exercise
for our body.

It can
also be
a break
for our
mind.

An opportunity
to commune
spiritually
with oneself
and nature.

If I didn’t allow
myself
the gift
to get out
and walk,

this
one
beautiful
moment
in
time…

Look
what
I would
have
missed.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

On this Road called Life

/ Jodi / 62 Comments
Early November Morning Walk after the Storm - thecreativelifeinbetween.com

Early November Morning Walk after the Storm – thecreativelifeinbetween.com

On this Road called Life.

There will be ups and downs…
There will be twists and turns.

There will be sunshine and rain…
There will be seasons of change.

But straight roads
don’t make skillful drivers.

And flowers can’t grow
on smoothly paved roads.

This road called life
is your path to choose.

And if you don’t like the one you are traveling on….
pave a new.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

We had an unseasonably strong thunderstorm this past Saturday night, but Sunday morning brought shiny, clean beauty on my morning walk with Charlie that was made even sweeter by the extra hour of sleep gifted from “Falling Back” from Daylight Savings to Eastern Standard Time and the gorgeous colors of Autumn leaves.

Into the Woods

/ Jodi / 47 Comments
Into the Woods in our Backyard June 25, 2017 Mars, PA

Into the Woods in our Backyard June 25, 2017 Mars, PA

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Yesterday was one of those
most amazingly glorious
Summer Sundays.

No agenda,
bright sunshine,
cool breeze.

I woke early,
sipped my coffee on the deck
with the birds and the rising sun.

I made old-fashioned macaroni salad
to chill and be just right
to accompany grilled burgers for dinner.

I took my watercolors
out onto the patio,
and I painted for hours.

And when it was time to move a bit,
Charlie and I headed to the woods
in our backyard.

We hiked until we got lost,
and then we found our way out through a neighbor’s backyard
on an intersecting street to ours.

It was a sauntering walk
with stops to breathe it all in, smell the fresh air,
and commune with nature.

The woods are a great place
to learn how truly small you
and your problems really are.

It’s a place to be small,
but come out feeling bigger
and better and complete.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

*Transient

One New Beautiful Thing

/ Jodi / 39 Comments
One New Beautiful Thing - Along My Daily Walk

One New Beautiful Thing – Along My Daily Walk

One New Beautiful Thing.

As you walk along life’s pathway –
which often seems to go the same ole’ way,

Challenge yourself to find
just one new beautiful thing each day.

Open your eyes and open your heart –
it is right there in front of you if only you look.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi