Inevitability...

"my sweet FIL is moving into a retirement home today - his choice.  His wife of over 40 years passed away four years ago and despite all attempts to make a life alone, he has failed.  He is lonely, tired and depressed.  All those years of scrimping, saving and providing for his family has brought him to a place where he can afford to live now more affluently than he has ever before.  Yet, ironically, his concerns are about being in a place that is too 'high society'.  We are test driving this new venue, giving him a holiday in the new digs for a week or so to see if he can find a life there.  It's amazing how the human spirit, no matter what stage it finds itself in, strives for companionship, love, acceptance.  Good luck Frank, we have your back."JP

One Last Blast?

http://prettie-sweet.tumblr.com

'sloppy wet snowflakes falling this morning.  No wind to toss them around as they fall in straight lines down from the sky.  Temperatures high enough to turn snow instantly to water as they touch down.  Old Man Winter having a last laugh as he folds up his tent and prepares to move hemispheres.  No signs of Spring here just yet.  Crocuses, daffodils and forsythia still resting in utero.  The only reassurance for now of time inching forward is Mr. Robin stalwartly pulling worms from a semi-frozen ground.  One more day of warm food, comforting fires and summer dreams."JP

http://browndresswithwhitedots

http://browndresswithwhitedots

http://browndresswithwhitedots

http://browndresswithwhitedots

http://prettie-sweet.tumblr.com

http://browndresswithwhitedots

http://browndresswithwhitedots

http://browndresswithwhitedots

Sleep...

I do not have a soul. I am a soul. I have a body. - CS Lewis

"Isn't it interesting how much animals sleep and how little humans do?  Perhaps it was the innovation of electricity that changed this for us; when we could have all the light we needed and we no longer had to obey circadian rhythms. I think we are all the less for it.  In our time-poor lives, without the magic of those hours when we relinquish conscious thought, when we are more than just this body, we perpetuate the myth that we are in control of our lives.  We could learn a lot from animals.  "JP 

Hands...

"Hands...I read this today, written by Jonathan Carroll..."Hands can tell you the real truth about someone.  The way they rise or fall, so often unconscious of their sadness or grace, can signal final defeat or love that hides behind a straight face or cynical smile." I love hands.  It's one of the first things I look at when I meet someone new.  It's a part of our body we don't alter...no botox, no hand-lifts.  The only thing hands might get are a manicure or slatherings of hand cream.  They show your true age, your loves, your interests.  Have you ever seen a cook or a gardener with finely manicured nails?  I love wrinkled knuckles, calluses caused by a fountain pen, a knife, or a golf club.  I love to think of the tales hands might tell if they only had a voice.  I had a Korean hairdresser once who believed the reason we all loved having our hair washed was because it reminded us of being a baby when our mothers would caress our heads."  JP

Michael Gambon's beautiful hands

Itzak Pearlman's gifted hands

Christiaan Barnard's healing hands

My Cup Runneth Over

"full-on day today.  House, work, cooking...still trying to process it all.  I love every part of it, just want to be able to slow down and not feel compelled all the time.  It's interesting to be in the office and hear how everyone just wants to 'get out of here', to 'not have to be here', all the while thinking 'this is cool'.  I like what I do, I like who I work with.  However...at home right now sitting with my glass of wine, contemplating a kitchen sink full of dishes and the washing machine yelling at me from down the hall; perhaps a little less of everything would work too..." JP

Heart-Shaped World

http://prettie-sweet.tumblr.com/post/40125651482

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

http://prettie-sweet.tumblr.com/post/40125651482

http://prettie-sweet.tumblr.com/post/40125651482

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone...especially to you my Darling,

and Happy Valentine's Birthday Lindsay.

Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day

http://zsazsabellagio.blogspot.ca/

'whether you call them pancakes or crepes they are delicious.  Batter made of a little flour, egg and milk, popped into a hot skillet thinly coated in butter and deftly tossed - just the once.  Then onto a plate to be dusted with lemon juice and finely-ground sugar, or stuffed with berries and then coated with a wisp of maple syrup...whatever your fancy.  The hot, sweet, fat-filled mixture satisfying all human taste-desires, melting slowly in your mouth, and all the while bringing the promise of Spring just around the corner."JP

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

http://ensphere.tumblr.com/

Gong Xi Fat Cai

Man vs Nature

"If you've listened to the television or radio news over the past couple of days, you will have heard terms such as  'SNOWMAGEDDON', 'UGLY DAY', 'STORM WARNING', 'TREACHEROUS CONDITIONS' advising one to 'STAY HOME' and "NOT TO VENTURE OUTDOORS UNLESS YOU HAVE TO' being screamed at us.  And yet, if you do dare to venture out all you will hear is the barely audible sound of snowflakes gently wafting down from a dove-grey soft sky. To be sure, it is cold, and wet, and driving must be done with attention and focus, but aren't we better to move with the rhythm of nature instead of beating up against it?  This approach of alarm with predictions of doom seems so indignantly confrontational.  Instead of wrestling against the wind, try one day standing with body relaxed, arms and heart wide open, embracing this world; far less exhausting."JP

thank you pinterest for the lovely images.