Photostory Friday: Happiness is...

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli


When I walk down the street, I hear a tune in my head. It goes like this:

"Hm Hm Hm, Hm Hm Hm, Hmmm Hmmm, Hmmm Hm Hm Hmmm"

The title of this song is "Linus and Lucy" but is probably more well known as "The Charlie Brown Song." You know the song I'm talking about.

I love Charlie Brown, I've always felt like a kindred spirit to the round headed kid (as Snoopy refers to him). He is so eager, and so desperate to be accepted -- and so often behind the eight ball. I can relate.

I think most of us can.

Back in the 60's, a musical was written based on the Peanuts Characters, called "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and from that play came the song "Happiness" which defines the word, in a series of sentences beginning with the words, "Happiness is..."

We've hit a bit of a rough spot around here lately -- nothing insurmountable, just compounding issues that seem to come in bunches. My water heater is on the fritz. My washer stopped working. My muffler needs fixing. My fence blew over. And on. And on. It's like living in a country song.

Tonight, when I asked my wife what I should write for Photostory Friday, she said two words:

Happiness is...

It was just what I needed.

Happiness is...

...a kiss

Happiness is...

...God's own mural...

...AND...

...being rewarded for patience

Happiness is...

...fighting evil

Happiness is...

 ...turning weeds...

...into flowers

Happiness is...

...getting your sun and your rain at the same time

Happiness is...

...all the colors running together

Happiness is...

...finding love in unexpected places

Happiness is...

...botched cosmetic surgery

(Hey, you never know...)

Happiness is...

...five olives

Happiness is...

...daring to be different

Happiness is...

...having ANY job but this guy's

Happiness is...

...making the best of your situation

Happiness is...

...being comfortable with your age...

...that's thirty-eight candles on a cupcake!

Happiness is...

...knowing you've found The One

Happiness is...

...new life

Happiness is...

...Sharon's hand in mine...

...and Jordan's eyes...

...and Matthew' heart...

...and Emma's Emma-ness

Happiness is...

...ME!

How about you?

Photostory Friday: Up

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli


When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time looking up.

It wasn't that I was short, and it wasn't just that I fell down a lot (did you ever get in the bath tub, as a kid, and wonder where all the bruises came from?). I looked up because I came of age in the warm, but fading glow of the Space Age, and astronauts were up there.

These men who sat atop the Saturn 5 rockets, and blasted off through the stratosphere, leaving gravity, the planet and all of us behind, to see the stars - to go farther and higher than anyone ever had before - were heroes to me.

Actually all of my heroes were up there. Up was where you found Superman and Spiderman. Up was where you found that Galaxy...far, far away.

Up was possibility.

Up was where magical things were happening.

Looking through my pictures tonight, I find that I still spend a fair amount of time gazing skyward.

Up is where things are clear.

Up is beautiful.

 Up is the direction in which we dream.

Photostory Friday: The Kiss

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

The Kiss.

There is nothing in the world like The Kiss.

The Kiss is not A kiss.

It's not a peck. It's not a smooch. It's not a tease. It's not simply the touching of lips. There are kisses before The Kiss, and kisses to follow. 

But The Kiss is different.

The world around you fades to shadow.

Two souls become one.

One heart.

One spirit.

This time.

This moment.

Everything you are, or ever hope to be.

Every dream.

Every wish.

Every challenge and risk.

Every commitment and promise.

The spotlight shines down on you, and the universe erupts with applause.

And you don't even notice.

The Kiss is timeless.

Our lives are made up of millions of mundane instances -- seasoned with a few perfect moments.

The Kiss is perfect.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Photostory Friday: 365 Weeks 51 & 52 (plus a day)

And so it ends...

Day 348

December 17: Just over a week to go -- and this is the only snow to be seen for miles

Day 348

December 18: I just couldn't make myself delete this image.

Day 349

December 19: Whoops. Again.

Day 350

December 20: Not many Silent Nights around here at this point...

Day 351

(Is it just me, or is the day count seeming a little off?)

December 21: This is the festive cord which attaches the fuzzy white ball to the soft, plushy redness of my Santa Hat.

Hint: If you EVER decide to take a picture every day for a year or two, when you get to the cold, dark winter months, take your picture early in the day, or you will end up just like me -- taking pictures of everything in your living room....

Day 352

December 22: Ok, here's how I look at it -- Two years of daily picture taking, and I've missed roughly a week's worth of pictures.

I'm giving myself a pass.

Day 353

(Yeah, something's wrong here...)

December 23: Very. Angry. Birds.

Day 354

December 24: One last family photo shoot before the big day.

Love those big eyes.

Day 355

December 25: He's eleven but still gets overwhelmed by the big day.

Matt literally stopped talking to me in mid sentence.

Day 356

December 26: Assemble the minions!

Day 357

December 27: If you don't have a carbon monoxide detector, get one. If you have one, change the batteries.

I changed mine Christmas night. Monday afternoon, the alarm went off. Fire trucks came. The gas company came. Emma slammed her finger in the fire engine's door, and got a sweet stuffed bear. And, eventually, we got the ok to come back home.

Day 358

December 28: This is all I see when I look in the living room now.

It's time for it all to come down.

Day 359

December 29: Um.....beauty products?

Day 360

December 30: I love Christmas, but after about December 27, this is the best sight of all.

Day 361

(Whoops. I know today is December 31, I'm not sure where I lost four days, but I'm not going back to find them)

December 31: Two years. I only meant to do one.

This picture is symbolic. You'll notice I'm not behind the camera, and the lens cap is on.

I'm not giving up on photography, I'm just taking a couple of days off.

I'm honestly glad I did this (now that it's over). I'm grateful to so many of you who have followed me on this journey -- though I've been almost completely absent from my blog, except for this weekly journal entry. I'm really looking forward to the new year -- I'm looking forward to coming back here to share more moments and images from my life. I look forward to writing again.

In a day or so, I'll go over the pictures from the last year and marvel at what a life I am truly blessed with.

365...adieu.