Daily Musings, Page Two

really strange. I am sitting and watching the memorial of Steve Irwin when I came across this and went to the link. So simple amd true.

thanks for that Andy. it sure does.

I posted this over on the wildlife forum, but I wasn't sure who from here would see it, so I hope you don't mind if I post it again...I called them 'Ebony & Ivory'. It's a great blue heron and a great egret. we have the heron all the time on our lake, but this is only the second time we've seen a great egret. I suspect it's migrating, but it's been hanging around for a couple of days and today is the first time I got decent pics. thought it was neat that they were hanging out together.

I love the variety of birds that come thru this time of year. I have the camera sitting here and I'm forever jumping up and running outside. most of the time I don't get anything good, but sometimes they pose :0)

there were some beautiful butterflies passing by while I was hanging out with the birds, but it was too windy for them to light anywhere.

Gram.. thats so neat and Ebony & Ivory are perfect names!

Ebony is the one that was eating my fish in my water garden. I'd recognize him anywhere!

I have been thinking about my grandparents and parents lately and missing them. I know it has alot to do with the medical issue's that suddenly arose. I am not going to go into great detail but I have had a tumor removed many years ago and evidently had "forgotten" about the emotional rollercoaster. Well I rode the "coaster" last week and have no need to ever ride it again. But it did get me to replay wonderful times in my life, miss those times and be THANKFUL for the life I live now. On the day the test results came back (they were neg.), I got this in the mail, how perfect was that?

THE ROSE
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged
us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around
when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.
I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me
with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose.
I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave
me a giant squeeze.

"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked.
She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and
have a couple of kids..."

"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be
taking on this challenge at her age.

"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!"
she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate
milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would
leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to
this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and expe rience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made
friends wherever she went.

She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her
from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet.
I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to
the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and
simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success.
You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream.
When you lose your dreams, you die.
We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.
If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do
one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose."

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be

When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to
your friends and family, they'll really enjoy it!
These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.

We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give

lovely thoughts, pixie (and very glad you got good news)

Dave, I can vouch for Ebony's wherabouts at the time of the crime.

Pixie: Yeah!!!

By the way, I don't think Rose has anything on you (except a bunch of years).

Today I counted seven Praying Mantis in the yard. One of them has taken residence at the top of a Butterfly bush. She (I think) stays near a flower and waits for the next meal.
There can be 2 or 3 Monarchs on the same B' bush. They flutter all around that Mantis but always out of reach.
I have not seen the Mantis catch or eat one, yet. There are no telltale wing remains either. I will not interfere.

On another note.
Here is a squash bug with Sarah in the back ground.
Andy P

Andy,
I have not seen a praying mantis this entire summer and the butterflies seem to have gone already as I have not seen anything but a moth lately. The only thing still hanging around is those darn japanese beetles!
BTW..Sarah has that head down "I can smell it!" look. LOL

Thanks Dave & Gram! I am feeling so relieved and grateful and I don't plan on having any regrets!!!

I've had lots of butterflies around. they tease me, fly around my head and then leave. I'm not allowed to take any pictures, though. :)

I've been busy planting...got 7 dwarf conifers in the ground this weekend from Arrowhead Alpines, and some rock garden plants. I have my rolling garden seat so I either sit and work or at least take a break. I'm feeling much better than I was a year ago, but don't have much stamina. It's so pretty and really peaceful when the wind isn't roaring. I was musing about getting a good garden bench out there so I could relax instead of only being in the garden when I'm working. good idea, huh?

Ebony, the great blue heron, keeps me company a good deal of the time. fishing in the lake. I don't care how much I see that bird, I'm still impressed. he's not the only one we've had around, but he's huge. I love to watch him.

I love the collage Gram. My parents have a huge one by them too. They live on several golf courses in North Carolina. Where three courses intersect, there are two man made water features which also serve as hazards. They both have fish, frogs, and turtles. There is one spot by a ball wash that the turtles hang out, because they know that while the golfers are waiting their turns, they usually bring bread and feed them. The Heron will immediately fly over from the other side upon seeing any human arrivals! He knows that the fish also enjoy snacking on the bread!

I love the collage too, gram. Is it Picasa or something else?

Nice one, Gram.
I was bored yesterday and DG wasn't working well so I started a photo blog. Yea, like I need another time waster......
So far there are just a few pics as I learn my way around. You are welcome to look, though. http://bugsnbuds.blogspot.com/
I'll be adding something almost every day so check in from time to time if you wish. Leave a comment, too. Click on an image for a full size view.
Andy P

Very nice Andy. What made you choose that particular site? Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Anita, I found that site by asking what a 'blinky' was on another thread, here. The explaination was accompanied with a blinkyexplanation site link. I visited it and saw the 'powered by blogger' button which I clicked on.
I've seen other blog sites that don't handle images very well.
It's free and will display my pics full size when you click on them. It takes some time to learn how to set things up, post and navigate but what else is new. It's like having your own little web site. Now I have a whole new set of things to learn, like setting up my own links and things. There will be plenty of indoor time soon, lol.
Andy P

Andy, guess what. Through Picasa, which I just got a few days ago, I learned about Blogspot this morning and have been working on my own blog. I didn't know about yours until just now!

I have a question though. I'm not sure my images are posting. I see them but I don't know if anyone else can because the AOL message is something about posting as a text file, or something like that. Did you get a similar message?

thanks, guys. it's LumaPix FotoFusion - very easy to use.

Andy, enjoyed the blog. Did you post those great glad shots here before? Beautiful!

Nancy, when do we get to see yours?

I built a whole web site for myself twice only to have it disappear when the the host site went under (without notice of course)... and it was free so you really can't complain. I have some free web space now with my dsl provider. I should probably try again.

I have my own too. http://www.lakehousecreations.com/ I thought about adding a blog to it, but I haven't decided how to go about it. I use Microsoft FrontPage. What do you use Gram?

Nap, Because you commented on mine I found yours and yes I saw your collages.
There is a third DGer over there who visits this thread. I'll let her/him tell us when there is something to see there.

Gram, Yes I posted them somewhere on DG a while back. You must have caught it right after I posted. The post times there are way off. Oh, I forgot to adjust it on the post. So much to learn, lol.

Andy P

Andy - how did you find Nancy's blog?? I'd love to read it, could one of you share a link? I actually like their format over there. Maybe I'll try there and just have a link to it from my website. That would definitely be alot easier than creating one on my site.

Anita, click on the 'comments' at the bottom of mine. then click on her name to see her profile and click on her blog. You may have to be signed up, I don't know. I'll let her post the link.
A Warning ~ not all blogs are nice, some may be offensive. Nancy's is nice, lol.
Andy P

Anita, very nice. always used the free software that came with the free space, so I never even had copies of my stuff. will never do that again. btw, I love african violets. my great-grandmother had a huge bay window full of them. I still have one that's a descendent of one of hers. I grew some from seed once, too. Fun project...gave them to everybody I knew. I used to know a little html, but I've gotten lazy.

Thanks for clarifying that, Andy! I'm nice. Ha Ha!~ And I'm G-rated. (I believe you are too) Here's a link. http://heavenscentbynancy.blogspot.com/

Did you know that your picture shows up with your comments on my blog? I'm willing to collaborate, as soon as we can figure out how. (Computer semi-illiterate, here.)

Gram - do you still enjoy growing AV's? I have so many babies. I grow mine from leaves. I give them as hostess gifts when I go to friends' homes. Let me know if you want some.

Thanks Andy - I'll check that out.

Thanks Nancy - great pics, as usual!!!!

Gram, I started some AVs from seed once, too. A long time ago. It was fun.
Nancy, You are nice but I was referring to some of the blogs, lol.
I suspected that my pic would show up on the comment, it showed up on the preview. It's not a bad one and fairly recent. Trying to get it down to under 50 kb and still be big enough to see was the hard part.
We will have to read the 'how to' section for linking. It's all a bit over my head but worth a try. I'd like to link to my PhotoShows.
Anita, I've seen your site before. You have a lot on there, well done.

Well, I had to say it yesterday. Today I found some Monarch wings in the Butterfly bush where the Mantis has been. I guess it was bound to happen.

Thanks, Anita!

Oh, Andy. I guess mantis' have to eat, too. But it is sad.

This message was edited Sep 25, 2006 4:33 PM

Andy,
I finally saw a Monarch today! I was so glad they haven't all left that I chased him around the field trying to get a shot.

Pixie, that's a heck of a nice shot. Worth the chase.
I've seen more in the past couple of weeks than in all of Summer. Still can't get a shot with the wings open, though.
Andy P

Andy & Nancy, Very nice work!
(your feedback is on DG so I don't have to register there)

Nancy - you got your page - you didn't tell me. LOL

I spend too much time on the computer already, maybe once I'm off dial up I'll do one.
I had been watching this one for a while now that I like
http://theizelcottage.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_theizelcottage_archive.html

Thanks Dave.
Nancy, check your DMail. I figured out how to link.
Andy P

Anita, I'd love some of your AV's. I wish I had some to trade, but I only have 2 left and I'm just nursing those back to health. I killed most of mine one year after I had surgery and couldn't take care of them.

Nancy, enjoyed the blog. always love your pics!

andy, it's nice to meet your 'face'. sorry about the monarch...just the mantis doing it's job.

pixie, how exciting to catch up with one. really nice pic. they float by me at least 2 or 3 times a day when I'm working outside but keep on going right across the lake so I can't follow. I'd like to try to catch a pic in flight, but I always have too much mud on my hands.

I got my page, Al! Today! Take a look!

Andy, thanks for the info. May I link yours to mine? I don't want any smart comments from anyone, Al. And thank you everyone for the 'nice' comments!

I have a relative visiting from Manhattan who spends a lot of time at the NYC zoos. He takes a lot of photos, and in fact he has some published. I asked him if I could show all of you the recent butterfly pics he brought. Here it is.


This message was edited Sep 25, 2006 9:08 PM

Nancy, great photos. I love the one of the 'twins'. thank him for sharing.

If this weren't Andy's thread, and if the pics were mine, I would show you his tiger photos. Now THOSE are amazing! And I will pass along your compliment. Thanks, gram.

nap ~Those are wonderful! Thanks for sharing them with us, I can't pick one favorite...I like em all!!

Nancy, this is not MY thread, it's OURS. Post away.
Sure, we can cross link.
Andy P

Speaking of Blogs - this is one of my favorites.
http://www.thisgardenisillegal.com/

Give this one a shot...

This message was edited Sep 26, 2006 1:23 PM

I can't get that link to work, Anita.