morning ritual at the beach...

i am filled with joy and peace after my morning ritual at the beach...this is one reason:

my first glimpse of the sunrise this morning...

a couple was taking pictures with their cell phone...i captured them...

the breathtaking awe...

i often take these little snaps of beach treasures i call nature vignettes....i take them as i find them with no arrangement by me...here are some from this morning: click to enlarge...

What Kind of Dame goes downtown in her PJs...

this quirky dame is going downtown to historic fernandina beach this morning for the black friday pajama party... during the Thanksgiving Weekend my city (America's 2nd oldest city) holds the popular Pajama Party Sale & Contest...held annually on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Shoppers are encouraged to dress in their favorite pajamas, fuzzy slippers, and other assorted sleepwear and stroll along Centre Street and throughout downtown Fernandina Beach, exploring the eclectic shops, local attractions and eateries. Pajama-clad shoppers will enjoy deals and discounts, along with fresh juice, coffee and pastries to fuel their shopping spirit. Shoppers who wish to be eligible for “Best Dressed Individual Shopper in Pajamas” and Best Dressed Shopping Group in Pajamas” must wear their pajamas (of course!) and have a free photo taken at the judges booth.

Santa Claus will arrive at 2 p.m. at the Fernandina Harbor Marina aboard the Ye Olde Pirate charter boat and all are invited to welcome him to town

Your Score: Katharine Hepburn

You scored 23% grit, 28% wit, 38% flair, and 23% class!

You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women.

take you Dame test here

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the different ways in which needs can be satisfied...

"Besides the earth, man's principle resource is man himself. His intelligence enables him to discover the earth's productive potential and the many different ways in which needs can be satisfied." -- Pope John Paul II

in my dreams there is a banquet...and everybody i love, or ever have loved, or ever will love is there...and it is beautiful...and everyone is happy and there is enough food for each to have their fill...no one is hungry or in pain or sad...

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday...i love to get up early to bake the bread that has risen all night...and cook, and cook, and cook...pumpkin soup in tiny pumpkins i baked to the perfect golden glow...my turkey served with tiny ruffled shoes...homemade gravy and the inner parts turned into a feast for the animals...

this year is different...and i pray:

Lord, continue to fuel me with the desire to be productive...and understand the different ways in which needs can be satisfied...

pictorial essay...all photos taken this morning at sunrise...

for these i am thankful

natures' vignettes

a tiny feather in the sun

my great blue heron muse

a great splash photo

a chubby sanderling

a sunrise portrait session by the sea

rippled sand in the sun

surfers at dawn

pelicans flying low over waves

finding a perfect nautilus shell

a flock of sea gulls

colorful sea foam bubbles

haze over the ocean

watching a thanksgiving family photo session by the sea at sunrise

mostly i am thankful for the beautiful friendships i have found during the past 18 months...they have fueled my energy when i had none and filled my weary spirit with joy...you have given to me knowing that i had nothing to give in return... you know who you are and i hope you know how much i love you...and i say simply...

thanks

please read the post below about food banks and what they need this season...if you can help, please do...

Christmas Reflections and Traditions...

i have joined The Inspired Room's annual Friday Holiday Linkyyou can see other limky by clicking the link...
There is no ideal Christmas;
only the one Christmas you decide
to make as a reflection
of your values, desires, affections, traditions.
Bill McKibben*
This quote really touched something deep in me. I hate to admit it, but 2009 has been a very tough year and I have been feeling really down, disconnected, and not my joyful self...I do not like to whine too much, because I have a beautiful and full life...so when I contemplated the above quote, I realized that it is exactly what I believe and bring that makes a holiday joyful...not feeling sorry for myself...




St. Francis Preaching to the Birds - Giotto
So what am I going to do about my feelings of sadness...what I always do when I am too focused on self...turn outward and think of others:

Your Local Food Bank Needs You

This holiday season, consider the possibility of making your dinner a food drive; you can ask your guests to bring canned goods, in lieu of house gifts...Have a neighborhood food drive with your children - make a flyer and pass around this weekend and pick up Monday and deliver to the food bank...

Food banks are really suffering this year...because of the economy, many more people have had to call on thier local food bank for help...if you have any extra money or canned goods...stories like this abound this year...please help if you can...

Hoffman, 55, is one of the growing number of "nontraditional" food pantry clients across the country. They include more formerly independent senior citizens, more people who own houses and more people who used to call themselves "middle-class" — those who are not used to fretting over the price of milk.

"We're getting calls all the time from people who want to know how to get here," said Kristine Gibson, community outreach manager at the Stockton food pantry. "And when I ask where they live, they give an address of a nice neighborhood, one where you or I would want to live."

No matter what city you live in, and no matter what newspaper you read, you have probably seen a headline that says something like “Local Food Bank Donations Down,” or “Shelves Empty at the Food Bank.”

According to a recent thread on Chowhound, certain items are almost always a good bet:

Canned Chicken
Powdered Milk
Canned Tuna
Saltine Crackers
Soups
Juices
White Rice
Jarred or Canned Spaghetti Sauce
Grape Jelly
Canned Vegetables
Breakfast Cereals
Pork & Beans
Peanut Butter
Macaroni & Cheese
Baby food & formula
Pet food, for companion animals

And, of course, money donations are always welcome as well. To find the nearest food bank to you, check out Second Harvest’s Food Bank locator.

What they’ve got too much of? Kidney beans.

I will repeat my tradition a la St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis loved animals because they, too, were God's creatures. He extended special kindness to animals at Christmas. He urged farmers to provide their oxen and donkeys with extra rations of corn and hay "for the reverence of the Son of God, whom on such a night the Blessed Virgin did lay down in the stall between the ox and the donkey." At Christmastide, St. Francis scattered crumbs of bread under the trees, so the tiny creatures could feast and be happy. I am going to scatter bird seed around my tiny island on Christmas eve so that the birds, too, can celebrate...




Saint Francis' birds are fed on Christmas Eve 2007 - a new tradition launched
Read about other Christmas traditions here...

See my Hundred Dollar Holiday ideas and Hundred Dollar Holiday post....to learn more...

* Bill McKibben, author, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmassays, "The Christmas we now celebrate grew up at a time when Americans were mostly poor ... mostly working with their hands and backs. If we now feel burdened and unsatisfied by the piles of gifts and over consuming, it is not because Christmas has changed all that much. It's because we have." ...read article here...

tears thru an e-mail...

it was a foggy gray morning at my beloved ocean...you could barely see the surf...but i could hear it as i walked in silence this morning...

why do i say tears?

i listened to a teleseminar tuesday evening by a young man no older than my youngest sons... he touched my soul and gave me some very useful information to use in my mentoring program...he also offered his $2000 program for a free 30 trial.

he made a comment about his offer on facebook and i responded that "this is a fab offer and program...someday for me..." because i wanted my friends to see the offer...

someone came back with a respoonse..."Rebecca WHAT????!!!! I must only assume you're not a coach. If you are what are you saying "Someday". It's completely free. There's no risk. If it doesn't work, return it. Period."

to which i responded with my heart..."it's an ethical struggle... would not be true to my spirit by taking something i would not be able to pay for...just because i can... but i believe in the program so strongly that i wanted to share it with my friends...my time will come..."

the young man responded..."If you can't afford it right now, then you really need it right now. You can get clients from using it and then use the new client income to pay for it."

he really has faith in his program and i almost relented and ordered it...i decided to sleep on it...then this morning the young man sent out a e-mail entitled...

"I can't afford it" (how to win the client anyway)...

guess who he used as an example? with a transcript of our exchange...i really tried to look at it from his point of view but the tears would not stop flooding down my cheeks...gray-sunless is where my spirit has gone...then a dear, dear friend wrote this to me:

There is no way you can explain your path to someone who isn't on the same path as you are.

and therein lies the truth...

a nature vignette from this morning's walk...just as i found it...a feather and a heart shell

metallic moods of the sea...

as an artist i am sensitive to the changes in color around me...last week the atmosphere was very blue...and the temperature was very cold...my morning photos were very blue...consequently my mood was blue...but this week the temperature warmed as did the colors and my spirit shines...the atmosphere took on a metallic glow and the following are the photos i captured...

platinum morn

golden morn

silver morn

bronze morn

copper morn

i can feel the change about my world at this time...this shining aura surrounds me and my spirit is brightened...i carry this out into the world...

Meister Eckhart wrote, "As thou art in church or cell, that same frame of mind carry out into the world, into its turmoil and its fitfulness."

more sunrise paintings...

original photograph

sunrise 4 - 2009 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

original photograph

sunrise 5 - 2009 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

original photograph

sunrise 4 - 2009 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

prints of the paintings ($38) and of the fine art photographs ($28) are available...just leave a comment and i will be in touch with ordering directions...

sunrise paintings...

i love to photograph the sunrise...and sometimes i am moved to paint the photographs...here are three examples of the original photo with the resulting painting...

original photograph

sunrise 1 - 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

original photograph

sunrise 2 - 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

original photograph

sunrise 3 - 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

prints of these paintings ($38) and fine art photographs ($18) are available for purchase...leave a comment if you are interested