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Tonight is a full moon... and I am catching glimpses of it off an on as I sit here on the front porch. It has been raining for most of the day... and now there is a heavy bank of clouds that are playing tag with the moon.

I can hear the crickets chirping... and a dog barking off in the distance...

I can see the little brown bats as they dive for bugs under the street lamp...

I can feel the crispness in the air as the weather slowly changes to fall on this ... the autumn equinox...

I can taste the pungency of my bergamont tea...

and I love the smell of the rain on the grass tonight.



((I took my mother out for dinner tonight to a local cafe for garlic hummus and pita bread... fresh from the oven... tea.... and a wonderful Greek salad...Everything was awesome.))


*photos by Elaine A. Russell

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You'd think being "out here in the country"... (said in a voice like a Tom Bodett commercial)... that people wouldn't succumb to the drama of life. Or, better said... that people would be too busy with more important stuff. You'd think... living in a city with half a million people... I would be more accustomed to the particular quirks natural to humanity and living amongst the throngs. But I am not.

The past couple of days has shown me, however, that people are people... no matter where you live. And no place is immune to the stuff of life. That is to say... we all get our feelings hurt... we all occasionally feel put-upon and taken advantage of... we all feel like perhaps there is something "greener" somewhere else... or with someone else... or if we just had "blank" ((... insert thing here...))... life would be easier.

There is a song I know with words in the chorus that go.... "It's a hard life, it's a hard life... it's a very hard life. It's a hard life wherever you go. But if we poison our children with hatred...then, the hard life is all they'll ever know."
The song is specifically talking about bigotry... but it really could be applicable to other things as well. Taken further... we can apply it to ourselves. If we poison our own minds to something... it can truly slant our perspective.

IE: if we expect something to be awful... it generally is.

Now, that is not to say that if we put on rose-colored glasses... our entire life will be sweet as pie.

Far from it. But there is something to be said about hoping for the best... and doing whatever we can to bring that into being.

Positive thoughts... then positive action.

Seems like every book I have read lately has had to do with finding your passion in life... and following your dreams. About being positive in a negative world. About not letting things get you down or destroy your goals. About being optimistic in general, and drawing people to you that are also of a positive mindset. I don't think it was a conscious effort on my part to have picked all these books with basically a theme... but there ya go.

And hey... if nothing else...
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." --Albright

*photos by Elaine A. Russell

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Well.... dad's fever has finally somewhat stabilized.... and he is tolerating the IV antibiotics he is getting. His spirit is strong... but his body is betraying him these past few days. Today... it was discovered that he has a significant blood clot in his left femoral artery *left groin/upper leg area.
Ironically... the best thing for the pneumonia is to be as active as possible.... but with a clot.. he is confined to minimal movement at best... as he is getting blood thinners and such to absorb the clot and minimize more from forming. It is a viscious cycle almost.....

Mimicking the up and down of dad's health... is the weather here. I took this photo of a stained glass art piece in my parent's living room looking out to the backyard... and not even an hour later... we were in the middle of a massive snowstorm.

The snow didn't stay of course.... and I'm sure the weather will improve... it just seemed horribly ironic....

Walking around the house... I was really tired... and trying to figure out what I would take as my photo for the day....

And so.... I am including a photo of probably some of the most *ahem* interesting wallpaper ever.... (in my parent's bathroom)... and a photo of a hand-colored photograph of my dad taken when he was about 3 years old. Yes... my grandmother really did dress him like that for school. He says it was how he learned to fight so well as a kid (>>giggle<<).

* all photos by Elaine A. Russell