When someone notices . . .

"Well it's alright, doing the best you can"

-End of the Line  (Traveling Wilburys)

Saturday we drove to see the college girl to help her out with a few things, we were gone all day. And by all day I mean we pulled into the driveway at midnight, barley awake.

Sunday morning, after a few errands, my husband went to the mailbox to get the mail. He said there were two postcards, one addressed to him and one to the football boy. Both written on the same kind of postcard.

The one for my husband was from our boy. A very sincere note about how he felt he was successful, always working hard, finding the good in our family . . . and how he has never felt denied of anything. Now you have to understand, there have been some really tough times in our family, like many families. And during those times its hard enough sometimes to get what you need let alone what you want. So it was very touching, and a tribute to the character of our boy ( to both our kids really ) to say that he has never felt denied, even when we could't give them some of things we thought they should have.

The one addressed to our son had this written on it:

"You have been through so many hard times in your life with your health and you never gave up. You kept going in your school grades and your activities. You never show you're hurt or sick, and you always keep going." Signed by a friend in his English class.

In fact, this was an English assignment. To write to someone who you think fits R. W. Emerson's definition of success. Which is, "To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

(For those of you visiting for the first time or new followers, this link will help you understand better what his friend means by the hard times with his health)

His friend could have sent this to anyone...his parents, anyone. But, he chose to send it to my boy! And as his mom (as his parents) we know this, we see his humility and his kindness and his choice to be happy despite what life continues to throw at him. And it makes my heart happy that someone else noticed too. That he can know that while most people his age won't say it, they see him doing the best that he can. To know that he can be an example to others who are or may go through something really hard, that if you keep the right attitude, that if you make it a choice to be happy, that well, life will be alright when you're doing the best that you can.

Snail mail has nearly become something of the past these days, and reading these two postcards has reminded me to never underestimate the power of the written word or telling someone else just how much they have inspired you. 

What a great English assignment....I have some postcards of my own to send! Because who wants to get to the end of the line and have any regrets. Either with what you didn't say or how you didn't live.

Love, Kim

Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Song-ography, Roses of Inspiration

A little grey is okay . . .

"When I was a little girl, everything in the world fell into either of these two categories: wrong or right.

Black or white. Now that I am an adult, I have put childish things aside and now I know that some 

things fall into wrong and some things fall into right. Some things are categorized as black and some 

things are categorized as white. But most things in the world aren't either! Most things in the world 

aren't black, aren't white, aren't wrong, aren't' right, but most of everything is just different. And now

I know that there's nothing wrong with different, and that we can let things be different, we don't have 

to try and make them black and white, we can just let them be grey. And when I was a child, I thought 

that God was the God who only saw black and white. Now that I am no longer a child, I can see, that

God is the God who can see the black and white and the grey, too, and He dances on grey!

Grey is okay."

- C. Joybell C.

{KK ugglovebandw, KK word}

I have read that artistry in photography requires the ability to achieve a state of unconstricted awareness, free of conventional ways of seeing and thinking.

And well, I think that is true in life too.

We lose the art of living our own life when we are motivated to please others by conforming to their way of thinking only to be in the group, to win approval, or to feel accepted.

It's funny, everyone wants to be different, they just don't want to "like" different.

People want to stand out from the crowd, but don't want to give permission to anyone else to do the same. 

They like the tidiness of black and white. But black and white is about control and if we are always trying to be "in control" don't we miss out on all the beautiful loose ends that end up being life, that just passes all of us by simply because we forgot how to read between black and white.

Because between black and white is grey, shades of grey. And I'm not talking about a book, but about shades of beautiful people that we miss because we have only learned to see contrast, black or white, right and wrong.

{KK Not too shabby}

Between black and white, between yielding and rigid, is compromise. Both in life and photography. Between black and white there are no labels. Frederick Franck said, " By these labels we recognize everything but no longer see anything." Between black and white everything and everyone is important and has value, there is no judgment, no categories.

Seeing only black or white does not give way to flexibility, nor does it give one the ability to deviate from their own so called rules of life. In photography it means always leaning into the "rules of composition", just to miss the essence of what we are photographing in the first place.

Grey is okay. In fact, grey is really good. And a black and white photograph? Its made up of shades of grey.

Life, is made up of shades of grey too. 

I don't believe there is much adventure to be found in black and white, you are either a leader or a follower, never both.

Always teetering on the edge of right and wrong, black and white keeps our imagination from our camera and allows us to miss the true beauty of people too.

I've learned that dancing to the beat of my own drum, one that is a shade of grey (definitely with a hint of pink), is a much happier place to be. Like me for who I am, or leave me for someone I am not.

Yes, being a shade of grey means we are different, and different is what makes life interesting. God gave us each a unique shade so that we would be, could be different.

Yes, between black and white are shades of grey and if we read carefully between the lines, those shades of grey, we will also find a hint of color.

God not only dances on grey, but He celebrates it!

Love, Kim

XO

Sharing with Texture Tuesday, Tuesdays Around The World, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Tuesday Muse

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I went out this morning to watch the sunrise and for the second time
in as many weeks it just wasn't one of those photographic moments.
It does seem though, that when I can't get to the sunrise,
(I live only 10 miles from the water) the sky turns the most beautiful shades of pink!
I was trying to get a photo for this first prompt . . .  so now on to plan 'B'.

1. Landscape: If you were here for my foto friday then you know that I was a bit sad (and thank you
so very much for all of your kind comments) because my friend left for her new home 1200 miles
away and to cheer myself up I went to one of my favorite places . . . Maas Nursery.

2. Complementary colors:  Colors that fall opposite of each other on the color wheel. This was taken

about 10 feet outside my front door early in the morning just before the sun rose over the houses, and

right after the sprinklers had been on. I seem to have a thing for water drops lately!

3. Food: Cake Balls, yum!! It's nice to have a teenage daughter who likes to bake.

4. Black and White: I thought this one would be perfect for this prompt. This was Friday night right

before the start of the game . . . all the players make their way to the end zone and kneel . . . I left one of

the players gloves pink and what you cannot see is that every player on our team is wearing something

pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Our stands were scattered with pink too!

5. Blank space: There is a blank space in the vine wall, it just so happens that something else is filling

it in on the other side!

Hope you've been having a great weekend!!

Join me in checking out the other scavenger hunt prompts....

Foto Friday - Black and White

Wow, where did the week go? I don't know about you but we started
back to school on Monday. Back to school, and straight into homework and football
practice and late dinners. But that means my house is pretty quiet during the day,
something I haven't had in a while. Unfortunately I haven't been able to utilize that quietness
as I have been busy "boostering" the boys athletic club!! But, and drum roll please . . .
the hard work we have put into it in the last two weeks has paid off. We have raised nearly
$2,500 towards one of our goals of a new weight room  - that's half way and I can't tell you how
excited I am about that. I am so thankful to the parents that are committed to making this work
because there is just nothing better than helping OUR children, all of them, be all they can be!!

Okay, on to foto Friday. Once again, I've had a little trouble getting out with my camera.
I did manage to get a few photos this week, but decided to explore some old photos and turn them
into a black and white study. Well, I didn't really do a black and white study but I did manage to put
a little thought into it.

I wish I would have given myself more time to think about this and to search for just the right photos
because the more I looked through my photos the more thoughtful I became about what I was seeing.
I am a person who is very moved by color and while the world is in living color (some amazing ones
at that), black and white images allow you to see what you might otherwise miss. They can be more
thought provoking, with contrast and dramatic effect allowing us to see the soul of the subject.

When we make a photograph without color it can perhaps change our perception because we are no
longer distracted from the color. Suddenly shapes and lines, light and shadows are more evident. Sometimes
patterns and textures pop and are just more interesting. I think deciding to make an image black and white is really subjective depending on what one is trying to convey to the viewer or based on what is felt at the time. 

I don't know about you but I have always loved to go back and look at old black and white photos. Sometimes a monochromatic image can give a sense of history and time.

In this photo of the farm, most of the color was the green corn. The barn is white with a green roof and the silos are silver. It was a rather boring picture. But in black and white there is now a lot of texture and pattern and even shadows that might have been missed if it were in color.

This one didn't have a lot of color to start with as it was a very foggy morning, but in complete

monochrome it allowed the sun and reflection to be center with no distractions from tiny bits of color.

This also didn't have much color, but in black and white there is much more contrast.

And then there is this photo which I quite like both ways. In color there was a soft

golden light off the ceiling and the archways were a burnt umber and yellow. But I love the arches

and how they pop in this black and white. I also love the light coming in on the left.

With this one my eye was drawn to the wall when it was in color and now is more directed

towards the light in the doorway - perhaps there is a story in the other room?

Love this in black and white - just very bold and dramatic!

The butterfly is mostly orange while the flowers are yellow. Making this a black and white gave more contrast between the flower and the butterfly, allowing for the pattern of the wings and his eyes to really stand out.

This passion flower has some beautiful shades of purple but just look at the textures that stand out

in black and white.

This is one where I could have gone either way too. Some of the background blur (bokeh) is green and

so turning this into a monochrome gave it a unified feeling.

Linking this photo with the bokeh challenge at LEM and foto friday at la-la's home daycare.

And who knew a weed could look so beautiful!! I captured this early in the morning

while there was still dew on the leaves. The water drops sure have a nice round shape - I think it's because the leaves on these weeds are quite textured creating a lot of surface tension for the water? Again, love this in black and white - it feels calmer than the one in color where the leaves are a bright green.

Linking this photo with favorite photo of the week contest at through a photographers eyes, and

fabulous friday with mcdougall photography.

While images can be black and white, without color and for the purpose of art and interpretation,

there are people who live their life in black and white and are missing out on so much of the color of life.

Between color and black and white is a grey area. It's where compromise and the shades of

good and bad, right and wrong live. It's between yielding and rigid and is where I believe adventure is found.

The journey of meeting color and black and white in the middle.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, Kim

XO

Linking up with the hollie rogue for foto friday

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