Be still . . .

  

As the dawn breaks over the horizon, for which I see no beginning or end,

I sit in stillness and know that you are God. When I silence my heart and mind,
I can hear you call my name. And as my eyes take in the beauty around me,

I see all that you have written.  - Kim

I had set my alarm, but hit snooze a few times too many. I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it on time for the show, but decided to just go anyway. I'm glad I did . . .  I raced out of the car with camera and tripod in hand, and this was the very first click of the morning. And surprise, this week I do have more than just the sunrise. ; ) 

And as soon as the sun rose just behind the clouds, it turned into this . . .

If you look really closely in the photo above, far in the distance in the golden light,

is this shrimp boat that I zoomed in on.

There is just something about the stillness at the start of the day, although that doesn't mean everything else around us is still. There seemed to be a fierce game of chase going on.

And I wasn't the only one in need of a little reflection.

And then I was off, just down the street, to sit and just think about nothing. It's one of my favorite spots along the coastal birding trail, a small wooden platform off in a little alcove. This place is kind of like

an eraser for my mind, where inspiration comes in the stillness. The silence of real life. Where you can hear things you can't see rustling about, where you can hear the buzzing of a dragonflies wings.

And on my walk, I have to say that I was a bit surprised to see Wisteria blooming this late in the season. The photo art Friday theme this week is container and I'm stretching this one a bit. The heavenly scent is

contained by this beautiful vine....I know, I know, but it's all I got.

{Flower Art Friday / Photo Art Friday - textures, RHWest Script, and age it from Pixel Dust}

As I started heading back to the car I just happened to spy this Night Heron up in the trees. He wasn't at all

liking the clicking of my camera and didn't stick around long.

And then shortly after that, I had found a bench in the shade and sat down to take a break from the heat. And there it was, this Green June Beetle rustling around the ground. It was incredible, as the metallic colors seemed to glow in the shade. Oh, but I didn't have my macro lens with me (it was still in the car), so I looked around for something to carry it back on, hoping the whole while it didn't fly away and that I could actually change my lens without losing it.  

Just check out that antennae! And it was no small beetle at about almost an inch long and half an inch wide. It was pretty difficult to really capture all its shiny metallic colors, and he didn't want to play dead and roll over so I could show you his belly that was a metallic copper. He would have made a great specimen for some resin jewelry, but I wasn't about to kill it.

{Shoot.Edit.Submit}

"Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this

because almost everyone is suffering from it, so it is considered normal. This incessant

mental noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from being."

-Eckhart Tolle

How do you quiet your mind, do you have a special place?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend with some stillness!

Love, Kim

XO

    

Photo-heart connection, number IV

Some photo-heart connections aren't so easy. In fact

this one was quite hard as I had several photos that really spoke to me

this month. I guess partly because they all spoke the same thing.

I've been struggling in a situation where I have felt completely unaccepted, and have

for a very long time. I have often felt like just a flickering light in an expansive room,

wanting so badly to be seen and heard . . . recognized for who I am.

Wondering . .  what is it that they see in my reflection.

Do they look straight through me, do they see me at all?

Because I'm not an empty space . . . and like everyone I have many layers.

I too have a light . . .

  I am who I am, I feel the way I feel, I don't apologize for that.

But I feel like instead of accepting what was offered

I have been rejected because I don't meet expectations.

I've let this sit for a few days wondering if I should even post this.

But it's my truth, and my reality,

and I suppose I just needed to get it out there, to let it go.

And then today I went to the beach,

 and out of the blue during a conversation with a stranger she told me I was interesting.

I felt somehow validated, I felt some peace.

Love, Kim

XO

 

A Reflection

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done,"

and those who say, "All right then, have it your way."

- C.S. Lewis

I'm working on being that first person. It's hard. I'm trying to listen, I'm trying.

Trying to reflect God's will with as little ripples in the water as possible.

Sometimes It's just hard.

Have a great Monday -

Love, Kim

XO

  

 

A journey that started . . . one year ago today

One year ago today, I came across this quote:

“Too many of us wait to do the perfect thing, with the result we do nothing. The way to get ahead is to start now. While many of us are waiting until conditions are ‘just right’ before we go ahead, others are stumbling along, fortunately ignorant of the dangers that beset them. By the time we are, in our superior wisdom, decided to make a start, we discover that those who have gone fearlessly on before, have, in their blundering way, traveled a considerable distance. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don’t know now, and that you will not know next year, if you wait.”

~The William Feather Magazine 

After reading this, I immediately went to the blog URL address that I had set up 8 months previously and wrote my first blog post and hit publish. Yes, it was a new adventure and a little scary, but one that had been put on my heart. I had no expectations and wasn't sure where it would lead me but I was excited to know what I might not have known had I not started. I had no idea it would lead me here to all of you, the ones who come week after week to join me in my journey through life, and this journal I call Picking Poppies. I had no idea that I would make some of the connections that I have and I have been humbled by many of you who have let me know how much you enjoy what I share - it drives my inspiration - and for that I thank you.

It turns out that in this last year my camera has taught me things. Things I didn't know, things I knew but had forgotten, and most of all it helped me to think about things in a way I had never thought of before. My camera slowed me down so that I was able to hear the whispers of my heart and has been an instrumental tool in self discovery, understanding and thought about ordinary things in life that also created reflection about their meaning. No, I didn't solve any world problems, heck I didn't even solve any of my own but I did discover some things along the way and when I paused long enough I found lessons about life that are everywhere for us to learn. All we need to do is to open our eyes to all the things around us, the things that all too often we look at but do not see.

One of the things that I have always known is that there is magnificent beauty in nature, but not just in the seeing of it. My camera has brought even more attention to the delicacy of how it all works together. If you have been with me on this journey for any length of time it won't be a surprise that one of my favorite places to be is the beach. It's the place where my worries wash away with the tide and the secrets of my soul are revealed. It's also where a child paid me one of the greatest compliments when he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up! And even though I told him I didn't know, it was then that I realized that the moment I cease to be amazed at the wonders of this world and forget the child inside will be the day I grew up too much!

One day while out in Galveston, clicking away, I realized I had a repeating theme in those photos. Almost all of them were of some kind of fence and it got me to thinking about the boundaries they keep that at times can sometimes be comforting. But I also realized that some of those fences that I find along my journey I put up myself, ones that have neither an entrance or an exit, and how I am trying to find the courage to jump them despite it.

And then there were doors, which can be tricky things. Doors prompted me to think about opportunities in life, those I've passed up, those I have ignored, and those I feel are impossible. When it comes to doors I often don't read the enter and exit signs very well but because of God's grace he continues to grant me more opportunities to walk through open doors, which for some reason is difficult for me.

 After being at the beach one day and looking back at those photos I again had an unintended theme. Nearly every photo from that day was of a bird in flight. There was yet another lesson but this time it was about wings. As I thought about wings and flying, God was reminding me that he has gifted each one of us with our own unique set of wings. Ones so unique that we are the only ones that can use them and that no one can do it for us. But the only way to know how to use them is to just jump off the ledge, knowing He will mend them should we fall.

This last year I have learned even more about the importance of being still in a busy life. That couldn't have been more evident as I looked back though each post. Starting about September when school started I had less thoughtful posts and I'm sure it was directly connected to the increase in my busyness. I don't thrive on being busy and the older I get the more stillness I enjoy. It allows me to better recognize my blessings so that I can truly receive them and that is not a gift I want to give up lightly.

Well, I guess I had to find somewhere to end this since I could just keep writing, as this is really only a handful of things that stood out to me as I went back through a years worth of posts. And until right this very moment I really wasn't sure why it was these particular things that I chose. But like everything else this year, I guess this too was a lesson for me. And to be really honest, I'm in tears right now because even though I don't always believe in myself, I see that God does and He never gives up on me. I just realized that with the posts I chose from this last year, Keeping Boundaries, Who's There, Taking flight and A Still Moment in a Busy Life,  that He is trying to tell me something. I think He is asking me to be still enough to recognize which door(s) to walk fly through, using the wings he gave me to soar above the boundaries I put in my own way.

Continuing in a forward motion is important, even though I may be stumbling and I need to use the wings

He gave me to get there wherever that may be. And it's in my looking back that I see the distance I have traveled and by not standing where I have always stood, things are starting to look different.

From my heart to yours, thank you for picking poppies with me!

Love, Kim

XO

P.S. What do you know now that you didn't know last year?

Is there something that helped you see differently?

Please share!

P.S.S. You're a rock star if you read this whole thing!! ; )

   

Foto Friday - A walk, some reflection and a vine called Passion Flower

As tired and exhausted as I have been lately, I needed to take a walk. To walk somewhere that was peaceful, quiet, and where I could reflect on my thoughts.

As I walked I thought about the journey that Jesus took to the cross. What did he see? What did he think about? I thought about how he freely offered his life for ours. How he died in our place on the cross taking our past, present and future sins upon himself. He paid the ultimate price for you and me and he could have saved himself, but endured this suffering because of His love for us.

For this, I am very thankful.

My walk began on a coastal birding trail leading to Pine Gully Park diverse in marsh areas, estuaries and restored wetland. In most areas there are trails on both sides of the marshes where you can cross from one side to the other by an iron bridge. This is the view from one side of the bridge:

Since this area is only about a mile from Galveston Bay the water levels will vary according to the tides. There is an American alligator that lives here, but I have yet to have seen it. And as diverse in nature that it is, I could only hear that which was around me. Everything seemed to be quite elusive on this morning.





That is until I came across this gorgeous dragonfly! He seemed quite happy to have his picture taken, appearing at times to be posing. I could swear that he's smiling in this one!

This dragonfly is a skimmer called Halloween Pennant.

I love the way the light reflected off this grass.

After my walk and a quick lunch with my man I headed over to Bay Area Design in search of some flowers for my garden and to specifically take some pictures of the Passion Flower Vine. The smell alone will capture your heart much less its beauty! But even more interesting is how it got its name.

Spanish Christian missionaries in the 15th and16th centuries named it the passion flower because they believed it symbolized the suffering or "passion" of Christ and his death.









The five petals and 5 sepals which on the passion flower look almost the same, represent the disciples who remained faithful, leaving out Judas the betrayer and Peter the denier. The double row of filaments or Corona was thought of as the crown of thorns Jesus wore. The three stigmas at the very top represent the three nails and the five stamen underneath those, his wounds.

They also noted that the flowers are spent after a single day, the time Jesus was on the cross. And the petals do not drop from the flower but re-close symbolizing Jesus enclosed in the tomb.

Anything that wants to delight in this flowers nectar must work extra hard to get it.

I couldn't resist this beautiful pink zinnia...

One of the things I love about Bay Area Design aside from the flowers and the wonderful people

 who work there is all of their fountains! Not only are they beautiful, but the sound of trickling water is just, well, mesmerizing and very relaxing.

I love how the background in this one turned out - like a watercolor.

I could just spend all day here, flowers, fountains, wildlife - who could ask for more?

(Hmmm, one in my yard would be nice) : )

I hope your weekend includes a walk, some reflection and a little passion flower.

Have a blessed weekend!

Love, Kim

XO

Foto Friday....on makeup Monday

This, is my sentiments exactly!

Last week was not my best week....lost my crown on a tooth that had already had 2 root canals and they couldn't put it back on. The tooth was cracked well below the gum surface, so they extracted it and did a bone graft to prepare it for a future implant. Two dentists, two hours, four numbing shots, and five stitches to get the sucker out.

I was informed when he finished that I made it to his top five list of difficult teeth to remove in all his 30 years of practice. Somehow, that wasn't the kind of 'special' person status I was hoping for!

So I had very good intentions of posting foto Friday on Friday, but I could not keep my eyes open following a night of pain meds and then a very busy weekend ensued.




My son's 7 on 7 touch football started this weekend and we spent many hours in the car driving the daughter around so that she could fulfill a choir commitment and not miss her girls retreat through church. It meant that we picked her up from the retreat, drove her to where she needed to be for choir, waited and then drove her back. The retreat was on Galveston Island and you couldn't see 20 feet in front of you because of the fog. But when we dropped her back off, the sun had peered through the fog with just enough light for an interesting picture with reflections in the water. Eerie, yet beautiful. Haunting, but peaceful.

So this is the only picture I will leave you with today.

A picture of reflection, the return of light after striking a surface.

It's also where I will be today . . . in a state of reflection as I consider carefully some of my thoughts.

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Kim

Reflection . . . and the road to acceptance

Reflection; a fixing of the thoughts on something; careful consideration
Acceptance; the act of taking or receiving something offered

It's New Years day, a new year and a new decade. With that, I'm sure many share in my reflection of time gone by. Unresolved resolutions or resolutions with really good intentions that were never started. But this year especially, it's not about things I haven't done or didn't finish. It's about a journey, a road traveled....and a destination. Just not one you'll find on a map.


A little over two years ago my husband accepted a job that meant a big move for our family. It was a necessary move as we had been out of work and although it was not out of state it may as well have been. It was away from where our children were born and everything that felt comfortable, everything that was home. The move was to be from the Dallas area to a small town about 25 miles north of Galveston Island and a very large body of water!



Things were preceding nicely. Our house sold the first day on the market and we were in the process of building a new one, and we had secured an apartment for the interim. But a new set of circumstances had reared its ugly head and we felt it was best to back out of the new home, which in turn created a new set of circumstances and more uncertainty. The day after we moved in a tropical storm came through and I fought back the tears as my son begged us to go back home. This place was now home. It's hard to be brave for your children when deep down inside you're falling apart. And then there was hurricane Ike, with a category 5 storm surge that resulted in the largest evacuation in the states history only 4 weeks after we moved in! So I moved to a place I didn't want to be to find myself and my family evacuating just weeks later with no more than a couple of suitcases and a box of our earthly possessions and important papers not knowing if that would be all we had left. It's an indescribable feeling to say the least. In the weeks that followed (and those prior) I was depressed. I didn't want to get dressed and I hardly ever left the apartment. My sweet husband would come home for lunch and take me for a drive just to get me out. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. It was getting close to the end of our 6 month lease and we decided to look for a house. That was definitely a turning point getting out of the apartment and back into a house and a neighborhood again. It also meant that our kids were changing schools yet once again. We were getting settled,  the kids were adjusting well and I was starting to meet a few friends and beginning to garden once again! But I was still less than happy about being here.

As time went on I continued going through the motions and my husband and I joined a couples bible study group. During one of our lessons, there was discussion on favorite places to be. One of the women told how her father in-law's favorite place to be was in acceptance. I thought to myself, wow acceptance would be such a great place to be since self-pity sucked. But it's not on map quest, so how to get there was the question. Well, what I learned is that there are no directions to acceptance and that the only way to get there is through faith. I was too busy being mad and feeling sorry for myself to see, really see where the road led. It's really hard at the time when everything feels so wrong to remember that there is a power greater than you making everything right. That the Lords plan is far greater than your own especially when it looks nothing like yours. For had we not moved here, to the Gulf Coast, I may not have discovered the photographer in me or my fascination for the beach and my love of the water. I believe that I have a purpose to share the glory of God and nature through photography and art with others.

In the last decade I have learned more about the things that matter and the things that don't and how easy it is to confuse the two. That being happy isn't about the perfections, but looking past the imperfections. I am just as grateful for my struggles as I am for my blessings. It seems that they are one in the same. And that as I come into a new year and decade that it's not about a new beginning but rather a continuation of a journey. . .to a place called acceptance.