Eyes In The Sky

The sky absolutely fasinates me.  You never know what to expect when you look up at the sky above.  This photo was near sundown and I captured this picture, looking West, between our pine trees and redtip hedge.

As I turned around to look East, I saw the “Eyes In The Sky”.  The small dark clouds, the moon, and a star produced this effect.

A Deer Surprise

I made my quarter mile trip up the hill to capture another gorgeous sunset. I scared two deer that were crossing the pasture.  I missed capturing the first deer as it scampered into the woods.  But, I caught the second deer as it jumped the fence and landed with its white tail in the air.  Who scared who the most. lol

Following is that wonderful sunset I was trying to capture.

 

 

Do Good to All the People

Although this photo above depicts serenity, there is much torment and sorrow in this world that needs to be addressed.  It truly takes all of us to help others in need.

I want to aquaint you with a fellow blogger that I follow, Sandra Ross.  She has done research in the field of Alzheimer’s Disease, Demention, Age-related iIllnesses, and Caregiver Support.  She has written books, done articles on drugs, and posted profiles on many famous people with dementia. If you are dealing with Alzheimers/Dementia yourself or are a caregiver, it would help you tremendously to read the articles on her blog.  Here is a link:  goinggentleintothatgoodnight.com

If you are a person, like Sandra, who truly wants to help others perhaps the following quotes would inspire you to do all you can to help others.

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”  John Wesley

“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them, that’s the essence of inhumanity.”  George Bernard Shaw

“Cruelty and wrong are not the greatest forces in the world.  There is nothing eternal in them.  Only love is eternal.” Elisabeth Elliot

Dare To Soar

“May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.”  Tolkien

“You were made to soar, to crash to earth, then to rise and soar again.”  Alfred Wainwright

The hawk in the first photo stopped in mid-air above my head – looking straight up I managed to take this photo before he began to soar away.  The Red Tailed hawk below flew through the yard, scaring all the small birds and landed in the top of a cedar tree at the back of our 3 acres.  Without my zoom lens I would not have captured this picture.

 

 

“Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears”

I have always loved History.  I was listening to my wonderful Irish Tenors CD today and I heard the song, “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears.”  This is a song about immigrants from other countries coming into America through Ellis Island from 1892-1943.  The first immigrant to cross the threshold of Ellis Island was Annie Moore of Ireland on January l, 1892. The song sung by the Irish Tenors is about Annie Moore.  Photo below – Ellis Island and a second photo of immigrants entering Ellis Island.

 

 

 

 

 

You truly have to research things posted on the internet to get the true facts.  Several articles had Annie’s age wrong, they had her married to the wrong man and living in other U.S. states.  All false information.  Here is the true story of Annie’s life.

Annie Moore was born April 24,1874 in Ireland.   Annie arrived in American from County Cork, Ireland after a 12 day boat trip on the steamship Nevada, which carried a total of 148 passengers. She was 17 years old and traveled with her brothers – Anthony who was 15 years old and her brother Phillip who was 12. They joined their parents Matthew and Julie Moore who came to New York City in 1888.  Annie received a $10 gold piece as the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island. The picture below is Annie and her brothers when they arrived on Ellis Island.

In 1895 Annie married Joseph Augustus Schayer (German immigrant) at St. James Church.  Her new husband worked at Manhattan’s Fulton Fish Market.  Annie gave birth to 10 children. She spent her entire life in New York’s Lower East Side. Annie died of heart failure December 6, 1924 in New York at the age of 50 years. Annie’s grave is in the Calvary Cemetery in Queens.  Her grave (photo below) is marked with a celtic cross made of limestone imported from Ireland (This marker was not placed on her grave until October 11, 2008).  Two statues of Annie were made by sculptor Jeanne Rhynhart.  One sits at Cobh, Ireland Heritage Center (once Queenstown) which was her port of departure from Ireland.  The other statue sits on Ellis Island. Ellis Island was abandoned by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1954. The government tried to sell Ellis Island for years without success.  In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson granted landmark status to Ellis Island and it became the property of the National Park Service.  In 1990 Ellis Island opened to the public as an Immigration Museum.

L.R. Air Base

The Little Rock Air Force Base is the primary home of the C-130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense.  This air base contains the largest C-130 Herules transport fleet in the world.  They train pilots, navigators, flight engineers, and loadmasters from all branches of the U.S. military airlift and aerial delivery.  These planes clock 15,600 yearly hours of flight time to train the personnel who fly and mange these C-103E, C-103H, and C-130J aircraft.  Little Rock Air For Base is home to the 19th Airlift Wing.

You can hear and feel the Air Force C-130s in Arkansas long before you see them appear in the sky overhead.  On their return run toward the air base after practice drops of supplies and materials, they pass right over our house or very near.  I have often photographed these huge aircraft.  Here are some of the pictures I have captured in my camera lens.

This is a picture of the main gate going into Little Rock Air Force Base. You can see the cars and trucks lined up behind this C-130 as they drive through the gate.

 

 

 

Family . . .

I told my daughter and husband I wanted to take their picture together.  You have to know these 2 to know their middle names are “Humorous.”  I was adjusting my camera, looked up, and here they were – they do this to me all the time.  Then to get a decent photo of them I have to wait several minutes until they quit laughing.  They passed this trait on to my granddaughter (oh my).  I must say, I am just like them, so my granddaughter inherited it honestly.

Eagles – Leaders

The Eagles nest for the winter in Northwestern Arkansas from Thanksgiving to Valentines Day.  My husband and I saw two eagles near our house last week.   Eagles are such beautiful birds.  I ran across this quote the other day, it deals with leaders of men and eagles as an example of the necessary qualities to become a leader.

“Leaders are like Eagles – they don’t fly with the flock; they explore new heights and challenge themselves and others to soar beyond the norm.  Yet an Eagle is never too large or consumed with itself not to assist another Eagle in distress . . . and thats what makes an Eagle a true Leader.  So spread your wings and SOAR!” . . . Sam Villanueva

The Impossible Dream?

I have lived in Arizona several times in my life.  The last time I spent 18 years there with my husband.  Love Arizona, love the desert, taking visitors to the Grand Canyon, doing winter sports in Flagstaff.  Have been in every area of Arizona.  Sat down one day with my pen as I thought of Arizona and whipped out this ink doodle in a few minutes (using mostly the letter X).  I love the cactus that grow in Arizona: Saguaro, Century Plant, Barrel Cactus, Prickley Pear, Ocotillo to name a few.  Am going back for a visit someday, I miss the Western U.S.  When you marry an Arkie, you always return to Arkansas to live. lol

Makes me think of that song – “The Impossible Dream,” sung years ago by Andy Williams. I am going to try to make this dream possible.  I use to visit Arizona twice a year to see my parents, but they are both gone now.  Have many friends there that I keep in contact with, need to go see them face to face.

 

 

“Gentle, Loving, People”

Elisabeth Kubler Ross was a Swiss-American psychiatrist, pioneer in near death studies. She wrote books on: Grief, Death, Dying.  She was born in Switzerland in 1926 and died in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2004.  She often discussed the 5 stages of grief, to help those who had lost loved ones.  She wrote many famous quotes, I would like to share 2 of her quotes with you. 

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

“There is within each one of us a potential for goodness beyond our imagining; for giving which seeks no reward; for listening without judgement; for loving unconditionally.”

Do the traits that Elisabeth mentioned in these quotes describe you and how you are living your life.  If they do, I commend you for being one of the beautiful, loving people. We should all strive to be kind, gentle, and caring as we live our lives.