Serendipity-Looking back

Sunset in July

Every cloud has a silver lining or in this case a colorful one.  Just because I am down and out with a broken foot does not mean that I can't find something to enjoy.  In this case I am going back through some of my older photographs and editing them.  This is turning out to be a delightful activity for me.  I am finding new favorites and am enjoying seeing some of the progress I have made as a photographer.  Even with this broken foot there is Serendipity if I but choose to find and follow it.

Early Morning Light

I am using the theme of Glow from Carmi's WrittenInc to show off some of my photos that I am editing.

Explosion of fall colors

Hope you

Enjoy

this as much as I have

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Growth of a photographer

Ready,set .....

Photography has given me many benefits.  I now see the beauty and wonder of the world through my camera lens.  This helps lift my spirits and has gotten me through some pretty tough times.  But it has also helped in my personal growth.

 Today between Physical therapy and two doctors appointments, I had some time to spend so I went to the local city park.  I intended to just take photos of the grounds, which I did, but while I was there I happened to see these two young men out on the Skateboard Park.

  When I first started taking photos, I took pictures around my house due to my shyness.  I learned to overcome that shyness and started to take photos in the nieghborhood.  I graduated from that to taking pictures from my car.  Then on to taking photos in the city and in stangers yards.  I started meeting and talking to total strangers and I found this delightful.  However I had not introduced myself as a photographer until today.

  Today when I saw these young men, I saw an oppurtunity to practice some action shots.  So I introduced myself (something I had not done before) and asked if they minded if I practiced my Photography skills on them.  They were delighted.

  After I was finished I gave them one of my info cards and told them about my blog.  They were excited about being included on my blog and having thier skateboarding on the web.  I hope they do indeed check out my blog and maybe leave a comment.

Photography has changed my life: enriching it in so many ways.   I have grown in many ways not just in skills, but on a very personal level.  I  am expanding my world and enjoying life on an entirely different level. And just like I have learned to see the beauty in the world I photograph, I now see myself in new ways .  

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

A New Attitude

I was angry really angry and probably had every right to be so, but I found that because I was angry and thinking angry thoughts; I was not treating the people I was dealing with very well.  I needed to change my thoughts and the way I was talking to myself.  So I thought how can I change I am angry to a better way to talk to myself.  First I changed to I am annoyed, next I added I am a tad annoyed.  Much softer way to think.  Isn't tad a wonderful word; I looked it up in the dictionary and it means ' a small or insignificant amount or degree'.  I added temporarily to the sentence but that was just to much so I went back to I am a tad annoyed. Much better way to think; it helps put out the fire of my anger and puts things into perspective.  It allows me to correct the problem without taking my anger out on those who caused the problem or those who are trying to help me.

I learned these tricks for changing my attitude by changing the way I talk to myself from reading Anthony Robbins ('Unlimited Power') and James Allen ('As a Man Thinketh') and the scriptures- Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Enjoy your day
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Rose garden

<><> <><> “One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.” Dale Carnegie quotes (American lecturer, author, 1888-1955) Serendipity at work on this photo. When I saw my roses with the dew still on them and the sun shining down on them; i just had to go out to photograph them. When I go out to take photos I almost always try different angles to get different compositions in hopes of a WOW shot.  The first picture I took was alright but then I noticed the window in the background so I moved around a little bit so the roses framed the window. When I saw the photo on downloading; I knew I had a photo worth posting.  I then went on a search for a quote to go with it.  I used  http://en.thinkexist.com/  and simply typed in the word roses and just a couple of quotes down was the quote I used above.  Perfect for my photo!  I am so glad that I listened to that small voice of intuition and followed it.  When I listen and follow my intuition my day always goes better, more joyously as serendipity takes over. Enjoy ♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥

Washington's Waterloo

You might be wondering why my post titled Washington's Waterloo starts out with a photo of my daughter Emily.  Well, Washington's last battle that he lost was a throat infection from which he died.  Well Emily has the same kind of infection  that he did.  She has been in and out of the hospital since last Thurs.  The doctor told her that if it wasn't for modern antibiotics she probably would have died.  Personally I think prayers and the well wishes of her friends and mine and a priesthood blessing had much to do with her getting better.

  She was extra ordinarily sick and it came on strong and hard and fast.  What started out as a sore throat at the beginning of the week and turned into a life-threatening infection by Thurs.  She went to urgent care who sent her to the ER.  They admitted her put her on antibiotics, steroids, and morphine and put her in isolation and the waiting game began.  Where they going to do dangerous and possibly life changing surgery, see if just the antibiotics worked or something in between?  She did improve on the antibiotics and they sent here home Sunday morning only for her to deteriorate and end up back in the ER that night.  Different hospital- different doctor who lanced the abscess and drained it.  Emily said it was really gross all that pus being pulled out of the abscess in her throat, but she is now on the mend and home again.  Her cousin John turned into an angel as far as she is concerned for his concern and help even though he had many kids at his house including a six week old baby.  She has had many people help her and pray for her including people she did not even know.

  As her Mom and  being a continent away (she lives and goes to school in Utah and we live in Georgia) I can't think of words of thanks for her recovery and those who helped make it happen.  She is still going to need help for awhile and I would again ask for prayers on her behalf, prayers of thanks and prayers for those who are helping her so they will not get sick and they will know the spirit of joy in her service.

As her mother I have once again learned that you can't ever take for granted the ones you love.

Lolit posted this on her facebook wall and how true it is:

'There are 5 things in life you cannot recover:

A stone... after it's thrown. A word... after it is said.

An occasion... after it's missed.

...The time... after it's gone. A person... after they die.
Life is short. Break the rules. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that made you smile.
Enjoy Life!!!!'

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Beautiful Morning- Lights and Shadows

Beautiful morning

sun shining

through the

still darkened woods,

peaceful noise

birds singing,

owls hooting,

frogs croaking,

crickets chirping,

warm

not yet hot

pleasant

brilliant green

against

dark green

many patterns

On my walk this morning

thinking about the people

who have come into my life

and changed my life

I spyed the beautiful patterns

on the leaves

each with it's own

individual beauty

that shines through-

the shadows of those around

changing and making

more and more

patterns

enhancing beauty-

How much we are

like these leaves

each with our own

patterns and scars and shapes

with our beauty enhanced

by those around us.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Insights

Until I took my little stroll around the neighborhood I did nor realize that these evergreen trees had flowers.  A new insight from taking the time to really look around me.  When I am looking for fun things to photograph I tend to look a little closer, look from different angles and different distances therefore I get new insights on the world around me.  If you look at yesterdays pictures you will see more of the tree. Then I just had fun with the close-up and wanted to give you some insight into how I came up with my art edit.

First I adjusted the color to make them brighter as I was shooting in the full sun the colors were a little washed out.

I then made the photo that  zooms out making the colors radiate out.  Next I wanted to add some texture to the photo to add more interest so I added the glasstile effect.  I looked at it for a while and decided that there were too many big blocks with basically the same color so I went to another program and

I layered with a solar system background, but I decided that the photo was now too static so I zoomed it one more time leaving the center as the sky to ground the picture.  I recropped it so that the blocks would be more even; added a couple of sets of borders and like any artist I added my name (signature). Then I hit Save.   I wish I had saved more of the steps to give you more insight but I wasn't thinking about this post when I was editing.  Sigh

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Shoot for the Moon

I've had a couple of busy then bad days. I was feeling better and think i kind of overdid, I still have a problem with learning to pace myself, but when I feel good I want to accomplish all those things that I haven't gotten around to due to my health so I overdo. Friday was a particularly good day and I got a lot accomplished, dog to the vet, physical therapy, shopping, photo taking more than usual but didn't take extra steroids to compensate for the extra stress. Mistake, mistake. When that happens I tend to sleep all the next day, which is pretty much happened.

On top of that Jeremy came home from scout camp where he was one of the leaders, while this was real nice, he also brought home a bug of some kind and we were both sick today. So sleep is what I accomplished today.

I did wake up long enough to eat and then was awake enough to watch the movie 'Secretariat'. A movie that really moved me.  Here was an ordinary women with a dream to help her family and through all her trials including thinking that instead of helping her family she was losing them due to her absence, but in the end she teaches them so much more.  She taught them about following your own  dreams, perseverance and other great character traits.  Sometimes I feel so bad about my health problems and how they have taken me away from my family, both in down time and the time I have to spend to take care of myself, but my family has learned many character traits from my trails that they would not have learned otherwise.
I've seen this movie once before but this time it struck me that she would not have made her dreams come true if it wasn't for the support system of friends and co-workers who turned into friends with which she picked and surrounded herself with.  I too have had and still have a support system for which I am extremely thankful for.  Without them I would not have been as successful as I have been.  This time the movie moved me to tears at her and her support system and their triumph.  Even though I was a junior and senior in high school (which really dates me) I was still right there with them at the triumphs and disappointments along the way even though I knew how it all turned out, because this time I understood the feelings that was happening in the film.  What a difference it made.
Anyway it reminded me of the moon picture and the quote as she shot for the moon and made it then went even further to reach the stars.  Not just in the triumph of her horse but the triumph of her spirit and the difference she made in so many people's lives.
Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina ☺☺☺ 

Inspiring post

Found this post with great wisdom in it- have a look
http://elena-myquest.blogspot.com/2011/07/let-go.html
Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Morning Light

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." ~Psalms 118:24

No matter what form your diety takes or what kind of day it is we should all rejoice in the day that we have; love life, be grateful for it and enjoy the beauty thereof.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Courage

"Courage doesn't always roar.  Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."

~Mary Anne Radmaher~

Physically I had a really bad day yesterday.  This picture was taken last night just before sunset but when I sat down to download it; I fell asleep.  I had lots that I wanted to do but instead all I could do was sleep.  I really don't like those kind of days.  But I am still plugging along and just to let you know although I am feeling a little better, between appointments, phone calls and other daily interferences this post as simple as it is has taken about eleven hours from start to posting not a whole lot of improvement. ... Sigh....but onward I go.  Tomorrow I've planned a day of resting and pampering so I can make it to church on Sunday and enjoy it.  Sometimes the courage to keep going on takes a little pre-planning and taking care of myself so I can do the things that are most important to me.  How about taking the time to pamper yourself a little?  You'll feel better and keep up the courage to carry on and  I'll bet you will-

Enjoy your weekend

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺ 

Small and simple things

'....But behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass....'

Alma 37:6

I've  had reasons to send small packages via snail mail so I have been doing mail art.  It is excellant therapy for my hands (my hand orthopedic doc says it's the best therapy) as it has enough repetitive motion to build up muscles but enough changes in motions not to aggrevate my carpal tunnel.

I used to do these in my sketch book, but now I do them on envelopes so that not only can I enjoy them ( I scan them before I send them), but everyone who it passes by can enjoy them also. 

   I love the reaction everytime I take one to the post office, it never fails to put a smile on their face.  Hopefully it will put a smile on everyones face as it makes it's way to it's destination and make their day just a little brighter.  You never know who's life you will touch by even the small things that you do.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Coming in for a landing

“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.”

Norman Cousins quotes (American Essayist and Editor, long associated with the Saturday Review. 1912-1990 Sometimes I feel like this little bird, homing in on it's destination with hope, determination and action as I strive to improve my health. Enjoy the journey ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Coping

Learning how to cope with major medical problems is not easy and sometimes it can just about overwhelm me.  I do cope and learn to deal with my situation and try real hard to look for the good , there is always a reason for our trials and things to learn from it.  I think of all the wonderful people I would never have met without my medical problems, the compassion and tolerance I have learned and of course the persistence that I have developed.

At one of the mother- daughter get togethers at church when Emily was a teenager, we played a game kind of like the newlywed game from tv where we were asked questions and tried to guess what the other said.  Anyway one of the questions was what has your mother taught you.  All the other girls answered something like mom taught me to bake cookies or some such thing but Emily answered that I taught her persistence.  How much better is it to have taught my daughter a character trait like persistence than baking cookies; which I would have liked to have done more of but was limited by my body.

Anyway I am learning to cope in new ways, healthier ways hence the picture of the shoes as they illustrate my healthier way to cope.  Because of the medication I take causes my tendons to weaken and not heal after injury so now I have a permantly sprained ankle.  It swells to various degrees and makes shoes a challenge.  For the most part lace up tennis shoes fit the bill but sometimes only slippers will fit.  This is not so bad a home but going out is another thing altogether.  Church was a special problem in that I think one should look their best and I always wear a dress as does most everyone else.  I learned to ignore the fact that I had sport shoes on sometimes, but now I think deep down it still bothered me.  I never got the nerve to wear slippers to church.  Tom wanted me to wear a nice dress that I have and had not worn in a long time due to the shoe problem so Tom took me shoe shopping, what a pain, will the shoes fit if my feet swell, which foot would be the most swollen or would both be swollen or neither of them swollen.  Royal pain and frustration one shoe would fit and the other didn’t.  This time however the problem was solved by Tom’s suggestion that we buy two pairs in two sizes.  It worked real well, I wore one shoe of one size and the other of the other size and nobody knew the difference.  It was great, so much better for my ego and my spirits.  Coping better and better  all the time.

I keep on keeping on.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

My computer found it's way home

I absolutely miss my computer when it is in the shop, and surprise, surprise I was given an estimated time of the work being done by Monday, but they called the same day and told us it was ready.  I just can't explain how elated I was to get it back.  My camera and my computer are life savers for me.  Being somewhat house bound; my camera allows me to see the world around me in a different light and my computer gives me a link to the outside world.  Even when I am inside I still take photos out my window of the many birds that visit my bird feeders.

Hope you enjoy my birds like I do, a glimpse into a beautiful world that surrounds us if we make the effort to see it,  after all I could have left my curtains shut or never even put up the feeders in the first place which was Tom and Emily's idea but I got the feeders and Tom put them up and now even on my worst days I can still enjoy the beauty of nature.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Shining moon

"Meditate.

Live purely. Be quiet.

Do your work with mastery.

Like the moon, come out

from behind the clouds!

Shine"

~Buddha~

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Miracles

A LIGHT IN THE FOREST

I was watching the movie "Field of Dreams"; I haven't seen it in quite a while and had forgotten all the little life philosophies that it contains besides the obvious one of following the inner voice.  There are a lot of metaphors for lost chances, events that change your life and set you on a different path.  As I was watching and contemplating my own life; tears started to roll down my face, not tears of sorrow but tears because my spirit was touched.  With all the changes and different paths that I have taken, sometimes of my own choice and sometimes placed upon me by my health; this movie at this time of one more path change gave me pause to think and feel.  Hence the tears.  Especially when Ray asks 'What's in it for me?'.  Perhaps our lives shouldn't always be about 'What's in it for me?' perhaps it is only after we have risked everything and everything we do seems to bless others while our circumstances continue to go downhill that we need to let go of ourselves and our needs to have what we, ourselves REALLY need for our peace and healing just like in the movie.  After all isn't that what  Christ meant when he said when lose ourselves in service that we find ourselves.  I think sometimes stories can give us pause for thought and that's a good thing.  Christ taught in parables for a reason, sometimes we are moved more by stories then by being lectured.

As the movie was ending good 'ole Rascal stuck his nose over the arm of the chair with his sad eyes and even sadder whine; trying his best to let me know that he had to go out NOW.  Big Sigh! I really didn't want to get up much less go for a walk.  But up I got and as I opened the door Serendipity stepped in and I got to witness the miracle of two adult Robins with 5 little ones gathered round them.  I say miracle because this is something I had never seen before and I found witnessing this awe inspiring.  This circle of life- this new life.  Surprise, surprise I was so entranced I forgot to grab my camera.  Knowing that as soon as I opened the door they would fly away, I just stood there peacefully watching despite an occasional nudge on my legs from my faithful companion.  I did eventually pull myself together, grabbed my camera and monopod and headed out the door.  I did manage to snap a shot of one of the babies in the neighbors yard before they all flew away.  I then saw a different kind of baby bird and clicked his pic.  Apparently since we have bird feeders on our front porch the birds are now enjoying life in my yard instead of the woods where I can't see them as often.  I didn't know such a small thing would make such a difference.  As Rascal and I continued our walk with me much more peaceful; I took notice of the afternoon sunshine on the woods and captured that also.

WHAT A WONDERFUL MIRACLE OUR LIVES ARE!

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina ☺☺☺

My personal storm

Now to why I have not been posting recently.  It seems I have had something of a manic-depressive month.  I have have had the joys of my sons wedding, with 5 of 6 kids and 5 of 10 grandchildren at home.  I can't think of anything better than that; to the lows of being tentatively diagnosed with a brain tumor. (MRI has since ruled that out) And just like the leaves in this picture I have been tossed to and fro.

Add like with our spring storms I have cried me plenty of tears of both joy and sorrow.  Sometimes the spring rain is gentle and made you feel like dancing in the puddles and sometimes it is rough and stings and makes you want to go inside.  My son has been happier since he met his wife than I had seen him in years and at the wedding he glowed.  I know usually people talk about how the bride glows on her wedding day but this was a time when the groom glowed equally as bright.  Great tears of joy and if I had been able I'd have been up dancing with my girls, bride included.  Pictures to follow on a post in a few days to explain that one.  I have cried a river of tears for my health, and like a heavy rain I retreated inside.  A bad move on my part as it kept me from sources of comfort and compassion.  My family knowing of my troubles broke through as best they could but I did tend to cut them off too and then I cut myself out of other sources like this blog, my photography and the friends I have made through these sources.  Why is it that at the worst of times we often do the worst for ourselves?  On top of all the medical problems I have; last fall I started having neurological problems and I had them checked out and they weren't too bad so I just dealt with them.  Then the two month migraine and sinus infection which cleared up but then I started sleeping 16-20 hrs. per day; having severe problems with memory and concentration, having severe tremors several times a day, seizures every couple of days, walking into walls or falling if a wall was not handy, constant headache, total lack of control of my blood sugar both high and low, and I can't keep myself hydrated. All this came on quickly and I felt like the Unicorn from the 'Last Unicorn' when she was turned into a human and was therefore mortal when she said 'I can feel this body dying all around me.'  I certainly felt my body falling apart all around me.  To the doctors I went; where the first tests showed that I should have a pituitary tumor.  Okay so this is bad news but most of these tumors are benign are fairly simple to remove, they go up through your mouth behind your sinus, and then my problems could go away, maybe even problems I've been plagued with for years.  I still cried a lot because of the what ifs and then the neurologist starts talking about me having a brain tumor, which is a lot more iffy.  Anyway an MRI was ordered and good news- bad news 'no tumor' the biggest bad news with this is the doctor said that basically I would just have to learn to live with it.  The results were sent to my primary care doctor and he agreed with the neurologist.  I have simply been sick for so long and on so many medications that my brain has basically been fried.  All this took place in amongst and just after the wedding festivities.  I'm in the process of finding another neurologist for a second opinion and trying to come off some of my meds but if I didn't need them I wouldn't be taking them. I can tell you every medicine I take and how it helps me so we'll see how this goes.

I don't want to leave you on such a sad note so I will show you I still have not lost my sense of humor. During one dark and stormy night our lights went out and living in the boonies it gets real dark, but I was hungry and so I felt around for the flashlight (I have recently found phones work well till you can find your flashlight) got me a yogurt and figuring I could eat it in the dark sat in the recliner, turned off the flashlight, and on the first bite- plop- the yogurt went right down the front of my shirt. Flashlight came back on and I balanced it in the arm of the chair and noticed the shadow puppets my feet were making on the wall. My wolf howling at the moon. Hope you get a chuckle out of it like I did.

Johnina

Spring Storms Aftermath

I still do not have any pictures to post at first it was to stay out of the way of the rescuers; now I can't bear the thought of going where I have taken photos or had planned on photographing and seeing the destruction.  I drive through that part of  of Spalding county on a regular basis and quite often pick out beautiful places to go back to photograph later and some of which I had not photographed yet and I really don't want to see those places destroyed. I know this is trivial compared to the loss of life (luckily only 2 died in Spalding county- if you saw the destruction in Spalding on Fox news you know lucky is a good word)as of yesterday seven mobile homes were still missing- yes I said missing- they were probably so torn up by the tornadoes that only pieces will be found; 400 homes and 30 businesses were damaged or destroyed. But all this has brought to my mind how quickly lives can change and how sometimes opportunities are lost forever. For those who lost their lives it is the ultimate in lost opportunities both for themselves and for those who survived them.  This is kind of the hard lesson to learn --- to appreciate what you have and treasure what you have while you have it.

Pollen count 3939

This is how I survive the pollen

As I have severe allergies and asthma; I do whatever it takes.  Believe me people notice my bright pink mask even if I am in the car just driving by; I sure get some s-t-r-a-n-g-e looks.  But you can also believe me that it sure beats ER visits and hospital stays which were the norm before my husband bought this for me. He researched on the Internet to find one that would be effective, as we had tried the paper hospital ones and the cheap Wal-Mart shop masks which did nothing to help me.  Since I have been using this I have not had a single trip to the hospital due to pollen.  My Doctor laughed when I gave him a copy of the photo and he does not recommend it it other patients because most people will not go to these extremes to keep from being hospitalized. I think it is kind of sad that people will not use something that could benefit them so much for fear of embarasment; although I have been guilty of it myself at times. I have learned that those who know me are very accepting of my mask and will even ask where it is if I am out without in the spring.  I am learning to not be afraid to

DO WHATEVER IT TAKES

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina ☺☺☺