Six Important Things That Make Me Happy.

Reader Will tagged me for the Six Important Things That Make Me Happy meme. Since I haven't done a meme in some time, I thought I would do this one. So here it goes:

1. My Christian Faith makes me happy. I love the Lord. and am thankful to Him for my many blessings.

2. My family and friends make me happy. To have them in my life is my greatest blessing.

3. Nature makes me happy. As a destitute child in a refugee camp in Austria, where I lived for four years, I learned to love nature. I used to escape that drab camp, with it's rows and rows of old army barracks lined up like soldiers where desperate people just existed, and sit by a beautiful river, gazing up at the mountains in the distance, and dream about a better life in the future. That river and those beautiful mountains gave my heart hope and saved me from despair. Nature has been my joy and solace ever since.

4. Animals make me happy. I love all animals; my dogs and cats, and all the beautiful, or not so beautiful creatures that share these woods with me, like the opossum that comes every night for his hot dog treat!

5. Writing makes me happy. I am a writer who has suffered many hardships, saw much destruction and tragedy as a child of World War II in Hungary. At the same time, I experienced some genuine miracles during those times as well, saw people rise above and survive many hardships, and was also the recipient of much compassion and kindness. Those experiences shaped me into the person I am today, and inspired me to write about them many years later, finally taking away their haunting power over me.

6. Living in the United States of America makes me happy. This wonderful country, Home of the Free, Thanks to the Brave, has been my home for 58 years, and I'm so blessed to be here. We can never forget that Freedom is Not Free! Many have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy. We honor their memory this Memorial Day.

There are many more things I love, but we were to list only six. However, I will sneak in one more, I love my pink roses, in full bloom right now!

I will not tag anyone else for this meme, but if any of you would like to join in on the fun, let me know. I would love to come and read your answers.


Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!


Blessings from the woods.

Taking a Break.

Hi Friends,

I took this photo of the north-east corner of my woods yesterday afternoon, and as you can see, the colors are moseying on in, but there is still a lot of green. It will be another week or two before nature has perfected her pallet in these woods.

I did not have time to do Ruby Tuesday this week. I am getting company Wednesday, so have been busy getting ready. My granddaughter McKenzie has a short school week, and her Dad is bringing her down for a visit. They will be here until Saturday. So I will be taking a break from blogging for a few days. I hope you all have a wonderful week. See you Monday or Tuesday.

Blessings from the woods!

Ruby Tuesday!

Autumn blessings become more and more evident as this beautiful season of color progresses, delighting the human spirit. So, I was out with my camera early Monday morning, capturing some of the red colors of Autumn for this weeks Ruby Tuesday post. I hope you enjoy them.

The early bird catches the worm? Well, maybe not, but something even better. This early bird caught the red glow behind the woods, while the morning was still dark.

Nature brightened a thicket at the edge of the woods, with some beautiful red vines!

The lowly scrub sumac becomes a beauty in the Fall!

And the gravel road I live on still has a lot of green, and a beautiful red adding a special touch of beauty to my travels on it. In another two weeks, there will be a riot of color to enjoy.

If you would like to participate in Ruby Tuesday visit the teach to find out more.

Happy Ruby Tuesday!

Blessings from the woods.

The Amen! of Nature!

August's loveliest surprise!


Friday we had some lovely, light rain, and cool temperatures, and when I came home from an outing, I found the Magic Lilies blooming! Can you see the raindrops on them? Actually, I don't know the name of this flower. Everyone around here calls them magic lilies, because they appear as if by magic, and disappear the same way, leaving no trace behind. They have a long stem, but no foliage of any kind, and they have a heavenly fragrance. They are August's loveliest surprise! Anyone know their real name, or are they really magic lilies?


The meaning of Passion Flower is: Faith, religious fervor. And the color is a heavenly blue!


"The Amen! of Nature is always a flower." Oliver Wendel Holmes. Ah, yes it is!



Blue and white and lavender Amens! at Mammoth Spring State Park, in Arkansas, where I love to visit and take pictures.

"Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into."- Henry Ward Beecher.

After a wordy last post, I decided to show you a few of my flower pictures today. Thank you for visiting. Have a lovely Sunday, and a great week ahead, everyone.

Two Special Blessings!

I finally figured out how to use my camera, now I have to learn how to take better pictures and how to post them correctly. So this is a test, to see how these turn out. The first picture is of a white squirrel that appeared around here this summer. At first, I thought I was seeing a mirage. But then the mirage moved! He is quite large, and the gray squirrels seem to think he is just like them, for they get along quite well. But he is different; he is my special gift from Nature!

White squirrels are very rare in our area. In fact, The Conservation Department told me this is the first time they have ever heard of one. The picture could be much better, and I have several others that could be better as well, but I'm hoping I will improve, as I get more acquainted with my new camera. The white squirrel isn't as bold as the gray squirrels. He is very cautious, and runs up an oak tree as soon as I try to get a little closer. But he has to be cautious, his color makes him more vulnerable to predators. Seeing him every morning fills me with joy!


The second picture is of Dottie, the doe. I have known Dottie for almost 5 years now. The first time she appeared in my field, she looked like she was going to die on the spot. A walking skeleton, with a lump on the side of her face, followed by a tiny fawn! It broke my heart to see a deer looking like that. Do you see the lump? It's quite visible. I have cared for her as well as I could, at first feeding her soft things like whole grain bread. It took a while, but she began to gain weight, and is now a healthy looking girl, each spring proudly bringing along her newest fawn to show me. I don't know what the lump is, but she has lived with it all this time, and seems to be healthy and well these days. Dottie's presence puts joy in my heart as well. In fact, both of these animals are my very special blessing!

Now that I am able to use my camera, I'll be posting more and more pictures. I hope you have enjoyed the first two.