Thinking Outside the Box - View from a Window Image #4072019115B

SkyWatch Friday - Focus - WP20170521043C - Quote - Socrates - Change

Merry Christmas! Quote: "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." ~ Socrates

Skywatch Friday - My Favorite Beach Image 3152 - Quote - Jaeda DeWalt - Be You

Quote: "Don't let others box you into their idea of what they think you should be. A confined identity is a miserable way to exist. Be you and live free. Trust in being true to yourself. You will attract people that support and love you, just as you are." ~ Jaedea De Walt

Thinking Outside the Box - Stairway to Heaven - IMG 3152 - Quote - Ronald Dahl - Believe

Quote: "And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."~ Ronald Dahl

SkyWatch Friday - Blue Skies -

So happy. I finally figured out how to use Windows 10 instead of XP to drop photograph on blogger. What a challenge!

SkyWatch Friday - Glorious Day - Image 3034 - Quote - Jonathon Swift

Quote: "Vision is the art of seeing what is irrisible to others." ~ Jonathan Swift

Shadows Dancing on Walls - Quote - Henri Frederic Amiel - Growing Old

Quote: "To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living." ~Henri Frederic Amiel

Monday, September 7, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Fake Bird in Window #WP20170916002

Greetings and Salutations!

Image: WP20170916002 - Fake Bird in Window

Saturday, SkyWatch Friday - Sunset IMG4747332 Lac Court Oreilles

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4747332 - Sunset Lac Court Oreilles, Stone Lake, Wisconsin

Monday, September 1, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Italian Chef IMG4680296 - Quote - Mae West - Come Up And See Me Sometime

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4680296 - Italian Chef

Many years ago, my husband and I were invited to attend a concert at a local high school.  There we saw a silent auction table set up to help the musical department.  We won an Italian Man kitchen utensil holder. Since I really didn't have a collection at the time, I started looking for items similar when out shopping.  I just wanted three items to place on top of the refrigerator.  Who stops at three?   Now I have some chefs in a box stored in the basement, some Italian men are displayed on the kitchen counter and some items are hanging on the wall.  I even have trivets.

I get a kick out of this collection.  When a new guest arrives, I always ask, "Come on into the kitchen to see my Italian men?" I use the Mae West voice which she is famous for which is "Come up and see me sometime."  I am a dirty blonde but no way am I that sexy looking.  These Italian Chefs bring joy to my heart every day.  I giggle and have fun!  Will I ever grow up?   I don't think so.  Now, I see Italian chefs on my neighbor's garage.  Do you see the chef?

FYI:  The black line going across the image is the siding of the neighbor's garage.

Monday, August 17, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Seeing/Thinking Image #0520201574 - Quote - Benjamin Britten - Composing

Greetings and Salutations!

0520201574  -  Seeing and thinking is foggy since I have been put on medication.

Quote:

"Composing is like driving down a foggy road toward a house.  Slowly you see more details of the house-the color of the slates and bricks, the shape of the windows.  The notes are the bricks and the mortor of the house."
~ Benjamin Britten

Friday, August 14, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday- IMG 4109 - Quote - Socrates - Wonder

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG 4109

Quote:
"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom."
~ Socrates

Life interruped so I have not been able to post on SkyWatch Friday.

Covid-19 has been spreading around here lately.  I saw on FACEBOOK that a restaurant closed until further notice because someone infected the place and another restaurant offers only take out, which sounds like a good plan to me.

Lightning and thunder and high winds came into our area last night.  Direct TV, of course, was turned off because we couldn't see what was playing.  Instead we spent the evening laughing and watching LEGALLY BLONDE on Amazon Kindle.  It had been downloaded earlier.  

We ended the night being grateful.

Friday, July 17, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Lake Michigan IMG5246E - Quote - Matshona Dhliwayo - Sees, Hears, Understands, Speak

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG 5246E - Lake Michigan

Quote:

"The world sees.  The sky hears.  The universe understands.  The heavens speak."
~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Monday, July 13, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - IMG3424 - Quote - Maya Angelou - Creativity

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3424F -

Quote:

"You can't use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have."
~ Maya Angelou

Friday, July 10, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Sunset IMG4257B

Greetings and Salutations!

Sunset, IMG 4257B

Saturday, July 4, 2020 SkyWatch Friday - Our Paths Aren't Always Straight IMG3306B - Quote - Melody Lee, Moon Gypsy - Soul

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3306B - Our paths aren't always straight and narrow.  Pandemic, 2020.

Quote:

"Don't need a magic carpet to soar or wings to fly.  I simply close my eyes and place my soul against the sky."
~ Melody Lee, Moon Gypsy

Monday, June 29, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Walking the Dog IMG3436B - Claude Monet - Objects

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3436B - Walking the Dog - Pandemic 2020

Quote:

"When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field, or whatever.  Merely think, here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape."
~ Claude Monet

I go out walking along Lake Michigan.  It is the same old place.  Over and over I walk but I see different shapes, colors, and people.  The things which are familiar changes from real to abstract art.  And so it is.

June 26, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Lake Michigan IMG3055B - Quote - William Wordsworth - Nature

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3055B - Lake Michigan - Pandemic 2020

Quote:

Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."
~ William Wordsworth

During the Pandemic 2020, I was unable to go to my favorite spot in the Universe which is Lake Michigan.  I finally walked in the sand wearing Crocs.  I smelled the fresh air.  I took a few photographs.  I am blessed because there was hardly anyone there the day I went on this photography adventure.

Monday, June 22, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Cog Railroad Climbing Mt. Washington, White Mountains of New Hampshire #05201806222020 - Quote - Ralph Ellison - People Refuse to See Me

Greetings and Salutations!

Image #05201806222020 - Cog Railroad Climbing Mt. Washington, White Mountains of New Hampshire

Quote:

"I am an invisible man.  I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind.  I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me."
~ Ralph Ellison

This quote I can relate too.  I am invisible because I am a  woman.  I am invisible because I am a man.  I am invisible because I am a child, teenager, college student, elderly. I am invisible because I am handicapped.  I am invisible because I am blind.   I am invisible because I am deaf. I am invisible because I am Jewish, Muslim, Sufi, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran.  I am invisible because I am Black, Spanish, American Indian, Oriental, Italian, German, Irish. I am invisible because I am poor, middle class, rich.  I am invisible because I am a veteran. Ralph Ellison has a simple answer to all this hate it is "people refuse to see me."

Friday, June 19, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Celebrating Juneteenth Day - Sunset IMG3125B - Quote - Alice Walker - See People Differently

Greetings and Salutations!

Sunset IMG3125B

Celebrating Juneteenth Day!

Quote:

"I think we have to own the fears that we have of each other, and then, in some practical way, some daily way, figure out how to see people differently than the way we were brought up to."
~ Alice Walker

Monday, June 15, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Gratitude - Image# 05122020835B - Quote - Mary Lydon Simonsen - Future

Greetings and Salutations!

Image# 05122020835B - Gratitude - Hands, Pandemic 2020

Quote:

"I cannot alter the past, but the future is very much in my hand."
~ Mary Lydon Simonsen - The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy

I am remembering doing the dishes since I was six years old while standing on a homemade stool wearing an apron in a Chicago apartment.

And now, I still do the dishes by hand.  I take each plate, each glass, each piece of silverware, each pot, and wash it thanking God that I have so much.  I thank God that I have actual running hot and cold water in my kitchen.

I have walked to a nearby well and carried water to be used in a house in Argo, Illinois when I was seven years old. I called her Ma, everyone did.  She was babysitting me.  I was glad to help her.  It felt good to be needed and working and playing.

I heard stories about my dad's childhood.  He said he had to prime a water pump in the middle of winter then carry water to the kitchen before having breakfast made by his mother. My dad was the oldest of nine children.  His mother had lost a baby girl born before him. My dad became responsible for his siblings at an early age.

My Aunt Opal needed to heat water on a stove and pour it into a metal tub to give a bath to each family member including a guest who was me.  I was visiting there for one summer.  I am remembering washing my hair with rain water captured for other uses than cooking. I don't have to spend hours making soap and then waiting 4 to 6 weeks for the water to evaporate to use it or gift it.  I can go to the store and buy soap already premade.

I am remembering using a dipper in a metal container (which we all used) to wash up and brush my teeth.  I am remembering sharing my toothpaste because my cousins had not seen or used the product before. They were using baking soda to keep their teeth white.  I am remembering seeing on TV a woman on an Indian reservation hauling water in a tanker truck to nearby neighbors.

I am remembering drinking water from a spring on my grandmother's farm. My grandfather died before I was born.  I cupped my hands, captured the spring water and brought it up to my mouth.  The spring water tasted so fresh and delicious. I liked the sound and the smell of spring water.  I liked finding the spring with my dad.

Times have changed.  I was young.   Now I am old woman not so wise but adapting.  I remember putting my head down on the mesa in Albuquerque, New Mexico before the houses stretched out to the surrounding Sandia Mountains even before the cable car and believed I could hear the ancestors.   Soon I will be an ancestor myself.  Life has come full circle.  And so it is.

Friday, June 12, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - IMG3427C Lake Michigan - Path on Northwestern University Grounds - Quote - Maya Angelou - Experiences are Positive

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3427C - Lake Michigan - Path on Northwestern University Grounds

Quote:

"You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot-it's all there.  Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive."
~ Maya Angelou

Monday, June 8, 2020 - Thinking Outside The Box - 02162019596C - Mask - Pandemic, June 2020 - Quote - Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. - Mask

Greetings and Salutations!

02162019596C - Mask - Pandemic - June, 2020

Quote:

"Without wearing any mask we are conscious of, we have a special face for each friend."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Friday, June 5, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - DSC4654B - Lost Stories - Quote - Vironika Tugaleva - Path of Consciousness

Greetings and Salutations!

DSC4654B - Lost Stories

Quote:

"It is not how many times we get lost, but how many times we seek the path, again and again, that determines our level of consciousness."
~ Vironika Tugaleva

Monday, June 1, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Pandemic, 2020 - WP20161203002C - EAT - Quote - Richie Norton - Procrastination

Greetings and Salutations!

WP20161203002C - Pandemic, 2020

Before the Pandemic 2020 this is what restaurants in a mall looked like.  For how many days, how many weeks, how many months have we been staying inside wherever we live?  We have been allowed to order food curbside or take-out.  On May 29, 2020 Governor Pritzker of Illinois released certain non-essential businesses to open such as beauty salons, barber shops and now restaurants can serve their customers. However, customers are not allowed to eat inside the restaurant.  The challenge to restaurant owners is tables must be 6 feet away from each other outside on a patio, sidewalk or on a closed to traffic street. The question is will the customers show up to take off their masks and believe they are safe enough to eat somewhere else besides home?  Is it too late for the restaurant owners to make up what they have lost financially during the pandemicof 2020?

Quote:

"Procrastination is like going to a fancy restaurant and filling up on bread and not leaving enough room for dinner."
~  Richie Norton, THE POWER OF STARTING SOMETHING STUPID: How to Crush Fear, Make Dreams Happen, and Live Without Regret

Friday, May 29, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Sunset - WP20180430001C - Quote - Elbert Hubbard - Goals

Greetings and Salutations!

WP20180430001C

Quote:

"Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal."
~ Elbert Hubbard

Monday, May 25, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Liathán

Greetings and Salutations!

Liathán

Friday, May 23, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Fog and Posts - Quote Amit Ray - Resolve

Greetings and Salutations!

Fog and Posts

Quote:

" When life is foggy, path is unclear and mind is dull, remember your breath.  It has the power to give you peace.  It has the power to resolve the unsolved equations of life."
~ Amit Ray, Beautify Your Breath - Beautify your life

Monday, May 18, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Broken Window - Wethersfield, CT 052009147B - Quote - Jonathan Swift - Art of Seeing the Invisible

Greetings and Salutations!

Broken Window - Wethersfield, CT - 052009147B

Quote:

"Vision is the art of seeing the invisible."
~ Jonathan Swift

Friday, May 15, 2020 - SkyWatch - Two Clouds #1233C - Quote - Akiroq Brost - You Deserve a Break

Greetings and Salutations!

May 15, 2020 - 1233C

Quote:
"Do something nice for yourself today. Find some quiet, sit-in stillness, breathe.  Put your problems on pause.  You deserve a break."
~ Akiroq  Brost

Monday, May 11, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Basement Window WP20180211004B

Greetings and Salutations!

WP20180211004B - Basement Window - February 2020

Friday, May 8, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Bicycle, Sunset, Lake Michigan - WP2017060124B- Quote - Helen Keller - Toleration

Greetings and Salutations!

WP2017060124B - Bicycle, Sunset, Lake Michigan - 2020

Quote:

"Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bike."
~ Helen Keller

Monday, May 4, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Reflection of Evanston and Chicago Skyline - IMG 5303B - Quote - Jaeda DeWalt - Collective Consciousness

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG5303B -  Reflection of Evanston and Chicago Skyline, 2019.

Quote:

"Each of us is a unique thread, woven into the beautiful fabric, of our collective consciousness."
~ Jaeda DeWalt

May 1, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Boat at Landing

Greetings and Salutations!

WP20170614003B - Boat at Landing

I was looking through archives and found this image to share.

Monday, April 27, 2020 - Thinking Outside The Box - Keeping Six Feet Apart - IMG3143B - Quote - Ralph Waldo Emerson - Patience

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3143B - Keeping Six Feet Apart

Quote:

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, April 24, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Waking Up In Another World - 2020 - IMG3144B - Quote - Ed Denier - Happiness

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3144B - Waking Up In Another World - 2020

Quote:

"Probably the biggest insight ... is that happiness is not just a place, but also a process.   Happiness is an ongoing process of fresh challenges and it takes the right attitude and activities to continue to be happy."
~ Ed Denier

For Your Information:

Our internet was down from Thursday until Sunday.  

Monday, April 20, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - IMG5052F - Out of my Comfort Zone - Quote - Jesse Itzler - Push Your Limits

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG5052F - Out of my Comfort Zone

This image was taken at Evanston Hospital, Evanston, Illinois, February - 2020.

Quote:

"You have to learn to get comfortable being uncomfortable.  You have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone and push your limits."
~  Jesse Itzler

Monday, April 13, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Waking up in Another World IMG3144B - Quote - Ed Denier - Happiness

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG3144B -  Waking up in Another World, April 2020.

Quote:

"Probably the biggest insight....is that happiness is not just a place, but also a process.  Happiness is an ongoing process of fresh challenges, and it takes the right attitudes and activities to continue to be happy."
~ Ed Denier

Friday, April 10, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Sunset IMG4248B

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4248B - Sunset

Friday, April 3, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Eagle in the Sky - IMG20170712003C

Greetings and Salutations!

WP20170712003C - Eagle in the Sky

Monday, March 30, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Car Wash IMG4589 - Quote - Michelle Obama - Courage and Hope

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4589 Car Wash

Quote:
"You may not always have a comfortable life and you may not always be able to solve all the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own."
~ Michelle Obama

Friday, March 27, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Sunset - Lac Court Orielles, IMG20170724004B - Stone Lake, Wisconsin

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG20170724004B Sunset - Lac Court Orielles, Stone Lake, Wisconsin

Breathe.  Think better.  Find your inner calm.

Monday, March 23, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - IMG5283 - Quote - Marianne Williamson - Fear to Love

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG5283

Quote:
"A miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love."
~ MarianneWilliamson

Friday, March 20, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - IMG4745 - Quote - Akiroq Brost - Shift in Perspective

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4745

Quote:

"If people only understood the incredible power of a shift in perspective.  To be different you must think, feel, and act differently.  Change your perceptions, change how you feel about things, and then take action."
~ Akiroq Brost

Friday, March 13, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - IMG4400 - Quote - Willie Nelson - Positive Results

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4400

Quote:

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results."
~ Willie Nelson

Monday, March 9, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Car Wash IMG4486G

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4486G -  Car Wash - Hayward, Wisconsin

I was looking through old photographs taken last summer and discovered this skeleton body on our windshield at the Car Wash.  How odd?

Saturday, March 7, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - IMG4340 ...and then there were blue skies

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4340 ....and then there were blue skies

Monday, March 2, 2020 - Thinking Outside the Box - Doors IMG4572 - Quote - Jim Morrison - Doors

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4572 - Doors

Quote:
"There are things known and things unknown
and in-between are the doors."
~ Jim Morrison

Friday, February 28, 2020 - SkyWatch Friday - Clouds IMG4397- Quote - Jaeda DeWalt - Blossom

Greetings and Salutations!

IMG4397

Quote:

"There are times I wish I was a master magician so I could disappear into the folds of time, without consequence, without missing a beat.  As an introvert, I need so much time to myself.  I feel expansive and peaceful in my own space, constricted and chained when confined to social situations.  I can't blossom when pressed against everyone else."
~Jaeda DeWalt