A Day to be Grateful

This post I thank God for keeping me safe the last two years and three months from health issues. My heart is overwhelmed at the protection He afforded me during that time. Let me tell you about it.

When I retired in October 2011, I could not afford to carry the health insurance I had been entitled to at the Baptist Convention. I applied on my own to a different health care provider, but was turned down.

It would be two years and three months before I was eligible for Medicare. That meant a very long time to go without health insurance.

Each morning when I woke I asked God to protect me from accident and injury, sickness and illness. When I'd be in a vehicle I would ask for protection. When I went to bed at night, I'd thank God for protecting me.

This was a scary experience. We never know when something will happen that will change our life. But Jerry and I both knew we couldn't afford to continue the health insurance I had while working.

As of this day, Wednesday, February 26th, I have two more days before my Medicare begins in honor of my 65th birthday in March. I am one very happy and thankful person.  God has seen me through with minimal concerns that were easy for us to care for.

So I dedicate this post to thanking God for protecting me during this inbetween time of having health insurance. I'm very grateful!

I found these three red barns one snowy morning.

Wintry Thoughts

Yes, that's a very unflattering picture of me when I came in from walking in the snow! I was beat from walking around in 16 inches of snow, still falling, and sat there for 20 minutes. Too bad Jerry didn't get a snap of me when I first came in. He said I was a sight! No vanity there.

I went out at 7 a.m. to get some early morning shots in the lane behind our house. It was wonderful waking up to the winter wonderland. I heard snow again! What a refreshing sound. I've shared this poem I wrote before, but it's worth sharing again:

"When I opened the back door I heard it
Snow
I was amazed at the sound
A whisper different from wind
Yet, precise; like nothing else I've ever heard
Snow falling from the heavens
My heart rested and listened
I couldn't keep away from my back door
I heard snow and thanked God."

The three snaps below were all taken in low light, early that morning, with the snow falling heavy.

The lane looked a lot different from when I took snaps from the ice storm. The one below is looking up the hill at the back end of our yard from the lane.

A little bird sits watching the show.

With all of this cold to look at, here's some facts I recently learned about ice cream!

Which U.S. state once had a law that banned serving ice cream on cherry pie?  Kansas

How many licks, on average, does it take to eat a single-scoop serving of ice cream on a cone?  50, but why not hold a contest and see for yourself! (I like this suggestion!)

Which country's military delivered pints of ice cream right to soldiers in the foxholes during WW II?  The United States

More ice cream is sold on this day of the week than any others. Which day is it?  Sunday

Which dictator banned the sale of ice cream throughout his country?  Mussolini. Even though Italy is the birthplace of ice cream, he thought the confection was "too American."

President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July National Ice Cream month. But you know, we can eat it all year!
And now that I'm retired, I've found it's also good for breakfast!

The snap below is not a great picture. Some might say it isn't even a good picture. But I love it! It was taken at a favorite place I snap lambs. It was early morning, snowing and there is a metal fence in front of half the sheep. I was a fair distanced away. I just love how they're all under cover resting.

My favorite snap from this big snow, which I posted on Facebook, is of the red barn I found on a favorite road early last Saturday morning. Quiet. Serene. Peaceful. Solitude. Now that's a snap!

Valentine Thoughts

This cute picture is a free coloring page on my friend, Karla's, blog page, until March 1st! (www.karladornacher.typepad.com)  I did my coloring in my photoshop program especially for my blog friends.

The well-known verse in the Bible, Proverbs 17:17a, states it plainly. If you're fortunate to have friends, love them. Care about them. Encourage them. Thank them. Honor them. Tell them you love them!

Wise words to consider . . .

"The happiest miser on earth is the man who saves up every friend he can make." Robert Emmet Sherwood (1896-1955)

"A friend is one who makes me do my best."  Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

"A friend is one who knows all about you and likes you just the same." (Elbert Green Hubbard (1856-1915)

"Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak approving, cheering words while their ears can hear them and while their hearts can be thrilled by them." Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)

"Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend."  Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

"We can never replace a friend. When a man is fortunate enough to have several, he finds they are all different. No one has a double in friendship." Johann Friedrich Von Schiller (1759-1805)

And from a favorite poet:

"Be a friend, You don't need glory. Friendship is a simple story.
Pass by trifling errors blindly, Gaze on honest effort kindly,
Cheer the youth who's bravely trying, Pity him who's sadly sighing;
Just a little labor spend, On the duties of a friend."
Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)

So where are those friends of yours? Let them hear from you as we celebrate Valentine's day this week.  Heart's are needy. Fill them with your joy!

Lovely snaps of a winter morning at Knill's Farm. I chuckled seeing geese sleeping on the ice around 8 a.m. and had to turn around and get a few snaps. Most of the geese on the other side of the bush were sleeping on the ice.

I Need a Snap!

These long days of bitter cold temperatures have provided very few opportunities to take pictures! The snap above cost me frozen fingertips! It was taken before sunrise the morning after a beautiful snow fall. You can just begin to see the light pink in the background. I was outside less than 10 minutes, with gloves on that have the fingertips open, and I could hardly push the shutter button down when I came in they were so cold.

Since I've been unable to get out and find new snaps, I've been visiting websites of folks who can! Here are some of my favorites!

NatureScapes (www.naturescapes.net) and Nature Photographers (www.naturephotographers.net) are two websites I love. The snaps far outreach my capability in photography and geographical areas that I could ever visit. Aside from drooling over the great snaps, I love to read how the photographer got the snap. Sometimes the stories are funny, and they show the effort the photographer went to in obtaining the picture.
That's one of the things I enjoy about my own photography. I'm always reliving the moment I took a picture and enjoying the memory.

These sites also provide instructions, forums, galleries, portfolios, workshops and more.

Another site I've recently become acquainted with is Capture Outdoors Maryland  (www.capturemaryland.com). These snaps are taken in our beautiful state by local photographers, and allows an amateur like me to submit my own snaps around Maryland and receive feedback.

I also enjoy reading blogs from others. Two of my favorite blog sites: Susan Branch (www.susanbranch.com), a delightful artist and writer; of course, my friend, Karla Dornacher (www.karladornacher.typepad.com), who also is a talented and gifted artist and writer.

And I must confess that I have six shortcuts on my desktop of Budweiser Clydesdale horses to pull up when I need a warm fuzzy! They sure create delightful commercials. And, yes, the recent Puppy Love is included in that six! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4)

One day soon I'll be able to be out and about again to find my own snaps in God's great creation. But these others help me get through the cold and weary winter (even though I love snow!).