July 4th Parade

I met the most colorful people at the local July 4th parade!

Let’s Go Sledding!

I wandered into a barn in Lancaster County, PA and saw these sleds lined up and couldn’t resist shooting them, even though I only had a pocket camera and the light was low. We learn to improvise in situations such as these. When I look at this, I can only think of the days before lawsuits when they actually let snow pack on the road and we took the sleds down the hill at the end of the street I grew up on. What fun! Today they scrape the streets bare and throw down salt so neighborhood sledding is no longer possible.

All I Want for Christmas

…is an end to hunger and poverty.

In honor of my friends and family, I am making a gift to send several flocks of chickens through Heifer International. This organization operates on the concept that if you give a man a fish he eats for a day, but if you teach him to fish he eats for a lifetime. They send gifts of livestock that produce renewable food products, plus they teach recipients to care for the animals and improve their family’s nutrition. A Heifer animal is a gift that continues to give, as recipients must pass on the first offspring of their gifted animal to others in their community. Of all the organizations I am aware of, this one extends beyond a hand out and offers a true hand up to put people on the road to independence.

This is the only photo on my blog that is not my own. This photo courtesy of Heifer.org.

Christmas 2: Window Shopping in Chestnut Hill

You cannot help but catch the holiday spirit in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Its charming storefronts and cobbled streets are reminiscent of a European village. I love to stroll Germantown Avenue, talk to the dog owners, gaze in the decorated store windows and end with a hot beverage at Chestnut Hill Coffee. Perhaps the best time to visit is Wednesday nights in December when carolers stroll the streets, chestnuts are literally roasting over open fires and everyone is in a festive mood!

Christmas 1: Colorado

This festive window shutter was on a storefront in the picture-postcard town of Ouray, Colorado. My youngest son Cody and I spent two weeks traveling all over the state. We visited gold and silver mines, rode horses, explored a cave, took the cog railway up Pike’s Peak, swam in natural hot springs, and we chased wildlife AND sunrises with cameras! We had a fabulous time!

Time spent one-on-one with my children is the gift I treasure most in my life.