Photo-Finish Friday -- Into the Desert

Out to the desert from Memphis, Egypt.

Gratitude Monday -- Drawing It Out Edition

Over the years I've known people who let their fear of how they think others see them get in their way.
That is, they refuse to try anything new lest they not be perfect at it.
I am grateful I am not that way.
Oh, sure there are some things I have more sense than to try. It's not because of how big a fool it'll make me look, it's because sometimes it's the little voice warning me off.
I pay attention to the voice.
Said voice has been eerily silent when it comes to drawing.
Art is not my thing.
Neither is music, but it did not stop me from teaching myself rudimentary guitar. While I'm not good at it, playing fires up my brain and I think better, do better, and write better.
If I'm having trouble writing I'll strum a few chords or pick out a melody and soon the problem is solved, or as happens now and again, forgotten.
This brings me to drawing.
A few weeks ago I had a picture in mind to do with a scene I was writing. I had the urge to draw it. Further, I had the urge to draw it properly rather than a render a few scrawls that would shame any self-respecting refrigerator.
This led me down a most wonderful path. The web is filled with sites dedicated to drawing and how to do it. I looked up several of them and played around. I've sketched howling wolves and hawks and noses and ears and eyes and dragons, and well, you get the idea.
It feels good.
I'm enjoying myself and it's one more way to express myself. I sketched out the scene I had in my mind and added a few things not in the original version.
That was fun.
I have a pencil, an eraser, and scrap paper.
It's all I need and I'm having fun.
I am grateful for that and for not letting lack of talent hold me back.
See for yourself:

Nose tree and son , the nose and ear tree.

Here be dragons.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Cloudy Mountain

Along the Columbia Icefields Parkway on the September long weekend.

Gratitude Monday -- Mint Condition

Essential oils are wonderful and useful as all get out. I'm pleased with a number of them, but this week my focus is on mint.
It worked wonders on me.
The nerve cut during my hernia operation in June started waking up right on schedule in mid-December.
I'm grateful for this, don't get me wrong, but it hurt. While not debilitating there were days when I wondered if the amount of pain was normal and should I see a doctor about it?
Meanwhile, I'd been using peppermint oil (Mentha piperita) ) on occasion for digestive issues and it's always good for breathing. I'd gone to a local store to get some and there learned mint was good for pain relief, notably arthritis,  as well.
This was news to me so I checked it out on myself.
One day while I was contemplating going to a doctor about the nerve pain I wondered if it would help.
It did, and then some.
I played with a few other oils like wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) which did well as well, and Sweet Orange Oil (Citrus sinensis) which in my case was useless.
But it all came back to mint.
I used it for about a month although I did switch it with wintergreen on occasion as I have read that mint is not great for one's heart if one uses it too long.
Then one day the pain was barely noticeable. I have the occasional twinge as the area isn't done healing, but I don't need anything on it anymore, and for that I am grateful.

*This is anecdotal to me. It is not intended as medical advice and neither should it be construed as such.

Photo-Finish Friday -- In The Flow

It's good to see open water flowing through the cold heart of winter.

Gratitude Monday -- In The Wild

A wild horse near Rocky.

We got out for a drive on Friday and aimed for the Forestry Trunk Road, south and west of Rocky. Just before the turnoff from the secondary highway to the FTR we saw three wild horses standing in deep snow in the ditch.
I took several photos of them and then several more after we'd turned around and headed home.
They hadn't moved.
We saw the deep packed trails they made in along the ditches looking for food. It's a hard winter for a horse, and all the other wildlife, too.
I am grateful to have seen them, and I hope they survive.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Ancient Sunset

Sunset at Abu Simbal, Egypt.

My Six Words

I've thought a great deal over the past two or so years about the six word memoir project that's made the social media rounds.
This is its genesis.
I could never distill mine so consequently never played along.
Until now.
It hit me the other day so here it is:

I travel. I write. I love.

You are invited to play along in the comments if you so desire.
You don't have to, but you are welcome.

Gratitude Monday -- I Think, Therefore I Am Grateful

I was going to do a post about being grateful that I can think, specifically that I look at matters from a different angle than many.
Then I thought I would be grateful for being able to think about a subject objectively.
And then I realized I am grateful that I think
*

All the above aside, I don't always think and that makes me even more grateful for those times when I do.