Black and White Challenge Day 1

I borrowed the black and white challenge from a fellow blogger who also lives in Central Oregon and this is my first installment of a week-long fulfillment.

Last November we had our first giant snowfall and this is what we saw when we opened the garage door after 2 1/2 days of the white stuff. Wonder what she was thinking after being born and raised in the desert?  Feel free to add your comments. Would love to hear what you think! Namaste’

Regina (Reggie) Arnold is a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist, and photo blogger

Pennies from Heaven

On my recent visit to Tucson, something happened that proves the Universe obliges us and that what we focus on expands.

My Mom lives in a residential care home and hates the food there so every day when I went to see her, I would stop at the grocery store to bring her some goodies.  She loves sweets and even though I know they’re not good for her, I brought them anyway. She’ll be 92 next month and I believe that she deserves to have anything that makes her happy.

One night while reading from Pam Grout’s book, E-Cubed, I decided to try one of the experiments. It’s called Pennies from Heaven and it goes like this: in the next 72 hours be aware of Pennies from Heaven. Most people discount pennies as seemingly worthless, but they represent abundance in its many forms.  So I set my intention to consciously put them on my radar.  The next day my Mom asked me bring her a Coke, among other things, from the store. When I reached into the cold case to grab the Coke, there was a penny just laying there.  I picked it up and let out a big “woo hoo!”  People stared but I didn’t care.  There was a Penny from Heaven!  Proof that the Universe obliged my intention.

After I had swiped my credit card to pay for the groceries, the clerk asked if I had a member card.  I said no, so he told me I could use his to get the discounts on the items I purchased.  OK, cool, I thought.  What happened next blew me away.  He gave me $10.20 back in cash. What???  I thanked him and put it in my pocket, still baffled by what had just happened.

Out in the parking lot I noticed there was a woman standing in front of my rental car smoking a cigarette. A homeless man walked up to her and asked if she had a cigarette he could have.  She told him she didn’t have one to spare.  So he asked her if she could spare some change because he was hungry.  She told him she couldn’t help him. Without even thinking, I blurted out “I can.”  I pulled out the $10 bill I had been given and gave it to him.  He looked me square in the eye and said, “God blesses you.”

I will never forget him or the events that took place in the space of just a few minutes … serendipity.  God put me in the right place at the right time.  A blessing for that man and me.  It wasn’t my job to know what he was going to do with the money.  But it was my job to share a blessing.  Both of us felt God’s grace.

I got in the car and looked skyward to say my thank you’s and saw the palm trees.  I love palm trees so I took this photo, knowing that every time I see a palm tree, I am grateful for my Pennies from Heaven experience.

But it didn’t stop there.  When I got back home from Tucson, I had coffee with my neighbor and was relating all of this to her.  As we were talking, I set my coffee cup down on the table, and there was a penny.  Wow!  Neither of us had seen it there when we first sat down. We were both speechless and just burst out laughing at the wonder of it all. And then when I got back to my house, as soon as I put down my purse and keys, the music station hubby and I usually listen to played … you guessed it  … Pennies from Heaven.  I kid you not.  Life is full of magic.  Go find it.  Namaste’

Regina (Reggie) Arnold is a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist, and photo blogger.

 

The High and Mighty

On my way home I noticed the mighty Century plant reaching for the heavens with the Catalina Mountains as a back drop. Sweet!

Coolness on a Hot Day

Well, my friends, it’s going to be a hot time in the Old Pueblo today … weather-wise.  Supposed to be 103 today and 104 tomorrow.  Lucky us!  Ha!

So I thought I’d post this image of flamingos that I took at the zoo earlier this year (and never had time to post).  Makes me feel cooler just looking at them.

I’m jealous that they have their feet in the water 🙂  Namaste’

Mr. & Mrs. Newlywed

I might have mentioned that I’ve been rather busy lately and one of the things that I’ve done is to photograph my first wedding.  Now, I’ve always said that I’m not a wedding photographer and I’m certainly not, but I did this for a friend whose son was getting married.

The bride’s family lives in the Philippines, so I hope that the images I took will help depict the day for those who couldn’t be with them.  The wedding was small and informal, but so lovely and in a beautiful church.  All in all, it was a very nice day and I had fun with them.

Will I ever do it again?  Probably not! I think I’ll leave it up to the more experienced wedding photographers … I can see why they earn lots of money 🙂

Congratulations to Rick and Molly … a caring, lovely couple.  Namaste’

Daily Prayer of Gratitude

Many years ago, when we first moved to the Old Pueblo, we went out to breakfast and I spied one of those free papers that hang out in front of a lot of restaurants.  It was called the Awareness Journal; a small publication, chock full of really cool articles and ads.  And, if you haven’t guessed by now, I’m an avid reader of things metaphysical.

The publisher of the Awareness Journal had a dog.  He was a black Lab and had his own “corner” where he did his “dog speak” … an article written from a dog’s perspective.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and so did our dog, Jingles.  (I read her the article each time it came out.)  It was so much fun, and I was sad when the paper shut down.

But there was one thing a contributing writer wrote that I cut out and memorized because I thought it was perfect.  Below today’s picture is A Daily Prayer of Gratitude.  Maybe you’ll find it to be a good way of expressing your own gratitude.

The image below is one of a flowering plant that’s on the patio where we moved my Mom.  She seems to be doing well there.  It’s an adjustment for her, being in a residential care home, but she’s such a trooper.  Love you, Mom!  Namaste’

DAILY PRAYER OF GRATITUDE:

Thank you, dear Creator, for this, another day of life.  Thank you for my abundant supply and for that of my family, my friends, and for all beings of all planes, dimensions and realities.  Thank you for leading us to the places that we shall go, the work that we shall do and even the dwellings we shall reside in.  Thank you for knowledge, courage, the love of the light, and the wisdom to use it wisely with our brothers and sisters.  You are my shepherd; I shall not want.  I love you, dear Creator.

 

In Like a Lamb

Here in sunny southern AZ, I’m finding that Spring is edging ever closer.  New plants are starting to come up all around me and I love it.  I just wish I could send it to the other parts of the country that are still knee deep in that cold, white, frozen precipitation.  They’re getting all of that, and we’re praying that the prediction of rain for us tomorrow will actually come to pass.  Go figure.

Mother Nature can be tricky sometimes but she always escorts Spring in like a lamb.  It just takes longer to get to some places.

I did manage to see this crop of yellow wildflowers and since they were on the ridge behind our house, I had to stand on my tiptoes and zoom way out to get this image.

So this is for all of my friends who are still frigid.  Don’t take that the wrong way 🙂  Namaste’

Without Words (Almost)

It’s hard for me publish a post with just a few words, but this morning’s sunrise over the Catalina Mountains kind of left me speechless.  As you probably know, I’m a huge fan of desert sunsets but a sunrise is completely different.

It marks the beginning of a brand new day.  A chance to start over … fresh with no baggage from the day before unless we bring it with us.  This morning I chose not to.  I watched the sun start to illuminate the mountains and realized that I am right where I need to be – in the moment of NOW.

Fortunately I had my cell phone outside but before I checked anything in the digital world, I snapped this photo.  Namaste’

My Scenery

Most people think of southern Arizona as a dry desert with hardly any green at all.  But that’s if you haven’t been here.  There are a lot of things that make it green in places.  Like the monsoon rains that we have in the summer.  They’re now over, but the plants and trees are still loving the effects of our rain, as you can see in the foreground of this image.

I took this shot from the passenger side of the car as hubby was speeding down the interstate.  I like it because it has the Santa Rita mountains in the background, the cloudy sky and the foreground of green.  Added a slight watercolor effect to give it a dreamy look.

No, I can’t just sit idly by in the car, especially when I have my camera, so here’s an image that I took as we came upon this semi-truck hauling coffee to those Pilot travel centers.  I love coffee, so of course I had to share this image with all of you.  But I have to say, this is the first time ever in my life that I’ve seen a coffee truck rolling down the freeway.  Namaste’

San Augustin Presidio

I mentioned in a previous post that I would publish some of the images I got from the San Augustin Presidio so here they are.  I really like the contrast in the first image of then and now.  A new parking structure sits in the background of the old presidio.  The image below that is a collage of several that I took that day.  As usual, click to enlarge.  Namaste’