Turning Up the Heat

I have no idea what these flowers are because (as I told you before) I am not a botanist. Ha! Isn’t that the truth! I have only one living plant in my whole house … a pothos vine (very hearty, but I do talk to it and thank it for being in my life).

With that said, I believe plants and flowers to be nature’s gifts to all of us. And I seem to be noticing their growth more than usual. Is it the hot weather? Or am I becoming more conscious of growth in general? Nature HAS turned up the heat lately, even here in the Northwest. But I’m also noticing a “newness” about human beings as well. Encounters with most people these days seem to be more patient, kind and compassionate. Maybe it’s because I’ve given myself a permission slip to embrace the interactions I have with others, even the ones that aren’t quite what I’d like them to be. It’s OK. It’s all OK. Each is on her/his own journey and yet I know we are all connected. Namaste’

Funny Sign

I saw this sign in a coffee shop recently and wondered how often this takes place in all of the coffee shops around the world. The coffee was great but I didn’t hear any gossip. And that’s a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say – LOL! What I did hear was a few cell phone conversations that I didn’t really want to hear. Just wanted to enjoy my coffee. Can’t seem to escape that these days. Ugh! Namaste’

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

 

 

Backyard Blooms

Spring is springing all over, including our back yard.  I don’t know what these flowers are (I’m not a botanist, you know) but they’re beautiful. And yes, I messed with Mother Nature and added some effects. I doubt if she minds at all. In fact, I believe she is flattered that we can immortalize her splendor in photographs. Namaste’

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

Serious About the Cereus

A little play on words today. For throwback Thursday I decided to resurrect one of my older images from 2009. It’s a shot of one of the many night-blooming Peruvian Cereus flowers that grew at our home in Tucson.

Getting up early in the morning to capture images of this amazing plant was such a thrill for me. I’d walk outside and talk to it, asking for it to give me all that it had … and it did not disappoint. This is one of my all-time favorites.

Happy Thursday! 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.

 

Singular

It’s no secret that flowers can’t come into my home without being photographed. When my neighbors learned of my friend Linda’s passing, they sent over a beautiful bouquet and a lovely card. Hubby and I are blessed to know them and count them as friends, not merely neighbors.

Today’s image is of a singular bloom that started to wilt sooner than the others, so I trimmed it and placed it into this pottery piece, which has a water well with stiff wires that will make stems stand upright. I bought this piece at a street fair in Palm Springs when I was with my Happy Trails friends at one of our reunions. I’ll never forget it … it was 116 degrees that evening. But we went anyway. Yikes! We drank plenty of water (and margaritas) just to make it up and down that street. If I recall, we went into most of the stores too just for a few breaths of air conditioning.

Each time I look at this piece, I think of all of my friends and the fun we’ve always had together … no matter where we go or what we do. 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

Shrooms!

On our way back from walking Daisy, hubby discovered a few new things in the front yard.  Growing out from under our Lantana plant were some really cool mushrooms.  We’ve had some rain lately and these cool fungi decided to sprout up rather quickly.  They weren’t there yesterday. Wow! Mother Nature can certainly be persistent. Namaste’

 

Regina (Reggie) Arnold is the author of Uncomplicated Ways to Find Your Financial Freedom, a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist,  and photo blogger.

Night Bloomer

The southern Arizona desert has some interesting plants and flowers.  Recently I was combing through some of my images and found these.  The top one is an image of a night-blooming Peruvian Cereus, which was in our back yard at the “Cactus Ranch.”  Unfortunately, the hard freeze that we had a few years ago destroyed the plant.  I found that to be particularly sad, but everything has a life cycle, including us.

The good news is that we can leave behind something of beauty if we choose.  We all have that opportunity.  I’m grateful to our Cereus plant for sharing her beauty with us, and that I was able to capture these images for posterity.  I did some digital enhancements on the top one because I’ll be using it for cards.  The bottom image is what the plant looks like with several blooms.  Namaste’

Regina (Gina) Arnold is the author of Uncomplicated Ways to Find Your Financial Freedom, a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist,  and photo blogger.

Little Buckaroo

Haven’t had much time to devote to blogging these days.  But I do miss all my blogger friends’ posts so I’m going to try and catch up in the near future 🙂

Today’s photo is one of my grandson when he was just a little guy.  His Mom sent this to me in one of those frames that you can record a message with.  In his little voice he said “I love you, Grammy.” It brings tears to my eyes every time.

He’s 17 now.  The time has flown by and I miss the “him and me that used to be.”  But we are all time travelers on this journey, moving forward in our own process of self-discovery, and each fork in the road takes us in new directions.  I love you, Little Buckaroo! I’m proud of the fine human being that you are.  Namaste’

Smell the Roses

Just a quick post today.  I found this image of some roses that I had earlier this year and it reminded me that I must stop and smell the roses more often.  I hope you do, too.  Namaste’

Some of What I’ve Learned

It seems to me that life is the best teacher and, as my readers know by now, I believe there are no “accidents.”  Everything that happens to us holds an opportunity for evolutionary advancement.  Will we recognize it?  I didn’t use to.

Now it’s different.  I’ve learned some things I want to share with all of you …

• I’ve learned that I’d rather have peace than drama
• I’ve learned that out of chaos and confusion, there’s always some clarity
• I’ve learned that forgiveness is the key to a peaceful life
• I’ve learned that it’s just as easy to take the high road as it is the low road – but only if I ask my ego to take an alternate route
• I’ve learned that no matter what … life is a temporary assignment, so I’d better make the best of it
• I’ve learned that what goes around comes around
• I’ve learned that a good attitude is worth its weight in gold

That’s all for now.  Have to make dinner but I’m wishing you all a beautiful, love-filled weekend.

This photo is the most popular one at my gallery, so I thought it might be fun to turn it into one of those motivational posters.  The phrase below it really has nothing to do with the flowers, but hey, I’m tired of coloring within the lines 🙂 Namaste’