While in the throws of trying to hack up a lung I'm trying to think happy thoughts.

Camellias in the spring

Bees doing their thing.

and Moonrise over the Carolinas with the pine trees swaying in the breeze.

Old and New

I just finished French by Heart by Rebecca Ramsey about a SC family who lived in France.  I laughed and cried through all her ups and downs and was moved to remembrance.  I've been pondering some of the contrasts I saw the last time I was there.     

All the classical architecture.

All the modern elements.

All the time weathered loveliness viewed through modern eyes.  

The contrast of old and new fascinates me.

The joy of curling up with a book will never be replaced by technology.  I will resist at all costs!  The happy crinkle of the pages, the creamy texture of the paper, the feel of the smoothness of the cover under my fingers while I hold it, the building anticipation as there are fewer and fewer pages to go, the location of the words on the page, the different fonts, the page numbers, etc, etc.

Just thinking about life and making my kids do things they hate.  Mwa ha ha!  Sometimes it's great to be in charge.  Does it make up for all those time my parents made me do things I hated? I'm not sure yet.  

I don't know if anything can make up for all those summer mornings weeding the garden at dawn. Weren't we supposed to 

be able to sleep in in the summer?  I suppose it could have been beautiful, if I'd been looking up, but those dang weeds were on the ground.

Yea!  I figured out how to upload pictures!  Thanks Renee.  You did help me even without being here. I'm going to get this down, baby!  How 'bout this one?  You gotta love the reflections on the glasses. I especially love the swath of color on Alyssa's cheek.  Photo booth is so much fun!  I love my Mac!  

I'm still working on figuring out how to put this thing together.  With all my researching and writing I've apparently not spent enough time working on figuring this thing out.  I'm just going to practice with it and see what happens.  I'll probably end up having to ask my kids.