December 30, 2014 - time to reflect as we turn another calendar page. Here I share some ''golden'' moments that by way of this this earth spinning around the sun have been snapped , to savor the glow as  we all think back to what this year has been for each of us and for all of us. I wish peace, I wish fresh air and clean water, I wish that all learn to value all forms of life. LIVES matter <3. Live your life with eyes open to the wonder and possibility.

 Some photos in black and white and some quotes on things black and white.

 “The most colorful thing in the world is black and white, it contains all colors and at the same time excludes all.”   Vikrmn 

 

“When I learned about the gray existing between the black and white of absolute terms, I began to experience more peace. The more I expanded my gray areas (more than 50 shades), the more peace I experienced in my life.”   David W. Earle

 “When I was a little girl, everything in the world fell into either of these two categories: wrong or right. Black or white. Now that I am an adult, I have put childish things aside and now I know that some things fall into wrong and some things fall into right. Some things are categorized as black and some things are categorized as white. But most things in the world aren't either! Most things in the world aren't black, aren't white, aren't wrong, aren't right, but most of everything is just different. And now I know that there's nothing wrong with different, and that we can let things be different, we don't have to try and make them black or white, we can just let them be grey. And when I was a child, I thought that God was the God who only saw black and white. Now that I am no longer a child, I can see, that God is the God who can see the black and the white and the grey, too, and He dances on the grey! Grey is okay.” C.Joybell C.

 

“The angel said, "I like black-and-white films more than color because they're more artificial. You have to work harder to overcome your disbelief. It's sort of like prayer.” Jonathan Carroll

 

“The ignorance of the world often makes people believe that life should be black and white – that you must choose sides – and so the world of colourful gradients goes unadmired.” A.J. Darkholme

“The irony of American history is the tendency of good white Americanas to presume racial innocence. Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege.In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America.” Tim Wise

Solnedganger i vinter

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” 

                                                                                 

 ''Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder - no matter how old you became and how much you'd seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.'' Candace Bushnell

 

“Are the days of winter sunshine just as sad for you, too? When it is misty, in the evenings, and I am out walking by myself, it seems to me that the rain is falling through my heart and causing it to crumble into ruins.”  - Gustave Flaubert

''Come watch with me the shaft of fire that glows In yonder West: the fair, frail palaces, The fading Alps and archipelagoes, And great cloud-continents of sunset-seas.''  Thomas Bailey Aldrich

“Song falls silent, music is dumb,
But the air burns with their fragrance,
And white winter, on its knees,
Observes everything with reverent attention.” Anna Akhmatova

  ''After a day of cloud and wind and rain Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again, And touching all the darksome woods with light, Smiles on the fields until they laugh and sing, Then like a ruby from the horizon's ring, Drops down into the night.'' -  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

''Softly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon Like a magician extended his golden want o'er the landscape; Trinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.'' Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I was not an outdoorsy exploring kid, nor youth nor young adult. I was a grandmother before I turned to hiking about my surroundings. Walking was a necessitated physical therapy. Walking city sidewalks and streets lead to parks and trails and then off the trails and onto dirt paths and through deep grasses,up and down rocks.The phone in pocket soon became a way to photograph sights and then i moved on to carry a camera.I have 2 eager dogs that drag and pull me but also the camera does, i seek to get over that hill to see the next view or what the sunlight does farther down at a different angle.Spring and autumn do overwhelm. So much sensory input in a matter of weeks.In spring the dead beige-brown greens and wild flowers  peek and then ounce upon the woodland hills. in autumn one can become drunk on the  intense colors and the play of sunlight on red orange maple leaf.Here is the first 2014 of  autumn walk picture shows

When you visit same vistas with regularity you see the time lapse of the march of seasons and in recognizing and marking  time as such I have felt a sort of easy as I can feel the natural flow and see the beauty in all the variations

A great many fine details  determine how the leaves color in autumn and in all my life I believe this season has been one of the most gorgeous, color saturated I have noted.Walking into woodland one is in another realm absolutely enveloped by the colors of the trees that comprise that area. One forest one week maybe lemon yellow, a few days take it to a warm amber and then another variety of trees steals the show with a freshly nuanced burst of color.

the pink trees are tucked deep in some hills, Their soft color is so refreshing among the bold and garish golds and reds, a sweet soft color

As news and awareness intensifies of the delicate condition of the planet I want to be out in nature enjoy it's wonder and I want others to see and share in appreciation. Rachel Carson wrote “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” Yes, sister,yes! It is good to see, feel, hear, smell the power of nature to change, to change the season as it has all my years, to see the faces of rocks that have stood here strong for ages, It is good to embrace the  sweet exuberance of autumn colors and be full before we face the white grey pallet of winter. And I excitedly look forward to seeking pale fragile teeny tiny spring wildflowers again when spring comes again