I'm at a loss...

Hello you guys, I've been getting the bug to blog lately and have that usual problem I often have...where to start. So just to get my self back in the game, I'm going to post some random shots of some of my new friends. Hope you enjoy meeting them as much as I have!

Dragonflies

I've developed a bit of a fascination for Dragonflies.

They are all so unique...some quite beautiful, and others downright creepy. For instance, take a look at this first one!

I've nicknamed him Batman, but after further thought, I changed my mind (you'll see what I mean at the end of this post)!

Anyway, hope you enjoy...

Ok, now take a look at the Hubble Spacecraft. Doesn't my first Dragonfly look JUST like it??

Three's Not a Crowd

I'm back with the Round Robins this month and I'm thrilled!

(Carly..."You make me want to be a better blogger"!)


This week's challenge came from my buddy Marie. We're supposed to post anything in sets of three's.

I was immediately led to one of my favorites...the growth process of something.

Being that it's spring, let's take a look at a flower....a simple tulip.

If you like, go check out the other entries over here!

A Favor

A Pledge to Tammy "Educating it Forward"

I'm not asking for money but I am asking for your help. Find one (or more) persons that does not know about ALS and educate them. Ask them to also find one person and educate it forward. Let's bring this killer out of the dark and into the light.5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. (That's 15 new cases a day.) It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time.There is no cureIt kills muscles until you are trapped in your body unable to move or speak.It can hit anyone at anytime and most only live 2- 4yrs. That is why it is so silent.PLEASE help me educate it forward so awareness will happen and then we can work on a cure. Post it anywhere it may bring up questions like at work, twitter, FB or blog. You can simply tell a friend over coffee. This can work!

Thank you,Tammy

Sixth Grade

I took the following photo and added a special quote to it:

Mrs. Schorr was my absolute favorite teacher ever. She changed my life.

I started acting out in fifth grade and was heading in the wrong direction in school. My mom knew Mrs. Schorr and her reputation, and fought hard to get me into her class the following year. It worked. But not only did it work in that I got into her class, but it worked in that she turned me around. I became the person I wanted to be...the person I truly was inside. She saw and expected only good things from me...and I gave her the best I could give.

Throughout the years, Mrs. Schorr remained in both my mother's and my life. When I turned 16, she gave me a pendant of a stone with the following words written on it:


Hold fast to dreams...for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.


I often think of Mrs. Schorr and all the wisdom she passed onto me. And I especially think of her when I see birds.

The above photo is dedicated to Mrs. Schorr...wherever she may be...may she always know how much she touched my life.

I will always continue to hold onto my dreams.....I hope that you do the same.

A little taste o' winter here

Childhood Memoirs and Memories

When I first read about Carly's "Round Robin" Photo challenge of Childhood Memories, I signed up for it thinking, "Piece of cake....". But when I went to do it, I became very sad and actually took a whole different approach. I spent a really long time going through my archives and created a rather adorable collection of various children's photos I've taken over the years. And yes it was cute, but it wasn't personal, and it certainly wasn't MY childhood memories. It seemed like an easy way out for me but I couldn't do, just for that reason.

I thought about why I was so sad since I had wonderful memories from which to draw. The reason was that the best parts of my childhood were intrinsically connected to my mother. As many of you know, she passed away several years ago.

So I decided that rather than post a collage of other people's childhoods, I simply wouldn't post at all. What a cop out THAT would be....and I expect more from myself than that.

Today is Valentines Day, and every year, my mom would get me just a little something to show her love for me. But not only did she give me things on Valentines Day, she gave me something every single day we shared in this life. Intangible things mostly....whether it was in a gesture, the way she listened, the way we giggled, or even in the tender ways she told me I wasn't being the person she knew I could be.

My mom used to like to travel, as I do now too. When she'd go away to, she'd always bring me back a gift or two....it made the pain of her being away slightly more managable. I always cherished those gifts...those times she showed she was thinking of me no matter how many miles were between us. I'm hoping she's still thinking of me today.

The above photos show just some of the presents that my mom gave me....some from other countries, others from our special times together....each with very different meanings. For example, the ballerina in the snow globe was from the time she took me to see "The Nutcracker Suite" in NYC, when I was not yet a teenager. The little lamb was something she secretly helped me to purchase when I didn't have the money for , but had fallen in love with in the windows of Cold Spring Harbor, NY, during the snowy holidays. (She "hired" me to teach American Sign Language to the kids in the school where she taught....funny how the amount she paid me was exactly the cost of that little lamb).

Anyway, I'll stop now, but the memories are endless....even if the lamb's fur wears thin...or the music fades from the wind-up mandolin.

It's Valentines Day and her love remains with me. May you all know that type of love at some time in your lives....