Positively Planning A Vacation - Today

by Mauverneen
“To Travel is to Live” – Hans Christian Andersen

 Today is National Plan A Vacation Day. I didn't know I needed to wait.

I love to travel, even if I may not get as much opportunity to do so as I would like. I have an overflowing bin of brochures of places I want to see, and places that look interesting. Some are exotic, and some are within a days drive. After all, it's not always possible to get away for two or three weeks at a time.

I have a weekend trip coming up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. A short drive from my home in Illinois. A friend, who also has the wanderlust, and I have been talking about something in the Fall - possibly Spain/Portugal or Portugal/Morocco. It's nice to dream. And sometimes, we can make some of those dreams come true. I still have my bucket list but these other things (places) keep popping up! 

It doesn't matter if you prefer the beach,

the city,

or the mountains.

A vacation is an indulgence; a time to be selfish, to spoil yourself a bit. And if the planning doesn't yield the anticipated trip, oh well, I've learned something about a place and the day dreaming has been fun.

So excuse me while I go do some planning. I've got a bin to get through.

As always, words and photos are my own, and require permission to reprint.

However, feel free to share the blog in it's entirety. In fact, I encourage it!

Interested in photo prints? Contact me! maureenblevins@yahoo.com

See more photos at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-mauverneen-blevins.html

and visit my website:  mauveonthemove.com

Positively Frosty - Through a New Lens

by Mauverneen

We have had a rather mild winter here so far. A few mornings of a light snow, but mostly mornings of heavy frost. Grass is still green, some plants are still growing, trees are still shedding their leaves. It's those frosty mornings that have me enchanted. 

My mornings begin with making the coffee, then taking the dog out while the coffee brews. Lately, I bring my dog in, grab my camera and dash back outside to grab a photo of a frosted leaf or branch or whatever. I don't have too many close neighbors, but if anyone is catching the show I must look a bit crazed, running in and out. Sometimes with a dog, sometimes with a camera and at times coming back out yet again with the cell phone to grab an Instagram photo op.

 Just as the snow transforms the ordinary world into a wonderland, so too, sometimes, does the frost. I can see my footprints and those of my dog. I hesitate to leave too many tracks. 

There is beauty in simplicity. A single leaf is transformed with a covering of frost.  Pine needles, branches, even the grass become separate species entirely. Looked at afresh, appreciated differently, examined from a different perspective. 

They say familiarity breeds if not contempt, at least boredom. Taking people and things for granted is a by-product of 'familiarity'. I wish there were glasses I could put on to see everything fresh, from a new perspective. Glasses that would 'frost over' their flaws and their failures and let me see people in a new light.  How nice it would be to be able to always appreciate everyone. To not take for granted those around us. To celebrate that uniqueness in each and every one of us. To know that under that familiar exterior there are secrets, and passions and dreams, talents and untouted accomplishments. Beauty. 

As always, words and photos are my own, and require permission to reprint.

However, feel free to share the blog in it's entirety. In fact, I encourage it!

Interested in photo prints? Contact me! maureenblevins@yahoo.com

See more photos at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-mauverneen-blevins.html

and visit my website:  mauveonthemove.com

 

Positively Happy New Year

by Mauverneen

 Resolutions. Make some good ones. Spend all the time you can with family and friends. Reach out. Be kind. Try something new. Use the good stuff once in a while. Indulge once in a while. Travel while you can. Walk, or bike ride, or run, or ski - while you can. Enjoy life.

Me? I'm gonna take more pictures. Write more. Speak out more. Do more. I'm going to plan one good trip. More if I can. Be positive at least on Tuesdays. I will continue to work on being patient, and getting organized, and finishing projects. In other words, try to become the best version of - me.

I guess that's what resolutions boil down to. Trying to become better.

May 2019 bring you happiness, peace of mind and joy. Even if we don't accomplish everything we set out to do, this time next year I hope we can all look back and say it was a pretty good year!