January Harvest

One picture on Monday, one on Tuesday, three on Wednesday, none on Thursday... this is the way it goes.  My original goal was to take a picture every day of something that I found beautiful, but life frequently gets in the way of goals and I have learned that it's just best to be flexible about those sorts of things.  The important thing is the direction I'm moving; and here at the end of the month I have 31 pictures of things that I found to be beautiful this January - one per day instead of one a day?  I hardly notice the difference in those phrases and therefore deem this a success!

 1 - "Sunrise Through a Life Preserver at Post Eleven"

2 - "Gray Curls and New Talents" - Sitting in Starbucks with my peppermint hot chocolate, a lady in red sat next to me and asked the couple seated on the couch if she could sketch them. Twenty minutes later she revealed her work, and neither subject could tell which one was which... an awkward moment that turned beautiful when the artist mentioned that she had only just begun learning how to sketch and was excited for her talent to grow.  I hope I keep learning all through my life, too.
3 - "Sunset Reflecting in Puddles After Rain"
4 - "Sunrise Stillness"
5 - "Dancing Grasses"
6 - "Clean Reflection" - one great thing about having white/grey swirling tile squares all throughout the house... it sure looks clean when it's clean!
7 - "To Beaches = To Home"
8 - "Lurking.  Lurking.  Lurking."
9 - "Truffula Trees, True and Real"
10 - "A Splash of January Color"

11 - "Reach"

12 - "Expensive Fountain in an Expensive Mall" - We felt slightly out of place.  But it was beautiful...
13 - "Nothing Says Love Like This" Lots of visitors combined with Timothy's less than stellar sleeping habits as of late has meant that we frequently have to keep him entertained in our bedroom during the quiet hours of the early morning.
14 - "Finding Dory"
15 - "Heart to Heart" - we absolutely love having all of these visitors.
16 - "Dew Drop Greets the Morning Sun"
17 - "Layers of Softness"
18 - "Old Knot"
19 - "Joy of New Shoes"
20 - "Parenting with Power and Purpose" - Been thinking a lot about this lately... this idea of really nailing down some things that we want our children to take with them when they leave our home and then parenting to those means.  Brian helping me brainstorm?  Beautiful.  (Even if his brainstorm had 7 ideas and mine had 70.)

21 - "Persistence"

22 - "The Beauty of Every Morning"
23 - "A Mothers Pride"  I watched this mother lovingly dress and carry this tiny baby (2 months?) into the pool where she pulled him around in the floaty and took pictures of him with her phone.  Her joy and pride in him was almost tangible, and it was beautiful to me.
24 - "All is Quiet" - after so many nights of restless sleeping, that quiet monitor is a beautiful sight, indeed.
25 - "Children watch the Sunset" - will these kids even remember how wonderful this year has been?
26 - "Different shades of green"
27 - "Midday Rainbow"
28 - "Natural Light"
29 - "Rainy Days"
30 - "Moon Reflection"

31 - "Sailing Under Tabletop Clouds"

I've found something interesting this month.  When I started this project, I simply assumed that I would be looking for beauty with my eyes... but the things that have had the most impact on me so far have been the things I have found beautiful in my heart.   Brian's participation in our parenting goals; the grey-haired lady in Starbucks; the visitors we've had; the mother in the pool; Brian sitting up with TK in the middle of the night.... maybe I'll try looking less with my eyes and more with my heart as time goes on...