Some of my FAVORITE THINGS...

These are of my ONLY child, BRENT,
when he
was
growing up.
Wasn't
he a Doll?
So Sweet and Innocent. . .
back when he still loved to
hang out with his MOM!!
Sigh!!

~~~<>~~~

Of course this was before he became a teenager!!
And Mom became
obsolete!











This is my son NOW-A-DAYS.
Here he is getting ready to go
on a sailing trip!

He is 16 now!

YIKES!!

and getting his license next week!!

LOOK OUT!!!

~~<>~~

Here he is again down below in the cabin of the boat with one of his best friends Billy. They don't look too happy to be getting up at dawn!! See the pink sky? This was taken on a 3 day whale watching trip we took just West of the San Francisco coastline.

We saw both Orca and Humpback whales.

And of course this is my KITTY!

He loves the boat too as you can see him up on the mast!!

We call him "Skipper"!

. . . and the trip ended with this beautiful sunset in Sausalito...

*************

And while we are on the subject of favorite things, I would like to share a passage from "The Oriah Mountain Dreamer" that I absolutely LOVE !!!

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool

for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow.

if you have been opened by life’s betrayals

or have become shriveled from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own;

without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own;

And dance with wildness until the ecstasy fills you

to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,

or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true,

I want to know if you can disappoint another

to be true to yourself.

if you can bear the accusation of betrayal

and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful

and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty,

even when it is not pretty every day,

and if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours or mine,

and still stand on the edge of a lake

and shout to the silver of the full moon, "YES!"

It doesn't interest me to know

where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone,

and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are

or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand

in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what

or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside

when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,

and if you truly like the company you keep

in the empty moments.

The End