Happy Places and New Normals – for Sunday Stills

Terri’s Sunday Stills prompt this week is “your happy place” ahhhh, there have been so many. We’re international travelers. Every year we’ve been out of country for some period of time (usually a month or more). Needless to say 2020 has been somewhat of a let down. Like most people, we’re still learning to cope with the “new normal” so very different from the “old normal.” But we’re adapting and there are still hundreds of beautiful places to visit. Cautiously, carefully. So a few of my happy places from right here in my own “backyard” …

Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA

Crater Lake, Oregon, USA

Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii, USA

Open Trail, Zion National Park, Springdale, UT USA

Over oceans I have traveled
across the lands by plane and car
I have hiked the forests green
and wished upon a Shanghai star
of the places I have been to
the happiest by far
the only place that I call home
is any place you are

Til next time ~Peace ~JP

An Ochre October – Sunday Stills

For Terri’s Sunday Stills: October’s color is ochre, a brownish yellow, as shown above, but can range from yellow to deep orange. Perfect for showcasing your Fall colors!

Leaves begin their fall color change in October Shugakuin, Kyoto, Japan

Standing tall in October Zion National Park, Utah, USA

The ochre sunrise in October, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii, USA

The wind blows scattering dry leaves
and sending the trees dancing
leaves make their annual wardrobe change
from vibrant gold to somber ochre
dry grass prickles my feet
breathe in the musty smells of old oak
listen as the earth sighs her contentment
cloaked in the wonder of the season
I pause in anticipation … Autumn

Til next time ~Peace ~JP

A Dry Spell — Pun Intended

It’s been one of those summers. The ones that leave you panting for breath, so fatigued you can’t breathe, suffering from “pin cushion syndrome.” Add to that lockdowns, rampant fear, a part time job in the hospitality industry and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. So it was for me this year. That’s all over now, well, some of it’s over, OK, the JOB is over! Yes, I finally, totally retired.

RETIREMENT
that time when you STOP
living at work
and begin working
at living

So, to start us back off on the right foot, a few pics for Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge where our prompt is “dry” and the FOTD from Cee.

Frost bitten rose from an early frost in the very dry lands of Pahrump, NV

Very dry, very huge cactus — near Death Valley, California

“The Badlands” of South Dakota

Cool, Clear Water 😉

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

Sunday stills – A Cozy Shade of Winter

Our Sunday Stills prompt is hosted by Cathy at Picture This and our prompt is “winter”. Now I have a confession to make. I love Winter. I love the cold temps, big fluffy sweaters, lapgans, fireplaces and all things hygge. I live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA where winter temps in fahrenheit measure in the single digits and nightly lows are well below 0 (-18c). And, yes I love Winter everywhere we go. Here are a few Winter shots from some of our travels.

Beavertail cactus in snow – Zion National Park, Utah

Snowy Branches – Richmond, UT

Frozen fog phenomenon – South Dakota

Winter’s dawn – South Dakota

Come Winter and welcome
bring your frozen kiss
bring your stunning sunrise
bring your cozy bliss

Come Winter and welcome
I cherish your dimming light
sweaters, books, steaming mugs
my fireplace burning bright

And Winter Came — Enya

Til next time ~Peace ~JP

Sunday Stills – Room for a View

Cathy from Picture This is hosting our Sunday Stills Challenge for August while Terri is taking a short break. Our theme for this week is “Out your window”

Over the hills as seen from the passenger’s seat

 

Sunrise

Views

Outside my window the world goes by
squirrels scamper, cicadas hum, birds fly
sun rises, while the humans scurry
never seeing, always in a hurry
to get to where they are not

A Room With a View • O Mio Babbino Caro

Til next time ~Peace ~JP

Sunday Stills – Life’s a Beach

Many thanks to Cathy over at Picture This for hosting Sunday Stills for us during Terri’s August blogging break. Our prompt for this week is “Beautiful Beaches”

March of the sand crabs – Kauai, Hawaii

I was born to be a mermaid
but by nature was betrayed
to live this false existence
and walk this world on legs
the ocean’s song still sings
within my heart and mind
peace and calm engulf me
as I watch the waves unwind

View from GuLangYu Islet off the coast of Xiamen, China

Beach at Wakatipu Lake – Queenstown, NZ

Surf on Oahu, Hawaii

Stronger — Under the Sea: A Descendants Short Story

til next time ~maluhia ~JP

Sunday Stills – The Wild and Weird Ones

For Sunday Stills our prompt is Wild and Weird

What a wildly appropriate prompt for this week. You see, I am one of those weird people. You know the ones who always know the moon phase. The ones who talk about the demise of betelgeuse, use coconut oil for everything, have an herb or an essential oil suggestion for any complaint. We talk about Woodstock, and the day John Lennon died, listen to music by Janis Joplin, Cage the Elephant, Omnia and George Strait with equal abandon. We’re the ones with the wild sparkle in our eyes, the messy hair, and perpetually dirty feet. We are the Star Seeds and Indigos, the lovers and the dancers. The ones who see all the pain and horror of this world, but love it anyway. Long live the wild and the weird! 🙂

Painted Bull at Taoyuan airport,Taiwan

And just to prove that art is truly international
A painted bull buffalo from Custer, South Dakota

courtesy of Mother Nature, a dew drenched caterpillar tent on a juniper shrub

Wild Child — Enya

Til next time ~Stay wild, moon child ~JP

Sunday Stills – Free movement

For Terri’s Sunday Stills — Freedom

“I ask only to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind surely will not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterfly.” Charles Dickens — Bleak House

True freedom can be found anywhere, under any circumstance for it is an attitude of spirit ~JPP

As above, so below
as the universe
so the soul

Ocean, mountains, clouds, and sky — Kaikoura, NZ

Kyomizu, Kyoto, Japan

The open vastiness that is Wyoming

Ruby Tuesday — The Rolling Stones

Til next time ~Peace and freedom ~JP

Sunday Stills – Home is where the heart is

Terri’s Sunday Stills theme this week is Home.

Home means so many things to so many people. For me it has never been a place but a feeling. To quote Dory “I look at you … and I’m home.” This is the first time in many years I have stayed in one place for this long (over a year). RVers say “Home is where we park it” for me home is anywhere my love and I are together, from a hotel in Shanghai to a Winnebago in Colorado, home is not a place, it is not walls or land, home is truly where my heart is. Je t’aime mon coeur.

Here are a few places I’ve called home.

Looking out the window of our Winnebago, Bayfield, Colorado

Just down the street Hart Ranch, Rapid City, South Dakota

“The Remarkables” as seen from our window in Queenstown, NZ

Heading “home” to Zion — Springdale, Utah

“Even as I wander
I’m keeping you in sight
you’re a candle in the window
on a cold, dark Winter’s night”

I can’t fight this feeling any more ~REO Speedwagon

Til next time ~Stay Safe, Stay Sane, Stay Sanitized ~JP

Sunday Stills – Life All Around Me

For Sunday Stills – Life All Around Me

I am one of those who finds a special peace in nature. Trembles of a dark and stormy night are eased by the rhythm of wind through the trees. A sour mood is eased by the scent of basil and rosemary growing in pots outside my door. And the sight of flowers never fails to bring a smile to my face. Thus flows the qui of life all around “an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.”

Gardens are hard to come by when you’re a full time RVer, but here’s my attempt a tiny potted “garden” that traveled around with me for a few years.

A rose needs no compliment on it’s beauty, it simply is … a rose.

Remember, life will ALWAYS find a way. 😉

Pastures of Plenty – The Kingston Trio

Til next time Stay safe, stay sane, stay sanitized ~JPP