Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Love, music, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: #neverforget, 50th Birthday, 9/11, American Hero’s, Birthdays, Birthdays Are Special, Day Off, Friends and Family, God, God Bless, God Bless America, Gods Classroom, Gods Country, Lamb of God, Moonlight Pond Tour, Never Forget, Spirit, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Thank a Firefighter, The Presence of God, USA
Aren’t internal clocks great 😊 I was up very late last night/this morning (1:30am), visiting, talking and picking up from our annual Moonlight Pond Tour. And even though I had planned to ‘sleep in’ my eyes 👀 popped open like clockwork at 5am and I was wide awake… My internal clock must be a Timex 😊
And by all other accounts, it was a great week!
- I got to catch up with friends on the river
- Successful Pond Tour fundraiser
- The weather was great!
- A great friend turned 50!
But the 1st thing I thought about when my eyes opened this morning was what happened on this day in 2001… 9/11
A Heavy blow was struck against all Americans that day.
• 2,977 Americans were Murdered!
• 343 Firefighters died saving others! Many that survived are dying from cancer now at an alarming rate! Thank a Firefighter today…
But – We survived! We united! We rebuilt! 🇺🇸
All these other good things that happened for me this week, and every week before, and every day after today has been possible because of the sacrifices of past generations of Americans! We stand up! We fight for the freedom of others! We rebuild when things get torn down! God Bless America 🇺🇸
“Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul …”
~ William Earnest Henley
PS: Happy Birthday Sea Bass!
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Hummingbirds, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Bees, Birds, Bluebirds, Bumble Bee, Early Morning, Enjoy The Morning, Feeding Birds, Good Morning, Honey Bee, Hummingbirds, Love, Morning Coffee, Morning Zen, Quiet Morning, Quiet Time, reflection, Spirit, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Sunrises
No sunrise to view this morning… A grey sky just became slightly brighter over time. But the birds woke up in turn, and the bees 🐝 came out and went to work as usual. This is my favorite part of the day! When I have the whole world to myself it seems… No phones, no demands, just the birds and the bees and some plants to attend too. Sunday morning and I’m in the right place…
Outside, there was that predawn kind of clarity, where the momentum of living has not quite captured the day. The air was not filled with conversation or thought bubbles or laughter or sidelong glances. Everyone was sleeping, all of their ideas and hopes and hidden agendas entangled in the dream world, leaving this world clear and crisp and cold as a bottle of milk in the fridge.
~ Reif Larsen
More coffee ☕️
Have a blessed day 🙏🏻
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunsets | Tags: Christmas Love, Christmas Magic, Christmas Music, Christmas Songs, Christmas Spirit, Christmas Star, Christmas with Family, Family Traditions, I Love My Family, Love and Meaning, Night Sky, Sky Watching, Spirit, Star of Bethlehem, What is Christmas All About, Winter Solstice
Did you go outside last night to see the Star ⭐️ They say the alignment of these two heavenly bodies this closely hasn’t happened like last nights occurrence in around 800 years! WOW! Jo, Jacob and I all jumped in the truck right before sunset and drove down the road a ways to a clearing to get a good look 👀
I didn’t get great pictures, mainly because of the camera I was using (iPhone) But it was pretty neat seeing what many think happened on the night of Christ’s birth so long ago.
Peace 🙏🏻 And Merry Christmas 🎄
Mark Carter
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Christmas Countdown, Christmas decorations, Christmas is Coming, Christmas Love, Christmas Magic, Christmas Music, Christmas Season, Christmas Spirit, Christmas Tree, Christmas with Family, Family time, I ❤️ my Family, Merry Christmas Y'all, Spirit, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday with Family, Sundays, What is Christmas All About
This morning I woke up to Christmas music 🎄 The Spirit is in the air! We are taking the whole weekend for Christmas activities… Looking at lights, fixing treats like Chex mix & Rum Cake 🍰 and Cookies 🍪. Don’t forget Family Breakfast 🍳 … or Brunch 😊
The lights last night were Amazing!
Christmas is only 5 days away! Have you caught the Christmas Spirit? 🎅🏻🎄🤩
Remember
This December,
That love weighs more than gold!…
~Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon (1876–1961), “The Right Gift,” 1912
Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅🏻
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Angel, Cardinals, Christmas is Coming, Christmas Magic, Christmas Season, Christmas Spirit, Christmas with Family, Merry Christmas From The Family, Old Friends, Red Bird, Remember, Spirit, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Visited, Visitor
And just like that, it was Christmas 🎄
There’s an old legend about seeing Red Cardinals in your landscape… “When a cardinal appears in your yard, it’s a visitor from heaven.” So we brought a few old friends in for the holidays 😊
“When autumn woods are bare and dead,
A crested bird, of cardinal red,
Sways like an oak-leaf overhead;
And sighs, “Drear! drear! drear!”
When winter woods are white with snow,
And drifts pile high as wild winds blow,
Like flame this torchlike bird doth glow;
And cries, “Whew! whew! whew!”
When springtime’s crimson buds appear,
And red-gold columbines are here,
This songster welcomes the new year;
And sings, “Cheer! cheer! cheer!”
When summer’s sun sheds scorching beams,
And cardinal flowers beside the streams
Grow wild, this brilliant bird still gleams;
And whistles, “Hue! hue! hue!”
~ Alice E. Ball
Have a great Sunday!
Christmas is coming!
~ Mark Carter
Carter's Water Garden 