Here in south Texas, calm winds are not the norm except  in the early morning hours and behind the jetties down at the bay front... So was I ever thrilled to be able to catch this shot of the bay with it's still waters and palms as well. 
For me the quote " Be still my heart" was all I could think of while I was standing there, it was oh so quite that I could hear the seagulls.
Kat's Photo-heart Connection  makes this all possible to share with you. Please go check her site out.

First let me wish you all a happy 4th of July and give thanks for our freedom, freedom to enjoy the beautiful scenes like this in our own back yard and freedom to participate in Photo heart Connection with Kat. 



The 1st picture was taken right outside my porch around 6:30 in the morning.. What a beautiful way to start my day.  The second picture is just part of the view that I have as I am driving into work each day.
When people ask don't you get tired of the 45 minute drive... I answer with a resounding NO... views like this.. what a wonderful way to start 5 days a week... the only exception are days that are foggy then, those mornings are just plain spooky.

Try to picture and 82 year old man and a 78 year old lady both with many medical ailments and use of canes to boot. Now add the fact that they wanted to go camping for 3 nights and 4 days even in their condition and you have a story of lifetime, probably theirs and ours too.

Hubby and I were concerned about their safety and tried to plan accordingly to avoid some possible obstacles. 
They had several wishes that they wanted to do while camping. 1. Go swimming in the lake and 2. Have smores for the 1st time in their lives.
   Friday night was uneventful, everyone was so tired that we all turned in before 9 p.m. But Saterday became a bit more challenging.
We had planned on fixing all of the meals outside. Well hubby got a brilliant Idea that we needed to go into town for breakfeast( not that we objected or anything, but it did get him out of cooking at least one meal, LOL). As we tottled around town we noticed some rain clouds forming and decided we would head back to camp. We hadn't been back 5 minutes when it started to rain, and rain and rain... do you have the idea now that it was raining and hard... So know this meant sandwiches in the trailer.. done... still raining hours later... with the arrival of three more people to our campsite, where they had planned to pitch their tent... WRONG!!!  By this time there was 1 1/2 of rain running over the ground and continued to be told it is going to stop any minute now... 2 1/2 hours later about sundown it finally stopped and cleared after 5" total of rain in 8 hours... This picture captured the last of the daylight that we were able to enjoy. So another day of waiting for smores and swimming... Sunday was our lucky day. We were able to cook all the meals outside... yeahee us. Took  Mikes' folks to the swimming area and they both navigated to the water within about 45 minutes... but they did it. They were such good sports about it all. When they were ready to get out of the water and walked towards their chairs... several people there stood up and clapped for them. I just cried happy tears at that point.  I was pleasently suprised at how many people wanted to help treat My father in law when they saw his leg was bleeding.. we treated it and they sat in the sun to work on their tan.  As soon as we got back from swimming they were hungry. So we fixed the steaks, pototos and corn on the cob, it all turned out wonderful.. However my mother in law was getting so excited about finally getting to have a smores after all these years..Judy and I were busy making smores as fast as we could, they were a hit around the firepit.
So the short version of this  photo-heart connection is this picture captured the feeling of the trip as they are on the sunset of their lives, we feel so blessed to have be able to make some of their bucket list items come to pass and the colors of the sky reflects they beauty of it all.

Wow how time flies, its already time to do another Photo-Heart connection photo... April Showers bring May Flowers right? Rain has been scarce around these parts that has become one of the Best Four letter word in our vocabularies.  In the month of April received nearly and inch and were / are so grateful for it.  
Here in Rockport, we normally have a beautify Rockport contest... our council used some common sense and decided to not hold this contest as to not encourage additional watering for the contest.  I commend them for this action.
My little box garden is actually looking good after the rain and I wanted to catch the moment and share.

I continue to get so excited about participating in Kat's Photo-Heart Connection. This single picture has flashed in my head ever since I took it.. couldn't wait to write a post on how much this picture has touched my heart. I promised myself that I would take time to stop and enjoy something of nature  each and every day in 2013.  
When I stopped to watch this sunrise I was blessed with an additional "picture". As a boat went out to the bay, it left gentle  ripples coming my way. when the ripples hit the sea wall it headed back out all choppy like. At that very moment, I realized  what a beautiful summary of the ripple effect.
When waves of love go out to others they flow smoothly and reflect lots of light & harmony. When someone  puts up a wall of resistance to the love waves, it throws  everything out of harmony. The reflection of light and love just kind of dissipates. I hope all of us can experience ripple after ripple of love in both directions this year and every year.  Let us not be the one to be a wall. 
This pic is an unedited photo from my I-phone..
Kat thank you for giving us this opportunity to share with your community of photo takers and lovers

Dec 26, 2012...I made a conscious effort to take time to stop
and reflect on this holiday season and how special it was to me. I stopped here
at this pier and snapped this shot as the sun was rising.  I
took time to say thank you to God and the universe for all of my blessings known
and unknown as well.  I was able to
spend time with my family and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Everyone got along just great and everyone seemed like hey had a wonderful time.



Then I tried to envision what I wanted 2013 to look like and what  it would include. I realized that it was kind of like Michael Jacksons Song- Man
in the Mirror moment. Ways of the world would need to include my contributions
to it as well. I will need to be more active in my life to make these changes
happen. Things like recycling more, being aware of my Surroundings and to
replace what may be taken from them  unintentionally.
  We  had many acres of oak trees burned on some neighboring property, so during this
drought I took several bottles of water and watered the new baby oaks that were
popping up in hopes that they would have a better/stronger start.  Living
with more JOY will mean listening to more heart felt music to recharge and fill
my heart with JOY.
  WE cannot wish  for a better world if we do not first possess those ideals in our spirits and actions.  As we take this time to decide what 2013 will be to each of us,
remember we have to be willing to do the work within ourselves as well. 
So as I continue with Kat's PHOTO -HEART Connection for 2013... I wish for my pictures to capture the pure love and joy.

I know we all look forward to chosing the picture that touched our hearts each month... and Kat allows us to do this in such a loving enviroment.  With all of the rush to get things done before my thyroid surgery, I had made myself a promise to take pictures as I could.
This one captured my feelings so well. I did feel alone to some degree, as I pondered what might be in store for me. As this heron stands on the slippery rock, finding his footing, looking ahead and wondering what his/her next move would be. As I stood there watching him, he had turned and just stared at me for a while. He/She wasn't scared, just watching me as to say... you are not alone and we all have our waters to navigate to get the job done. After this exchange of understanding,  a peace unspoken rushed over me and calm replaced the unknown. I will always be greatful for this bird taking time to help me. Many say we need to always listen to the universe, well nature also has a way of teaching us a better way too.