Still Friends After All These Years

“To get the full value of joy you must find someone to divide it with.” ~ Mark Twain

“Friendship arises out of mere companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden).

The typical expression of opening friendship would be something like, What? You too? I thought I was the only one!

… It is when two such persons discover one another, when, whether with immense difficulties and semi-articulate fumblings or with what would seem to us amazing and elliptical speed, they share their vision – it is then that friendship is born.

And instantly they stand together …

in an immense solitude.” ~ C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves”

“You are still my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”

~ Charlotte, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

“How we need another soul to cling to.” ~ Sylvia Plath

This is my entry for the Weekly Photo Challenge. The theme is “friend”. I chose to interpret it in a metaphoric manner. To encapsulate that word in one photo would be impossible for me. Where do I begin??

So this post is in honor of my own wonderful world of life-long friends; who’ve clung to my soul, despite all my quirks and failures, good times and trying times. Thank you. I love you. You are life’s greatest gifts.
Peace,
Alexandria

Credit to Stephanie Goddard for the first photo. Capturing these four friends mid-air with such clarity is a photographer’s dream. And Stephanie does it so well. How well I remember jumping off these very cliffs in my own life with friends such as these. For more of Stephanie’s fine work visit White Horse Photography You will not be disappointed.

ShadowLands

Moon Shadows Moon Shadows

“Shadow is the obstruction of light. Shadows appear to me to be of supreme importance in perspective,

Sun Shadows

because, without them opaque and solid bodies will be ill-defined;

Cinderella Shadows

That which is contained within their outlines and their boundaries themselves

Snow Shadows

will be ill-understood unless they are shown against a background

Long Shadows

of a different tone from themselves.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Shadow Friends

“Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine

Tree Shadow

“The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.” ~ Michelangelo

Me Shadow 🙂

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows fall behind you.” ~ Walt Whitman

Peace,
Alexandria

This is my contribution to the Weekly Photo Challenge theme of “Shadow”. I hope you enjoyed. 🙂 Click here for more interpretations.

3 Comments

by Alexandria Sage on February 14, 2017 • Permalink

Posted in Enjoy Life

Tagged enjoy life, photo essay, photography, quotes, sunrise photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

Posted by Alexandria Sage on February 14, 2017

https://simplysage.org/2017/02/14/shadowlands-2/

The Green-Eyed Ninja

He came right to my door, yes he did.

As he circled, I froze at such weaponry! Was I friend or foe?

Before I could speak the eyes stared me down. Green eyes! Green eyes staring at me! And he reached for his swords.

Again, I froze. What next!! What was to become of me!

Swashbuckling about, I knew something about him was familiar. Those green eyes…those deep, green eyes.

Staring at me. And at last my mind cleared with recognition!

photo credit: Emily K. Morgan (emilykmorgan.com)

I’d know those green eyes anywhere!

photo credit: Chris Lymberis

I just never knew he was the mysterious warrior known as the Green-Eyed Ninja!

This Weekly Photo Challenge theme this week is “Transmogrify”. I’d never heard this word before. It means to “change in appearance or form, especially strangely or magically; transform.”. So I chose these photos of the dashing Green-Eyed Ninja that showed up at my doorstep last year. And little did I know my grandson was a super-hero by night!

I thought it fit the theme well. And yes, indeed, he does have beautiful deep green eyes! 🙂

Happy Halloween!
Alexandria

photo credit: Emily K. Morgan (emilykmorgan.com)

This week’s post features two photos by Emily K. Morgan; the two with my grandson in the bow tie. Emily is a photographer from Los Angeles and is known for exceptional creativity as well as technical skills. She captures her subjects beautifully but also captures the emotion and energy of every event. Her wedding photography is absolutely stunning and I hope to share more of her work on future posts. I highly recommend you look at her portfolio at emilykmorgan.com

9 Comments

by Alexandria Sage on October 30, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Just For Fun

Tagged Children, family, photo essay, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

Posted by Alexandria Sage on October 30, 2016

https://simplysage.org/2016/10/30/the-green-eyed-ninja/

My Local Artist

This week I’m featuring the photography of my favorite local photographer.
(Be sure to turn up your screen brightness for these.)

His chosen profession is law enforcement. He’s one of those gems—giving out more warnings than tickets, soft-spoken, oh-so-witty, and just plain smart. But there’s a little known fact about this tough-looking officer.

He’s a natural born artist.

Star Blanket img_7352

The story goes that at age two, he drew a detailed sketch of a train that was shockingly accurate. It’s true. I’ve seen the picture.

In school, he didn’t exactly draw. Or color. He “sketched”. He turned down crayons and insisted on colored pencils and by fifth grade started a new trend. According to his art teacher, all the kids wanted colored pencils! They thought if they had colored pencils they could “sketch” like him!

Thinking he was headed for a career in art, in middle school he took up the piano. (By now, I think you know this police officer-artist is none other than my son.) 🙂

Until I could find a piano teacher I quickly gave him a “Pattern Piano” DVD instruction set. He watched a bit and I distinctly remember his voice, “I think I got this figured out.” And off he ran to the piano.

It seemed in no time, he was playing beautifully, without lessons. I’m not sure he ever finished the DVD’s. He still plays to this day; and it’s lovely.

Then he did the same with guitar, as well as singing and harmonizing. No joke.

He took up photography in high school and was off taking pictures of everything, finding the beauty in the small and unnoticed.

And this week he upgraded his camera—big-time I’d say!—and has been out and about, capturing the local countryside. These are some of the results and I will let you be the judge. But I think they are stunning. Click on each one for a fuller view. It’s definitely worth it!

I know it sounds like I’m exaggerating but I’m truly not. Just ask his sisters! All full of sugar and spice, they are pure sweetness. They’re smart and artistic, too, but they admit, without hesitation, their brother’s artistic gifts confound them. Of course, they’re not shy about telling anyone either!

This is my contribution to the Weekly Photo Challenge with the theme “Local“, featuring the photography of my own local artist, my dear son. I’m glad he’s out taking pictures because my life’s been a bit full as of late. He might fill in for me a bit but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. At all! 🙂

Peace,
Alexandria

6 Comments

by Alexandria Sage on October 16, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Enjoy Life

Tagged nature photography, photo essay, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

Posted by Alexandria Sage on October 16, 2016

https://simplysage.org/2016/10/16/my-local-artist/

Lost in the Details

“Wherever you are, be all there.” ~ Jim Elliot

Life is made of a myriad of moments, a multitude of details. It’s so easy to be overwhelmed with all the big stuff of life that we overlook the fine-tuned details that surround us. I’m sharing a few little details I captured, most of which I walk past everyday.

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” ~ William Morris

I’m glad these things vie for my attention because they have a way of actually getting it, catching my eye, making me stop … and take a moment.

“After all, it is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life.” ~ Evelyn Underhill

“All the details of life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid out for us, but the mystery of their writing remains.No amount of documentation, however fascinating, can take us there.” ~V.S. Naipaul

1-DSC_0100

Whatever moment you are in today, whether joy or pain—never dismiss the moment, the detail of your very place. When you think about it, the only moment that truly exists is the one you are in right now. So stop and hold onto it for a moment.

Some moments are times to embrace and absorb joy. For the difficult moments we need to receive love from sane, safe friends and family. It’s okay to not always be the giver or to have all the answers or to have everything together.

Cherish the good moments, learn from the difficult. I found the following drawing and thought it details the true reality of life. May it bring a smile to your face as it did mine.