Take Time to Notice {December 7 and 8}

December 7...I can hear snickers from some of you when you notice that I still have a landline phone! The reason we have a landline is that our cell phone service is spotty in the neighborhood. Anyway, it's always a treat when the phone rings around 8:15 a.m. and it's my sister who lives in Philly calling as she's walking to work. The calls are a joy, lasting anywhere from 15-30 minutes. These morning chats make life a little more bearable...

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December 8...This evening's light show is brought to you by colorful Christmas lights and a magnificent sunset!

Take Time to Notice {December 6}

December 6...This is one of my Christmas treasures. Just a few years ago (I'm not going to tell you what a few is!), my dad was in the Army and stationed in Germany. I was born in Germany. My parents bought this hand carved creche for 39.50 Deutsche marks. I was curious how much this would cost in today's US dollars and the conversion came to slightly under $22.00 I can only imagine what it cost those "few" years ago...It is priceless to me.

Take Time to Notice {December 4 and 5}

December 4...Lincoln Park Commons now sparkles with Kettering's Christmas lights!

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December 5...Ice cream cone ornaments from the kids' preschool days. I can't believe they haven't disintegrated after all these years!

Take Time to Notice {December 3}

December 3...These guys are part of my Santa Claus collection. There are 6 in total...one for each member of my family. A couple years ago, the Santas were on a shelf, eye level with a little puppy named Bernie. Of course Santa looked like a toy and Bernie snagged him off the shelf to play with him, hence the teeth marks in the middle one! At first I was upset with the teeth marks in Santa, but now it's a sweet memory ~

Take Time to Notice {December 1 and 2}

A lot of my Facebook friends posted daily gratitudes during the month of November, with Thanksgiving as their focus for being grateful. 

Now that Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is in full swing, it is easy to get overwhelmed with what needs to be done, where we need to go, shopping, baking, parties, Christmas cards, getting the house ready for guests, and so on, and so on...

I am making it a point to notice things each day during December that bring a smile to my face and let me catch my breath during this magical but exhausting season. And I want to write again...

December 1…My Christmas tree is a collection of memories: ornaments the kids made when they were little, ornaments hubs and I bought when we were first married, ornaments handed down form parents, and some new sparkly ornaments that celebrate the present. The tree topper is a mitten that my dad wore as a little boy during the brutal Chicago winters. And hanging from the thumb is a Cincinnati Bengals helmet. Dad was a Bengals fan and I’m sure he is smiling at the successful season they’re having. The Cleveland Browns are also represented for my loyal Browns fans, and maybe someday that Christmas miracle (or any miracle) will happen and they will have a decent team! Here’s to a month of twinkling lights and happy memories ~

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December 2...This, my friends, is how Dayton, Ohio does Christmas! Last night was the inaugural lighting of this 200 foot tree made up of 20,000 lights. It is the largest tree of lights in Ohio! While it was breathtaking to be up close at Carillon Park, it was also fun to drive around town view the tree from different vantage points. Merry Christmas!

September 27, 2015

September 27, 2015...what a celestial event!

The Super Moon-lunar eclipse-blood moon brought the neighborhood out to watch the night sky. People sat on their front porches and on blankets in their front yards; I sat on the curb in front of my mailbox to get the optimum view.

I love the night sky and especially moon watching. The Space Age began in my lifetime, 1957 (the year of my birth) with Sputnik. The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions were the explorations of the '60s. John Glenn, an Ohioan, was the first man to orbit the earth in 1962, and then Neil Armstrong, an astronaut from Wapakoneta, Ohio (just an hour up the road on I-75) walked on the moon in 1969. The space shuttles took the place of the rockets leading to a different kind of space exploration. And then there's the hometown pride...Orville and Wilbur Wright...the two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, who flew the first airplane over the sands of Kill Devils Hill, North Carolina.

This moon and the eclipse and the colors were spectacular. Bright white to gradual darkness to coppery red. And this won't happen again until 2033. I took some photos with my little Nikon Coolpix but they don't do justice to what was happening in the sky.

"I've never seen a moon in the sky that, if it didn't take my breath away, at least misplaced it for a moment." ~ Colin Farrell 

Point of View...