Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Share Your World
What caring thing are you going to do for yourself today?
Last night I went for a massage. My husband and I have found a wonderful local place that is really inexpensive, no frills but very clean, where you can get a great massage.
List at least five of your favorite spices? (excluding salt and pepper)
I love Cinnamon and Turmeric and have it in my tea every night, and use cinnamon on my yogurt every morning. I Nutmeg, Rosemary and Ginger would be my other favorites.
What can you always be found with?
My cell phone.
What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?
The many stories of kindness I read or heard on the news.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Thursday’s Special
“They say there is no light without dark, no good without evil, no male without female, no right without wrong. That nothing can exist if it’s direct opposite does not also exist.”
― Laurell K. Hamilton, Incubus Dreams
City buildings crowd out the light leaving the street in partial darkness
Twilight in the country, the sky still light, a farm dark
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Nurturing Thursday
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
I grew up during a time when Bald Eagles were extinct. Seeing these majestic birds now as an adult after they have made a “come back” thanks to the pesticide DDT no longer being in use, I am always awe struck.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The letter R
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
This photo was not altered using any filters- these colors were actual. I don’t think I had ever seen a sunset like this before, and haven’t since!
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Greetings From Asbury Park
It may be December, but I am always ready to head “down the shore” as we say here in New Jersey, and visit the beach. Monday we headed to Asbury Park, the place that Bruce Springsteen put on the map in 1972 with the release of his first studio album. The town had fallen on hard times years ago, but lately is coming back to life, as was apparent as we walked the main street in town. The temps hit 52 by afternoon and I found myself removing the scarf and gloves I had needed in the morning. What a treat!
Tillie, the famous amusement park “fun face” painted on the side of the Palace Amusements building in Asbury Park in 1955, is an icon for the area. Santa Tillie was in evidence around town given the time of year.
After stopping in the many shops, we headed for the boardwalk and the ocean. Yes, the beach is my happy place.
A woman walking by insisted on taking a photo of me and my husband, she said she has made it her “job” to do so everyday she is out walking and sees someone with a camera. How nice is that?
We passed a pinball arcade on the boardwalk that not only is a place to play pinball, but has a museum of old pinball machines. We took a walk through, seeing how much the machines have changed over the years. I was a Pac Man fanatic back in the late 1970’s, and was happy to see the machine included in the collection.
The ocean was calm, almost like a lake, with hardly any waves. Beautiful to visit, as always. A mini vacation for a day, close to home but feeling so far away.
Nurturing Thursday
Thursday’s Special: Tradition
Two of my great nieces and one great nephew have gotten married within the last 3 months, so weddings have been on my mind. One of the traditions at the weddings is the Badeken, -(Yiddish: באַדעקן badekn, lit. covering), which is the traditional ceremony where the groom veils the bride before the wedding takes place under the Chupah. (the wedding canopy)
Customarily, the bride and groom are in separate rooms as their wedding festivities begin. The groom celebrates with the male guests, and the bride is seated on a fancy chair, surrounded by the female guests, with her mother and the mother of the groom immediately on either side. Just prior to the actual wedding ceremony, the men encircle the groom and, singing and dancing, escort him to his bride, where he covers the bride’s face with a veil. If the bride and groom have maintained the custom of not seeing one another the week prior to the wedding, this will be the first time they have seen each other, so there is much excitement in the air. The groom is escorted to the badeken by his father and father-in-law (or whomever will be escorting him to the chupah). The groom approaches the bride and lowers a veil over her face in preparation for the upcoming ceremony under the Chupah. After the groom veils the bride, the fathers and grandfathers of the bride and groom approach the bride and bless her. The groom’s entourage then retreats from the room. The groom then departs, surrounded again by the male guests, who are singing and dancing all the while. The wedding ceremony begins shortly thereafter, under the chupah. The bride wears this veil until the conclusion of the chupah ceremony.
There are two commonly cited origins for the badeken. One is the matriarch Rivkah, who covered herself with a veil when she first approached the tent of her intended husband, Isaac. In so doing she signified that she was setting herself aside for him. Since then, the veil has been taken to represent modesty. The other source for the veiling ceremony is the story of Jacob, who was tricked into marrying Leah, the sister of his intended wife, because she was covered during the wedding. He did not confirm the identity of the woman he wed until after the marriage rites were performed, and had to wait, and work, for seven years before he was permitted to marry the woman he had meant to – Rachel. By covering his bride with a veil, a groom ascertains her identity, and confirms that he is marrying the woman of his heart’s desire.
Waiting for the groom
He arrives!
The bride’s grandfather giving her a blessing
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Wordless Wednesday
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Square Skies in December
Becky at The Life of B has gone square again for the month of December. Her daily photo challenge – a square photograph, and the theme is sky.
Thursday’s Special: Sequence
This week Paula’s theme for Thursday’s Special is Sequence.
I took an early morning walk Sunday, the day after the first snowfall of the winter. The minute I saw these trees I thought of Paula’s theme, as they were all lined up in sequence. I walk this block very often and have never noticed them before- must have been the snow on the branches and the sun rising behind them that made them jump out at me this time.
A Day In The Life 
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