I know I am a pretty strong minded person, with ideas of my own and opinions of my own. I am open to listening to what someone has to say when they offer an opinion or idea that differs from mine, but as I have grown older I have learned to use the phrase, “I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.” Usually the person on the receiving end of my line becomes frustrated with that response and will continue to argue, attempting to still sway me. I am not interested in being swayed and find it amusing that they are unable to accept that I don’t agree with them. I would not consider imposing something I feel strongly about on someone else just because they disagree with me, so why can’t they do the same? Having different outlooks and sharing them is part of what life is all about. If we all agreed on everything what a boring place this would be. My friends and people I spend time with for the most part share similar values as me, but we don’t necessarily agree with everything the other does. We do respect those differences and perhaps learn from them, allowing us to both to continue growing and even sometimes to agree to disagree.
Wordless Wednesday
Cee’s Share Your World
This week Cee asks:
A class you wish you would have taken?
I suppose it’s not really a class, but I have always wanted to take voice lessons. As I have gotten older my voice no longer sounds as it once did. I would love to learn to harmonize and learn to breathe properly when singing and hit all the notes I want to hit. In the meantime I sing in the car wherever I go with the windows rolled up- and love every minute of it!
What’s your favorite comic figure and why?
Snoopy and Woodstock from Peanuts.
Name something you wish you could like.
I think I like most things as I can’t think of something off hand right now. I don’t like Sushi, but I don’t want to like it- the idea of eating raw fish or rice wrapped in seaweed just doesn’t do it for me.
Tell me about your first crush / first date / first kiss.
First crush: David Fishman First grade. Wonder whatever happened to him, he moved away in 4th grade and the crush was forgotten by then.
First date: Can’t remember- I do remember dating someone the summer of 1972- I was 15.
First kiss? Don’t remember. First time I kissed someone who really mattered me to me I do remember- oddly enough I can remember where I was, who it was, and what I was wearing.
Who was your best friend when you were 10?
Lauri- she lived 2 houses up the block from me. We were best friends until we hit our teens and life changed and we grew apart. We reconnected on Facebook and have seen each other over the past few years.
What sign are you? Do you believe in astrology?
Capricorn. I can’t say I believe in it, but I do think there is some value to it and I find it interesting.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Grateful things in school worked themselves out somewhat and that I have the support of friends in school to get me through when the going gets tough.
A Photo a Week Challenge: Glowing
Travel theme: Fierce
This was photo was captured in the split second my cat Yofie, was yawning. She looks fierce, but in truth she was just tired.
Thursday’s Special: Clandestine
There are some words that I love, their sound, their meaning, the way the letters when put together roll off the tongue. Clandestine is one of those words. Its meaning: private or surreptitious: kept secret or done secretively. It conjures up for me unrequited love, or love that cannot be, where a couple must steal away to meet, words left unsaid because of the haste of the meeting. 
Join Paula’s Thursday’s Special-this week it is pick a word
Black & White Sunday: Layers
Finally Friday
It has been a crazy week- between my catching the germs being spread throughout the classroom despite washing my hands every 5 minutes, leading to my first cold of the season, to dealing with six year old meltdowns for a variety of reasons, some having to do with how the head teacher chooses to discipline, leading to my running interference in order to avoid those meltdowns, and going to bed too late because I wanted to wind down by watching some TV, then becoming engrossed in reunions of Real Housewives which made me totally forget any drama going on in my classroom. I do hope to catch up with all of you over the weekend and hope you will forgive my late replies to your comments!! See you soon!
Feathers on Friday-Red Winged Blackbird
Cornell Lab of Ornithology says: The Red-winged Blackbird is one of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored. A familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. In the North, their early arrival and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.
I love to hear their call as it means spring is here! They are beautiful birds, the females so different looking from the males.
Female
Feathers on Friday
The Weekly Smile
One of the boys in my first grade class has a mild case of Cerebral Palsy which makes holding a writing instrument difficult as his hands and fingers are not that strong. He always perseveres and never lets it him stop him. Today he handed me a sheet of paper with something drawn on it, saying “This is for you” with a big smile on his face. I asked who it was and he said “YOU!” and his smile got even bigger. And so did mine.
Black & White Sunday: Traces of the Past
A box of old photos I saw at a flea market. I wondered who the people were, what their lives had been like, and felt sad that they had ended up in a box for sale. My old photos will no doubt suffer the same fate, as there is no one to pass them on to, no interest in visiting with the past.
Daily Post: Hike
My husband and I love to hike- I’m not talking about climbing up rocks and taking unmarked trails through the mountains- I mean taking long walks, preferably on a paved trail as it winds through the woods, or through a park. The season doesn’t matter so much- we’ll go anytime of year. Once we walked through a county park which passes through many towns. It was a six mile walk one way. We thought we would take two cars and park one at each end, this way we wouldn’t have to walk a round trip of 12 miles. We both drove to one end to leave one car and then would drive together to the other end and take our hike. We pulled in to park the car and my husband said “let’s leave both cars here, we can do the round trip.” Ever the optimist, married to me the pessimist, I decided not to be the negative Nellie, thinking it would be too far a walk, I agreed. Off we went, with our lunch and water bottles, on a sunny day heading out on our hiking journey. We reached the 6 mile marker and sat down to eat lunch, at which point my husband said, “maybe we should have driven the car here.” Left with no choice but to make the trek back , putting one foot in front of the other albeit walking a bit more slowly now. His sciatica began to rear its ugly head so we sat and rested more than once. We did make it back, happy at the end we had done the whole 12 miles, and grateful to plant ourselves in our cars to drive home. 
Travel theme: Seasonal
Winter…
Spring…
Summer…
Fall….
Seasonal
Weekly Photo Challenge: Edge
A Photo a Week Challenge: Sunrise
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Isolated Subjects
Feathers on Friday-Mourning Dove
Cornell Ornithology says: A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying. Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America. You can see Mourning Doves nearly anywhere except the deep woods. Look for them in fields or patches of bare ground.
Feathers on Friday
One Word Photo Challenge: Cow
These two cows live in the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary in New York, rescued from an unpleasant situation and now happy on this farm
Some years back we visited a working dairy farm and saw the milking process. 
and I had the opportunity to meet Daisy
Wordless Wednesday
Two for Tuesday
I met these two Springer Spaniels the other day- Winston & Churchill and couldn’t resist taking their picture. 
Black & White Sunday: After and Before
This week Paula would like to see a photo taken in colour and then converted into black and white. The theme is “after and before” so the “after” photo comes first
Travel Theme: Transport
The Weekly Smile
While at a Crafts Fair this weekend I spotted a man and his dog. The man was eating and the dog was standing there, his face looking intense and intent, as if he were sending telepathic messages to the man to share whatever it was he was eating.
The dog began to smile as he must have known his messages were being transmitted and received
And then, what I did not capture with the camera, but did see with my eyes, was the man took a bite, and then shared half that bite with his dog.
And that made me smile.
Share your smile here
Feathers on Friday-The Great Egret
Smaller and more svelte than a Great Blue Heron, these are still large birds with impressive wingspans. They hunt in classic heron fashion, standing immobile or wading through wetlands to capture fish with a jab of their yellow bill. They are tall, long-legged wading birds with long, S-curved necks. In flight, the long neck is tucked in and the legs extend far beyond the tip of the short tail. All feathers on Great Egrets are white. Their bills are yellowish-orange, and the legs black. I see them often at our local pond, standing still, waiting patiently for their catch. Occasionally they will walk along the edge of the water, but most often they stand silently still. They are beautiful birds, and I find myself always in awe when they take flight- no matter how many times I have seen them taking off with their beautiful wing span.
A View From The Bridge
Last night we traveled from New Jersey to Long Island. While crossing the Throgs Neck Bridge I was taken in by the beauty of the sun beginning to set in the West. I only had my cell phone camera, but wanted to capture the moment. As always there was traffic on the bridge so we were traveling slowly enough for me to capture it. The bridge in the distance is the Whitestone, and there is an outline of the Manhattan skyline. 
A Day In The Life 
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