In Gratitude: Photographs for You

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is Thanksgiving Week, and though we don't have a Thanksgiving Day in Czech Republic, I would still like to say a huge THANKS to all of you!

Thank you for joining me here at The View through My Lens, I'm posting five of my favorite photographs from this year, 2010. Please take and copy any or all of these to your own computers, and share them with your friends.

In Gratitude, these Photographs are Gifts for you ...

Sailing at St. Gilgen, Austria

Ribbons of Summer Grain, Czech Republic

Poppies, Czech Republic

The View of Mala Strana from Charles Bridge, Prague

Prague Castle and Charles Bridge

An easy way to do this is to hover your mouse over the image, and right click. You should have a list of options before you. Choose the option that says "save image as:" and click. Then select a spot on your computer where you would like to save it. One easy place to find your image is to save it to the "Desktop".

To make this image (or any other) your desktop photograph image, right click while you are looking at your computer desktop, and select "save as wallpaper". Or if you have a different operating system, choose desktop background, and select the file you want as the background photograph.

I am so thankful for my family, our friends, our health, our adventures, and for the ability to do what I love to do: write, capture beauty with a camera lens, paint, and connect with so many of you here. Thank you!

Starting the Conversation (leave a comment below): What is one thing you are most grateful for this Thanksgiving-time? And, do you have a favorite photo from these five (they're all quite different)?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dandelions Can Be People, too

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” –John Fitzgerald Kennedy

It’s dandelion season here in Prague. Yesterday, with the help of a long metal weed-puller, I dug hundreds of the yellow, thick-rooted weeds from a tiny area of our Prague backyard. (Good therapy, sometimes.) But, when I finished, hardly any grass remained. The section had been all weeds.

I feel like I’ve been digging weeds in other areas of my life, too. Sometimes Dandelions sneak into my life and take much more than they share or give, and I find myself feeling overwhelmed and off-balance.

I think people whose focus is on what they get and believe they deserve are like the Dandelions. Dandelions may look pretty from a distance for a time. But soon, the pretty yellow flower turns into fuzz. And under the surface, their roots sap the nutrients and water from other nearby desirable plants, and are almost impossible to pull. They live to take. Like the physical weeds in the yard, some people harbor deep feelings of entitlement—that they deserve much more than they are getting, and that what they have is never enough.

Dandelions feel cheated. Often.

Surely, we all feel like dandelions sometimes—like we aren’t getting what we need or deserve. And then we begin to take. People might tolerate the taking for a short time, while the weed is small. But no one really wants a dandelion around for long.

Instead, focusing on producing something beautiful, like a grateful and kind spirit—more like the elegant Tulip, this time of year—will help our dandelion tendencies to turn around. From Taker to Giver.

Weeds take. Flowers give.

I can’t think of a more noble cause today—to give and refresh another in this already-difficult journey of life. To discover gratitude instead of resentment, and to spread joy instead of frustration. To be a flower to someone we love.

Starting the conversation: Do you often feel cheated? Do you have ways you turn a frustration into a heart-felt gratitude, and are able to live it out? Find ways this week to show gratitude...

The Benefits of Snow

Never before has my world been so white. I look outside my window, and all I see is snow.

Snow on the balcony, even, a step beyond where I write. Sure, on a mountain pinnacle, overlooking the next ski trail to carve down a snow-covered mountain, I’ve experienced lots of snow. But the snow in Prague is different. For even though we have a deep blanket of snow now painting the world clean, ever-mysterious Prague is also shrouded with fog. It’s amazing, really. And in my mind, I continuously hear the great song by U2, "No Line on the Horizon", because of the fitting name for my white world. There truly is no horizon line.

A few days ago, the thought occurred to me that I love living in a place with distinct seasons. Without four dramatic changes, I feel as if I haven’t had a year. But winter—well, it’s easy to bemoan, but I think it also has a few great benefits.

I’m quickly learning that to “drive” through two feet of unplowed snow is remarkably similar to off-roading. Fun, sometimes.

In winter, we can hibernate. All the usual demands of daily life somehow fade into winter’s chill. And we can rest, if we let ourselves.

Winter transforms the normal into a magical world of fairy-dust snow and architectural hoarfrost.

We can be kids again: skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, ice skating, and countless hours making snowmen, snow forts, snow angels … winter brings an uncommon youthfulness, one I cherish.

Winter ushers in quiet time for reading by the fire, steaming coffee to warm hands and friendships, and soft blankets under which we can snuggle little ones.

Winter gives us time to catch our breath and reprioritize the pieces of life most important.

Oh—and winter is a perfect time to write. So while I cozy up with a latte, blanket, and laptop to write, I’m grateful for winter and the opportunities it brings … time to slow down and fill back up.

Enjoy the snow ... -Jennifer

Starting the conversation: What do you appreciate about winter?
(Leave your comment below by clicking on the word "comment".)