You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.
~ James M. Barrie
I spent some time on the dock yesterday, face up to the sun to soak in the warmth and light and hopefully manufacture a little Vitamin D. A Bald Eagle flew overhead, whistling occasionally. He was probably looking for a break in the ice and a meal, but I imagine he was happy in the sunlight, too. I have no photos of him to show you. I was joyfully being in the moment rather than trying to capture and save it.
Later, when I had communed enough with the sun, I took the time to look down at the layer of ice covering the creek. The ice patterns are new to me. I don’t know if it’s the salt or something else in the water that causes the large crystals. Whatever it is, it’s different from what I grew to know when I lived in the Bogs of Ohio. It is very beautiful, and mesmerizing when the sun starts bouncing around on the surface.
If you commented on my post about The Beauty Experiment, and if you subscribed to the comments, you already know this next bit so feel free to skip on down to the next part of this mish-mash of a post. Yesterday, someone from Diamond-Cut Life stopped by to let me know that Alison is doing a book giveaway of The Beauty Experiment. Stop by the blog for details if you’re interested in reading the book. The drawing is today so this announcement may already be too late. I’ll go ahead and post early today in hopes those who are interested will have a chance at the giveaway.
M was out on business yesterday evening, and I got to thinking about my mother. In times past, I used to call Mom on the occasional evenings when M was not at home for whatever reason he was not at home. I would gather my cigarettes, lighter and ashtray, and perhaps a beer. Mom would gather her cigarettes, lighter and ashtray, and perhaps a beer. And we’d settle in for a long conversation of this, that, and the other thing. Mom would catch me up on the latest family news and gossip. I would catch Mom up on the doings and beings of me and my family such as how the kids were doing, what was going on at work or play or life in general. Sometimes we’d chat about religion or politics or nothing in particular.
The cigarettes, of course, were not a good idea. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that my mother died of small-cell lung cancer in September of 2009. I still miss her very much, but I also still talk to her. I chatted with her last night, in my heart rather than on the telephone, to get her caught up on the doings and beings. I was reminded that I didn’t do my usual yearly celebration of my smoberversary. For those that don’t know (and most don’t), a smoberversary is the anniversary of the day one quits smoking. I quit on January 19, 2001.
My yearly celebration usually includes a blog post with my current stats and a long list of the Joys of Quitting. If you’d like to read about my Joys of Quitting, you can find the last list I posted here (that link will take you to my old blog, Life in the Bogs). My current stats are somewhat impressive:
Time smoke-free: 4,760 days
Cigarettes NOT smoked: (This is gross) 285,588
Life saved: 72 months, 21 days, 13 hours
Money not spent on cigarettes: $71,385.00
Sunrise this morning was lovely. It was frosty and cold, but warm at the same time.
The shape of the frost has changed. Instead of resembling small trees, it now has a curly, feathery appearance.
I guess that’s it from the Wabi-Sabi Ranch on this beautiful Friday. The temperature is climbing, and we’ll be in the 50’s over the weekend. The ten-day forecast is a series of ups and downs, warming and cooling, sun, snow, and rain.
Thank you for stopping by. I hope your Friday has been filled with warmth and sweetness.
Be good, be kind, be loving. Just Be. 🙂
breezes at dawn 
This is almost freakish. Not the photos but the quote. It’s the exact same one I used for my blog today before I saw your blog. I wonder if it being the last day of January influenced you as it did me. Or is it that great brains think alike?
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That IS freakish, Pat. I fall on the side of “great brains think alike.” 😀
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Holy Crap!!! and Congratulations!!! That is gross and wowwie zowwie that is a lot of moulah!! Do you keep that aside? (that’s probably not a polite question)
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Thank you, Elisa. 🙂 It is all of those things. Nah, I didn’t keep it aside. I wish I had. I’d like to donate some of that to some local charities. I rewarded myself frequently during the first year of my quit, and after that, the money just seemed to go towards other things without a thought.
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Such beautiful pictures Robin. I am wishing I could go out for a little sun but the wind is a bit icy. The temps have risen a bit though so at least we can go out for a bit of fresh air. And the kids of course love playing in the snow 🙂
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Thank you, Colline. 🙂
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Thank you for sharing the story. Glad you quit it! Love the sunrising image.
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You’re welcome, Amy. And thank you. 🙂
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I’m glad you quit. And I’m really sorry about your Mom. I know you visit her often in your heart and I know that isn’t enough, but still…it’s nice to know she is still close by. LOVE the feathery frost. Could look at that one for a very long time. Glad you got some sun too. We are warmer today…but expecting 12 inches of snow tonight. So it continues…
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Thank you, Dawn. 🙂 Another 12 inches? Wow! We’re going to get a lot of rain here. Maybe some ice on Monday. I’d rather have snow, but I don’t have to drive in it so that’s easy for me to say.
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I quit smoking in October 2006. I don’t remember what day it was. It followed a weekend in the hospital caused by what I now know was an anxiety attack, although the doctors didn’t diagnose that. Scared me enough to know life was a treasure and smoking didn’t extend that life.
Sent from my iPad
>
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Good for you, Carol! I had a scare like that many years ago (in the last 1980’s). I quit for about three days before I got over the scare and went back to smoking. It took me longer to learn I should treasure life.
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My partner quit smoking years ago too, Robin, I asked him how he did it, no aids at all, he just told himself, not today, and today has become years. I wonder where the saved money went? 🙂
and
I used to speak to my Mom, over the phone, as she lived across the Sea In Ireland, I never visited for so many reasons, but to hear her voice over the phone, just talking about anything and everything it was as if she was there sitting beside me. Your blog has made me smile, have moist eyes and given me sweet memories too. Wishing you a great weekend xPenx
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Thank you, Pen. Wishing you a great weekend, too. 🙂 I didn’t visit my mother very often, either. Seems like we’ve always lived at least an 8 hour drive (sometimes up to 15 hours) away. I was fortunate, though, that the year before Mom was diagnosed with cancer we were living only an hour away, and I went to visit once a month. I’m so glad I had that year. During one of my visits, Mom said, “I feel like I just got my oldest daughter back.” Well. Now my eyes are moist because of sweet memories.
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Wow, those are some really cool pictures! I especially like “feathery frost”.
So glad you were able to quit smoking. I never smoked a cigarette in my life (not counting second-hand smoke) but both my parents did. My dad was able to quit cold turkey, my mother tried to quit several times and was never able to.
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It’s a tough addiction, Michaela. My father quit cold turkey many, many years ago. (I quit cold turkey, too). My mother was never able to do it.
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You did it cold turkey!!! That’s very impressive! So proud of you Robin! 🙂
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Great photos. I love the feathery frost.
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Thank you, Libby. 🙂
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A very interesting mish-mash of a post. I like your editing of the frost photos. January was so bitter cold around here that I never went outside for photo-taking – or at least that is what I am telling myself for my distinct lack of photo inspiration as of late. 13 smoke-free years! Good for you. I decided as a child that I would never smoke because my mother did and I thought it was gross back then. I never wanted to do it when she’d ask me to fetch her cigarettes for her. Thankfully she quit a long time ago.
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Thank you, Karma. 🙂
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I read somewhere that after 7 years, your lungs are stronger than if you’d never smoked. Lovely frost!
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Thank you, Tammy. 🙂 I like that thought.
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Robin — Your photos are beautiful. My favorite is “Making Tracks” but I love the feathery frost one too. Many congrats on your smoberversary!
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Thank you, BATR. 🙂 Good to see you back. I’ll be around to catch up with you soon.
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Robin, I have tears in my eyes, thinking of the day when I’ll be talking silently with my mom instead of on the phone. Also thinking about she and I always pour a glass of wine at 4:30 when we’re together and talk about so many things. Congratulations on quitting smoking. That is an amazing success! Barry quit 2 1/2 years ago and I’m proud of him too.
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Thank you, Kathy. And congratulations to Barry! Quitting smoking is tough. 🙂 Sorry to have made you teary-eyed. I am sad that my mother can’t be on the other end of the phone with me anymore, but happy she is still in my heart. 🙂
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Oh, Robin…. wonderful!!!!…amazing photos of ice and frost…some of my very favorite photos! And that frost does have a look of feathers…or maybe ferns??? (I still love the ice photos from the bogs…especially the photos of the ice that looked like toes!) What a blessing that you quit smoking… hopefully a very long, happy and creative life of appreciation of the stunning beauty around you, and sharing it with the rest of us…thank you…
I’m sure your mom’s heart would be/is filled with happiness to see your deep appreciation of the life and beauty around you.
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Thank you, Kathy (PP). 🙂 Ferns describes the frost well. I’d almost forgotten about the ice that looks like toes! I’ll have to see if I can find it for a reprise. 😀
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What lovely photos of the ice, Robin. How beautiful the way they shine with so many colors, depending on the light. Winter has been so lovely around your new home. What new wonders will spring unfold? Best wishes, WG
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Thank you, WG. I’m looking forward to spring, and all the discoveries to be made. 🙂
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$71,385 saved by quitting smoking – wow! My husband told me this morning that CVS stores will no longer be selling cigarettes or tobacco related products starting October 1. Good for them! And congratulations to you on your successful step towards healthier living! Tim quit cold turkey in 1980. What we learned from his chain smoking brother’s recent death is that smoking is the #1 risk factor for bladder cancer, too.
Absorbing the Vitamin D from the sun is wonderfully energizing, isn’t it?
LOVE all the blue ice crystals – blue is my favorite color and these pictures are dazzling!
I spend time talking to my mother, too, especially on the anniversary of her death. hugs It’s nice to know you do the same. After she died, it took me a long time to stop picking up the phone to call her whenever I had something new to tell her.
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I saw that in the news, Barbara (about CVS). Good for them! I also know about smoking and bladder cancer. One of the people in my online quit smoking support group had bladder cancer. He was lucky in that they caught it early, and he’s a survivor.
And yes! It feels wonderful to be in the sun. Much better than taking a supplement. 🙂
Oddly enough, I still occasionally go to pick up the phone and call my mother. It seems like it should have been long enough by now that the habit should have faded away. It happens when I’m excited about something.
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Congratulations on your smoberversary, Robin. (I quit dairy on January 19th, too, but 2010 instead of 2001.)
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