Blue Raspberry Sky

Vashon Island, WA  © Aine Maura, 2016 On Vashon Island there is a pier that is not well used.  There are warning signs plastered everywhere for non-use other than walking, but the pigeons have used it as an outhouse for so long, no one would ever sit on the built in benches. But the view is spectacular. I feel people seem like that sometimes.  They're a bit crusty on the outside.  They're cynical, they're angry, and they're irritable.  Things just aren't going their way.  Some are used as a waste disposal.  They feel stuck in place. But a human being's potential?  To me, that is the horizon.  Contrary to how we live our lives. we aren't a pier built to stare at beautiful vistas day after day.   I think we're constantly moving toward our potential, whether we ever reach it or not.  I think a person's worth is infinite...  timeless. If you're that crusty soul, take heart.  You don't have to stay that way. ...

© Aine Maura, 2016  I took this photo at the LDS Oakland Temple in California when my husband took myself and our 3 year old son there to celebrate our birthday (he was born on my 42nd birthday) in May 2016.  I love bees.  When I was young, not so much.  Their stingers hurt, and left me with welts on my skin. Funny how growing older can change your opinion of things.  When I had a nervous breakdown a few years ago, it was the bee that inspired me out of my depression.  Industry, thrift, harmonious activity within the home (hive)...  these values helped me realize I still had worth after the trauma of a breakdown. I think about how bees seek the beauty out.  They collect the nectar from gardens of beautiful buds, from trees, to plants, to flowers.  Then they return home to make something delicious and sweet out of the nectar they have collected.  Not only that, but their work to create actually benefits a ripple effect of many...