A Road Well Travelled.............

Mustard in Madonna Vineyards

Come up the road towards home with me today.......it's my favorite time of a rainy day when grey sky meets sunset............

My road on the way home, and the road ahead..............both scenes in the recent movie "Bottle Shock"......so familiar to me........
Almost to the creek and the bridge...............

Huichica Creek........Little Ground Owl in the Indian Language.....

Looking up the hill towards home...........

The small barn on the way.........

The Pond..........where on a summer night the only sound is a bull frogs croak........

Home.....nearby the Pompeii garden sleeps...........



The side yards and beyond...........

A Promise in my backyard..........

Sunset at last.........then to travel the road again tomorrow.....with each day a different look..........

Love Tokens

(One World One Heart Giveaway two posts below)

OK.........I am a reluctant romantic.........so why have I already posted two Valentine posts, with a circus knockdown post in between, because I can't ever be too mushy or serious. And now, yet another piece in reference to Valentine's Day.....why......because I find the concept of a love token being something other than the usual card, or flowers interesting, and a challenge. A love token can be anything that has significance to you, and your beloved.

Before cards and flowers, traditionally love tokens were coins that had one side, or both sides smoothed down and engraved with initials, names, phrases and/or scenes. These were often given to young ladies as “tokens of love” by suitors. This practice seemed to have started in England, as early as the fifteenth century.

There are even Love Token Societies today that collect these engraved coins............

But did you know that down through the ages, these tokens below were also given to show one's love and affection..................

These needlework peas woven into fabric, or painted .........to symbolize closeness

Flower holders turned into jewelry, as a reminder of the everlasting beauty of the beloved long after the flowers had wilted away.

An anchor love token necklace.........a sailors way of saying you are mine.....I'm sunk. A fan, a token that communicated the silent language of love........... A dropped fan, was a signal that a lady was interested in the man who retrieved it for her. Rapid fanning indicated great interest, but if she rested it on her lips, she was indicating lack of trust.

A quilt made with love and given as a token of the promise of warmth, and comfort............

I see fun on the horizon. Showing your affection for a certain person , or persons with a token of love can really be anything. I wonder what might be perceived as a most interesting token of affection. You could hold that distinctive honor with a little bit of cleverness.............and imagination. I know what token I gave my then boyfriend, and now husband for our first Valentine's Day celebration. I know he remembers it too.............he still has it tucked away!

Love From of All the Places................You Would Never Expect.....

(Please note One World One Heart Giveaway offering is prior to this post.)

There is photography of life in the moment, and then there is photography in a meditative, still state. Beautiful female figures hint of our collective desire that death be not mere death.................not mourned, but celebrated by beauty.

These female forms are idealized and symbolic for the aspiration for eternal life, not the finality of death. The more beautiful they are the more vigorous life after death will be and the more certain we are of immortality.

In most artistic traditions the ability to master the female figure is what most defines artistic talent.

Those in the Romantic era of the nineteenth century were infatuated with death, for them is was the focus of extreme emotion, and the ultimate expression of love. They felt that to die loving, or loved was better than life itself. Death came to inspire not in horror or fright, but love and desire, so in a way I guess you could say these are images for love and Valentines.

Left wondering.....................