Luna Moth and Love

We have a beautiful luna moth that has been hanging around our front porch the last 3 days. I haven’t seen one for years, and it was a special sighting the first night it showed up.  It’s named a luna moth because it flies at night with the moon.

A luna moth emerges from its cocoon with not long for this earth. The average lifespan is a week .  They don’t have a mouth so they don’t eat during their short lifespan.  Their life goal is very simple — make love, the strongest of human emotions and reproduce.  They want to make sure there is another moth to perpetuate their existence.

The lesson learned from these beautiful winged creatures is to live and love to the fullest and enjoy every experience that gets thrown your way —  as the luna moth does.

Sightings of luna moths are rare and therefore many believe it’s a time for reflection.  It’s a good time to remind individuals to remove yourself from life’s petty problems.  Our lifetime is short so forget about what is stressing and concerning you and focus on being loving to others. (source: http://mothsymbolism.com/luna-moth-symbolism/)

 

The Ugly Duckling

When I first embarked upon the project of remodeling Annette Boxx’s house, I didn’t realize that I was reliving the Ugly Duckling story. I relate our progress of the remodel as transforming an Ugly Duckling into a Bea-utiful Swan not realizing how true to the original story the journey has been.

To refresh those who are not familiar with the original story, here is my interpretation, and only my interpretation as it relates to my situation.

The original story tells of a mother duck who hatches several eggs. One of the little birds hatched as a homely creature compared to his other siblings. He was ridiculed and taunted both verbally and physically – bullying at its best in the duck world! He wandered from barnyard to barnyard just trying to find a safe place to feel accepted. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find acceptance.

But the duckling is persistent and finds a flock of migrating swans for which he longs to join. He realizes because he is too young to fly, he cannot keep up with the Bea-utiful swans. He is taken in by a sympathetic farmer. But once again, he is not part of the clan of noisy children and others around him. He finds solitude his only recourse which is a lonely experience.

When winter finally thaws into spring, he sees a flock of swans descend upon the lake. While he hasn’t found acceptance among other ducklings, he longs to be like the Bea-utiful swans he sees on the lake. He decides that it is better to take his chances with these Bea-utiful birds than to continue to live a life of ugliness and solitude. Shocked, he finds himself taken in and accepted by these Bea-utiful birds and can feel accepted into the flock. As he gazes into the lake, he now sees himself transformed and feels the confidence, acceptance and freedom to fly with the rest of his new-found family. He, too, is now Bea-utiful and magnificent Swan.

How does this relate to our situation and project? Our Ugly Duckling house was also miserable and neglected. He couldn’t find anyone to help him and felt ostracized from the houses surrounding him. All around him, the other owners took pride in their homes and kept them neat and clean. This Ugly Duckling house was miserable, dirty and so different from the rest of the neighborhood.

He watched as new homes started building around him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anyone to help him keep up with the “Joneses”, so he continued to deteriorate and stay ugly. “Why should I care if everyone else is improving and Bea-utifying if I can’t get help”, he cried.

Until one day, he met a couple who were willing and able to transform the situation. Reluctantly, he conceded and believed these people would change the scenery. This allowed him to fly into another phase of his life. The couple had vision and wanted to transform this Ugly Duckling house into a Bea-utiful swan.

That’s basically where my husband and I are in our Ugly Duckling Project. We acquired the house in June 2016 and are making Bea-utiful changes. While we still have several stages left to complete, it is already “molting” its ugly feathers. It has been both a personal and emotional challenge, but we can see the progress and future. This Ugly Duckling house is transforming into a Bea-utiful swan – but like the bird, it takes time and nurturing.

Thank you for those following our own Ugly Duckling story. It has been time-consuming and physically demanding (for “old” baby boomers) but also rewarding and personally fulfilling. Bea positive that this little house – although started out as an Ugly Duckling – is becoming a Bea-utiful swan. Stay tuned . . .

Hope Springs Eternal

Hope Springs Eternal

 

While Easter 2015 was almost 10 days ago, I captured this Easter lily in my garden after a spring rain. It’s perfect and unopened with freshly fallen rain appearing like teardrops rolling down the bud. But instead of tears of mourning, these raindrops symbolize tears of joy for a beautiful bud which will soon fully blossom. The lovely Easter Lily symbolizes Life, Purity and HOPE.

Hope is a feeling of expectation, anticipation — an optimistic attitude of positive outcomes. While life can throw us unexpected curveballs, it’s important to never lose hope. Even when it seems impossible in the natural, God always has the last word. As St. Clement said,

“If you do not HOPE, you will not find what is beyond your HOPE.”

My wish for you is that these positive images, history and even mythology about the Easter Lily leave you with optimism and hope. What better time than the Easter Season to remind us that Jesus Christ offers us eternal HOPE!  We have a couple of lilies getting ready to bloom.  We will enjoy their beauty as well as the reminder to HOPE so that we will find what is beyond our HOPE.

• Often called the “White Robed Apostles of Hope”, lilies were discovered in the Garden of Gethsamane. According to tradition Lilies grew up where Jesus Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in His final hours of sorrow and distress. No wonder that during Easter, these lilies signify the resurrection of Jesus and HOPE for eternal life!!
• In early paintings, the Angel Gabriel offers the Virgin Mary pure white lilies announcing that she will be the mother of Jesus.
• St. Joseph is depicted in some paintings holding a lily to his virgin wife, Mary.
• Other paintings pictorialize saints bringing white lilies to Mary and Jesus after His birth.
• According to legend, the white lilies were formed when Eve cried repentant tears upon leaving the Garden of Eden – symbolizing that true repentance leads to beauty.
• Roman mythology links lilies to Juno, the queen of gods. While Juno was nursing her son, Hercules, excess milk fell from the skies. Part of the milk remained above the earth, forming a group of stars called the Milky Way. The remainder of the milk fell to the earth and sprung up as white lilies.

Always remember to Bea Positive and always remain full of HOPE!

Sources:

from http://extension-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/publications/lily/lily.html

“Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,” compiled by Ivor H Evans. Harper & Row, 1989, p. 663

Enjoy being unique!

“Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated.  When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”     ~ Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley 1925

I am sure that many of you have heard the phrase “no two snowflakes are alike”.  This was actually proven by Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley who was the first to photograph a single snow crystal, or snowflake.  He captured over 5000 snowflakes in his lifetime, not finding any two alike!

Do you know how snowflakes are formed?  Snowflakes form as snow crystals in the clouds when the temperature dips below the freezing point.  As the crystal drops through the cloud, it bumps and knocks others becoming a snowflake.  The more “bumping” the crystal goes through as well as a little melting and refreezing, the more complex and beautiful the snowflake becomes. 

People, like snowflakes, are one-of-kind, too.  We each have our own individual human fingerprint.  Throughout our lives, we experience trials – like “bumps” for the snow crystals – and tribulations – like temperature changes for the snow crystals.  These trials and tribulations are constantly melding – not melting – us into a beautiful, complex being and developing our unique gifts and talents.

Just think if “Snowflake” Bentley hadn’t shared his passion with us.  Nobody placed any value on his photographing snowflakes, but that didn’t stop him.  Many of us have conformed into a way of making a living that is practical without satisfying the needs of our hearts.  Don’t let practicality get in the way of being unique and enjoying your passions!

What is unique about you?  Don’t “melt away” like a snowflake . . . leave your record with us today!