25 May 2007 9:20 PM

*LET'S GET TOGETHER*
     
Love is but a song we sing
Fear a way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or hear the angels cry
Though the dove is on the wing
You need not know why

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

Some will come and some will go
We shall surely pass
When the wind that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment's sunlight
Fading on the grass

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

If you hear the song I'm singing
You will understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
One key unlocks them both you know
It's at your command

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

            ...written by Chet Powers

*PLEASE NOTE: Just so there isn't any confusion, the rose is a photograph and not one of my paintings

Add Comment   |   View Comments (8)

23 May 2007 4:40 AM

Over the years, I have heard/read complaints from people worldwide that dislike Americans...some valid and some not. But I had never experienced it "face to face" until i arrived online 7 months ago. At first, the comments hurt personally, but then I realized that our flaws here in America (and, yes, i admit we have some big ones) are only a small portion of who we are. So this blog's purpose is to remind us all of the GOODNESS our countries are about that far outweigh our flaws. I welcome you to comment on WHAT YOU LOVE BEST about your own country too! We'd love to hear!

America...
"I love America because we are a compassionate land. If there is an earthquake in India or Turkey, Americans are the first there with the most aid (i'm sorry if this sounds boastful...its only due to the fact that we are able and willing). If there is a typhoon in the Philippines, Americans are there first to render aid. If there is a famine in Afghanistan, even as we bombed that land in response to the terrorist attacks, we were also flying in food to the starving. Even before the war started, America gave more aid to Afghanistan than did any other nation. If there is a drought in Africa, floods in Central America, poverty in Haiti or Somalia, or ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, America and Americans are there to help.

We are a haven for asylum seekers from all over the world. Millions of immigrants apply every year to enter our land. Once they become citizens, these immigrants, regardless of where they come from, are four times as likely to become millionaires as are those who are born here. In short, they take advantage of the opportunities America offers. I love America because it's not where you start that counts.

...I love America because of people like Oprah Winfrey, who was born to a single mother, raised in poverty in Mississippi, sexually abused by relatives, gave birth as a young girl, and overcame all of these things to positively influence people all over the world. Mary Kay Ash started her great company on a shoestring and built it on the philosophy that God comes first, family second, and Mary Kay Cosmetics third in the lives of her representatives. Her pink Cadillacs, won by literally thousands of her directors all over the world, are shining lights of opportunity... These two women have enriched the lives of millions of people and been responsible for billions of dollars in our economy.

I love America because we are a nation of laws.

I love America because a black lady, Rosa Parks, refused to leave her seat in the front of a bus and move to the back with the simple statement, "My feet hurt." As a result, the boycott in Montgomery, Alabama was on and Martin Luther King's crusade for civil rights caught fire. When Rosa Parks refused to stand up and move back, an entire people stood up and moved forward and that's America....

...Most of all, I love America because of the freedom she offers. This is not to say that America is perfect. But of all the nations on the face of this earth, this is the one that offers the most opportunity to those who are willing to obey the laws, go to work, and do their best.

Yes, I love America because I can tell a thousand stories of men and women of every race, creed, and color, with every physical handicap you can possibly imagine who have taken the resources they had and, because of their faith, friends, families, and freedom, have accomplished great things and made a difference in the lives of countless other people. Yes, I love America because it truly is the "land of the free and the home of the brave," the land where any man or woman has an opportunity to do great things, and most of all to enjoy the privilege of freedom..."

...quote in part (in quotations) from Zig Ziglar's Life Lifters...but my thoughts completely

PLEASE NOTE: ALL OF TALULA'S (aka Sukilou) FOUL-MOUTHED COMMENTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY OVERFIFTIES ADMINISTRATION. SO YOU WILL SEE 3 CONSECUTIVE REPLIES FROM ANNA TO HER REGARDING MY PAINTINGS AS BEING AUTHENTIC BUT YOU WILL NOT SEE HER COMMENTS. SO IT WILL APPEAR THAT I AM TALKING OF MY PAINTINGS OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE. I IGNORED ALL OF HER OTHER MANY COMMENTS. SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION.

Add Comment   |   View Comments (39)

2 Apr 2007 11:43 AM

This is a painting I did plein-air of an endangered Tobacco Farm near where i live in North Carolina USA. In the off- season they grow soy. I often drive by it and always admire the patterns of the tobacco rows, the humble farm buildings tucked amongst the deep pink and magenta Crepe Mrytle trees, the shadows from tall pines to the left and railroad tracks to the right (not pictured). Light reflection on the painting has washed it out somewhat

One day it will be gone as the urban sprawl takes over. A strawberry farm nearby has already been replaced with a shopping mall. On the opposite corner a quaint and charming farm has been bought by developers and the horses have already been taken away. Many are trying to stop the progression but it's inevitable. It gives me great pleasure to preserve them on canvas before it's too late.

Add Comment   |   View Comments (13)

18 Mar 2007 2:34 AM

I was told I'm Scotch-Irish but then I was also told some English and French too. But for one day, I like to be Irish....

I LIKE BEING IRISH FOR A DAY

I like emeralds and I like isles.
I like Blarney Kissin' Irishmen.
I like how irish eyes are smiling.
And I like a morn in spring.
I love Wild Irish Roses.
I don't like Guinness...but i do like Irish Coffee in a sugared glass with fresh whipped cream and the delicious warmth that could chip away the iciness of the harshest March wind.
I just like saying Finnigan.
I like Irish Setters.
And I like fresh greens.
I like living in the country and warm gentle rains.
But I hate snakes.
I like luck...especially when i see a snake.
I don't particularly like parades. As a spectator, I can't get a clear vantage
point, and as a participant, my clearest vantage point is generally of the
jiggly arse of the person in front of me.
I like doing an irish jig to work off those yummy little irish potatoes.
And I like Riverdance.
I like Celtic music.
I like rainbows and pots of gold.
I like to pick out the candy charms from the Lucky Charms Cereal box.
And I dated a Notre Dame (the fighting irish) football quarterback named Coley O'Brian (but I wasn't a football fan)

So here's a toast to all my friends who like to be Irish for one day......anna

Add Comment   |   View Comments (5)

15 Mar 2007 12:35 AM

It's hard to see the tiny Karner Blue Butterfly in my painting here but it sits on a leaf while the blue-eyed cat stares on. The underside of the wings, in reality, are not quite as blue but i was exercising my "right of artistic license".

The tiny Karner Blue Butterfly (1") is an endangered species of the northeastern USA (are you paying attention SleepySam?). It's life depends on the Blue Lupine plant as the caterpillars feed on them. If you live in this area then plant a Blue Lupine today! It's a perennial with blue pea-like flowers. It prefers dry soils in open woods and clearings such as pine and oak savannas and barrens. The first hatch occurs in late April from eggs laid the previous year, and the second hatch from eggs laid early in the summer season.
**************************************************************
BLUE-BUTTERFLY DAY
by Robert Lee Frost

It is blue-butterfly day here in spring,
And with these sky-flakes down in flurry on flurry
There is more unmixed color on the wing
Than flowers will show for days unless they hurry.

But these are flowers that fly and all but sing:
And now from having ridden out desire
They lie closed over in the wind and cling
Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire.
**************************************************************
If you would like to learn more about endangered species and what you can do to protect them, please contact the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service or your State Department of Natural Resources.

Add Comment   |   View Comments (6)