Kathy & I have worked really hard in recent years to strike a balance between planning & preparing for the future and living a full & meaningful life in the present. A concept that we recently came up with was the idea that we should make it a point to “Celebrate Every Day.” It’s probably a product of age and maturity, possibly wisdom, but starting from the loss of my own parents nearly 30 years ago and continuing as recently as the loss of Kathy’s parents last year, we have made a point of evaluating our own priorities in this context. We finally gave it a formal name just recently.
One night last week – Tuesday, in fact – we decided to have one of our more “splurgy” bottles of wine. We often save those for what we might consider special occasions. But in keeping with our “Celebrate Every Day” theme, we decided to open that bottle “because it was Tuesday.” Thus was born the idea of Wine on Tuesdays. Any other day of the week would be appropriate as well. 🙂
Tom and Kathy – GREAT idea!! miss seeing you both. hope we can get together sometime soon and catch up. love your ideas of balance and of celebrating today. take care and let’s get in touch soon! Nanine
There seems an infinite amount of slowly passing time when we’re young, then we discover there’s only a finite amount of swiftly passing time remaining. Certain life events highlight this change of viewpoint clearer then others — for me loosing my parents was a major one of these events. I applaud your celebration of life and search for balance, Tom and Kathy.
“Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.” ~ Plautus 🙂
I very much these images which speak clearly to me of the passage of time and of lives/history done and gone. Well done!
Thank you, Earl. I know you and Bonnie share our outlook.
I wasn’t sure how I would use these photos but they do seem to fit the theme of the post.
I think that is an awesome idea. It is traditions that help us move along through life. You’ve now added a special tradition. I like the first image of this house. Nature is taking claims on it.
Thanks, Monte. Sometimes it is the little things that get us through the day!
I like your new outlook on life Tom. There’s plenty to celebrate so no point in putting it off. I myself, am not one to do much celebrating but I do share your sentiment in my own way.
That abandoned farm house looks like a photographer’s dream and it’s quite apparent that you have made the most of it. Well done. Beautiful images.
Thank you, Cedric. I think our attitude is mainly a reflection of the fact that we see and hear so much negativity in our everyday lives. There are many ways to see the world, and seeing the positive and celebrating what there is has made for a refreshing outlook.
I would love to have gotten closer to this house, but it was really muddy, I didn’t have the right footware and we were actually enroute to somewhere else. But I couldn’t resist a few minutes to get what I got. The sky was irresistable but started to clear shortly after I made these photos.
Sounds like a good philosophy indeed Tom on the wine – but don’t forget those other 6 days! 🙂 That house does look like you could spend all day there photographing it. Such a great visual representation of so many different themes. Worth a return visit when it is drier.
Don’t worry, Mark. “Wine on Tuesdays” only refers to the concept…it’s not a rule! In fact, “Wine on Wednesdays” has an even better ring to it.
Eastern NC is a treasure trove of these old houses, barns and tobacco buildings. This one I literally photographed from the side of the road, but others are not as convenient. Plus I tend to be a little leery wandering around property where I don’t know who owns it or whether they’ll mind. I’ll definitely be back to this spot, as long as it is there!
I like the celebration idea, too. We have tried to strike a similar balance in our lives. Aging is an interesting process and I highly recommend it to anyone.
These two images are gorgeous, Tom.
Thanks, Ken. The whole idea is to find the good in every day. And as I’m very fond of saying, birthdays and anniversaries at this point are definitely worth having and celebrating!