75 Comments
User's avatar
Rita Shuker's avatar

I find peace in your Reflections.🌹

Sharon Boyes-Schiller's avatar

Thank you for this, it was wonderful to read. I found getting stuck into a new Chopin Etude I’d never played before quieted my worried mind. Because whilst I don’t have relatives in Iran, I have friends with relatives in Tehran itself, and it is a worry for them. I prayed for peace today, especially in Ukraine as well as this most recent escalation of what feels also like an old conflict, and I’ve candles lit for this to end in whatever is the best way possible. On a completely different note, can you ever have too many balls for dogs? I don’t think it’s possible.

LHawes's avatar

Dave even got in the picture!

Emily H's avatar

That Dave - always photobombing

Claudia Allred's avatar

Good luck cheating a cold! 🤞🏽 (off subject, I finished a novella last night, Graham Swift’s “Mothering Sunday” ((which is 3/15 in England)). Beautifully written and haunting. Another age, long gone, and best forgotten,1923). Reading that little book kept me away from the unspeakable news, for a day, anyway. When will your new book be out and about? Hope you get all better sooner, love to the howling biggies. C.

Pickleball's avatar

Hope your cold does not stay around long. Now, why wouldn’t you have a table dedicated to balls? So adorable. Have a peaceful day.

James Smith's avatar

A spring bumper crop of Green balls! 😁😊🐾🥎

Claire's avatar

The sunrise/sunset photo is beautiful!! But so is Auggie ❤️. Good job fighting off the cold. And I envy you your lazy lie in the falling snow. Life’s small pleasures.

Jenny Jordan's avatar

Okay, I laughed out loud at the spring harvest of winter-lost green balls.

Marka Ormsby's avatar

Lovely!

Gary R. Eddings's avatar

It is difficult to see the beauty in the rain cloud streaked sunrise just now. In Ukraine, Gaza, and now Iran I know the populations see sunrise come through clouds of smoke from deadly weapons unleashed upon the innocent by old white men who want it all.

Denise Donaldson's avatar

Well and poignantly said, Gary.

Nancy Ulin's avatar

Your photos are calming. Thank you. Hopefully your family members will be safe. War, war, war...

Kathy Miller and RIFF's avatar

I’m with Jenny, when scrolling down the photos and came across that bumper crop of balls, I laughed out loud. I will not show that picture to Riff!

It is hard to keep one’s mind from being jammed up with all the atrocities going on. Yesterday visiting a friend and just being outside and playing with Riff and yes washing my car for the first time in months ( hate when my car is dirty) gave me great satisfaction. Watching snow falling and sitting around a fire with someone you love also very satisfying. Continue to feel better. 🥂

Jooby’s Mom's avatar

I love the treasure trove of green balls. Nothing like a pile of green balls to take one’s mind off of the troubles. ✨

ReneeUpNorth's avatar

What a beautiful sunrise, I wouldn’t have been able to tear myself away.

Your moment of peace lying down in the snow sounds so lovely. I had to go spend time walking at a local state park yesterday to clear my head.

Thank you for the peaceful writing and for the laugh out loud picture of the green ball harvest. It really helps.

My son grew up reading the Harry Potter series (and therefore I have read them too, multiple times). Lately, I am often reminded of the “dementors”, soulless ghouls who drain away your happiness…one of the remedies to recover from a dementor attack is chocolate. I feel like reading about your nature encounters and the hijinks of your dogs and animal neighbors is one of the ways I recover from the “dementors” that are currently running the world.

J. F. Riordan's avatar

That’s one of the best compliments I’ve ever received. Thank you.

PNW Garden Lady's avatar

My oldest son was also a huge fan! I love the “Dementor” comparison and I agree!! Ms. Riordan’s writing is comforting & soothes my worn out soul!

Pam Allred's avatar

Love your photos, especially of the sunrise with the turkeys. Do you think your dogs have enough balls? HA!

J. F. Riordan's avatar

They’re always losing them either in the snow or the plants.

Laurie Creasy's avatar

What a beautiful sunrise photo! Thank you.

It's definitely spring here in Pennsylvania --; the birds are singing. Oh, and skunks are getting slaughtered on the roads -- eau de skunk everywhere.

My dad had orchards (lots of them), and he swore (with a twinkle in his eye) that the best way to keep from getting a cold was to hang a chunk of asofoetidia around your neck -- no one would get close to you. Of course, you might not survive yourself (the smell is deadly,). He used it on the trees to keep deer away.

And Dad's remedy for a cold was a mixture of whiskey, ginger, and orange juice, then covers up to your neck to sweat out the cold. I hated it, and I would go to school in spite of a cold just to avoid it. It was so awful that it made me a pretty observant teetotler for life.

Enjoy your spring! And, as always, your dogs are beautiful.