Gratitude

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving,
turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings
~ William Arthur Ward

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through my Lens.

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - 
and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all.
~ Emily Dickinson

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through my Lens.

Friendly Ghosts

While retail stores decorate for Christmas,
I want to savor fall just a while longer.

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through my Lens.

Decaying Beauty

Autumn wins you best by this: its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay
~ Robert Browning

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through my Lens.

Reflecting...

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
~ Pablo Picasso

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through my Lens.

Open Door

Follow your bliss, and the universe will open doors
where there were only walls.     ~Joseph Campbell

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through my Lens.

Boston Sunset

Every ending is a beginning. We just don't know it at the time.
~ Mitch Albom

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through my Lens.

Sailing the Charles River

Who is the happier man:
He who has braved the storm of life and lived? ... or
He who has stayed securely on the shore and merely existed?
~ Hunter S. Thompson

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit: Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through My Lens

Labor Day

Stop a minute, right where you are... Tell that imperious voice in your head to be still.
~ Barbara Kingsolver

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit: Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through My Lens

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Backyard Bottles

Art thrives on a difference of opinion.
My treasure is your junk sort of thing.  Life would be dull if we all agreed.
Robert Genn

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit: Wordless Wednesday or Image-in-ing

Backyard Angel

An inheritance from Mom's vast angel collection
For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go
~ Psalm 91:11 (TLB)

For more inspirational photos this week, please visit: Wordless Wednesday, Image-in-ing, and Through My Lens

Wordless Wednesday: Ice Cream

I  had to treat myself ... it was National Ice Cream Day!

For more weekly photos, visit Wordless Wednesday.

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Wordless Wednesday: An Unfortunate Gondola Ride

As you can tell from my recent photos of Venice, the weather was not cooperative. While it never poured down rain, it was always drizzling, and the skies were a constant gray. This, of course, meant choppy waters.

We decided to take a gondola ride a day earlier than planned. No problem.... unless you are prone to motion-sickness and leave your sea bands in the hotel room.

The ride through the small inner canals was smooth and enjoyable. The view of Venice from the water is just as spectacular as walking on land. While our gondolier did not sing, he did whistle a fancy a tune, which made the journey even more perfect. I was feeling great.

But then we had to dock the boat at the pier off San Marcos square. The large open water was definitely more unstable, and the wakes of the large motor boats transformed our gondola into a rocking chair. This made it difficult for the gondolier to position the boat, which meant a longer time in the rough waters.

By the time we disembarked, I was feeling a bit queasy. We decided to return to the hotel for an hour before going to dinner. I thought the fresh air and slow walk would do me good.

I was wrong.

I became violently ill for the next four hours - and I spent the following day in bed recuperating.

Despite this rather unpleasant end to my Venetian holiday, I can still say it is my favorite city in the world, and I can hardly wait to return someday soon. Thee sea-bands, however, will be on my person at all times.

*View other Wordless Wednesday photos here and Wordless (on Tuesday) photos here.

Wordless Wednesday: Piazza San Marco

One good thing about traveling in the spring: when the weather is cool and rainy, the crowds are minimal. We waited only a few minutes to enter the Basilica and take the elevator to the top of the clock tower. Unobstructed photo opportunities surrounded us at all times.

Do you see the platforms set up around the square? They provide dry pathways for tourists to walk when the Grand Canal overflows its banks. Apparently the square flooded the day before, but all water drained away by the time we arrived. Fortunate...


*View other Wordless Wednesday photos here and Wordless (on Tuesday) photos here.

Wordless Wednesday: Doge's Palace, Venice

Doge's Place - otherwise known as the Wedding Cake - is located on the water just off San Marcos Square. We secured one of the gondolas outside the building and enjoyed the forty minute journey along the Grand Canal.

Just to the right of this building is the famous Bridge of Sighs, which will be the subject of next week's post.

*View other Wordless Wednesday photos here.

Wordless Wednesday: Hotel Colombina

The Hotel Colombina is the ideal place to stay in Venice. It is located directly on the grand canal, so water taxis pick you up at dock's door. While only a five minute walk to San Marcos square, it is tucked away on a quiet side street, offering a bit of solitude away from the crowd. It provides the perfect combination of old-world charm and modern-day conveniences.

I will return.... someday.

*View other Wordless Wednesday photos here.

Wordless Wednesday: Gondolas in Venice

Gondolas in line at San Marcos Square

While the weather was less than perfect - overcast, drizzly, cold - Venice exceeded all my expectations. Winding cobblestone streets surrounded by tranquil canals and colorful stucco buildings transport visitors to a distant past. The pace of life is less hectic and more relaxed. People stroll rather than rush; meals are leisurely events not just a drive through convenience; and motorized vehicles are prohibited on the island.

Gondolas are not only the quintessential tourist attraction, they are a primary mode of transportation.


* The subject for the next several Wordless Wednesday posts will focus on my recent trip to Italy in March, 2015. While this was my first visit to this beautiful country - and my husband's homeland - I guarantee it will not be last.

Wordless Wednesday: Watch Your Step

The British have such a pleasant way of saying things...

To view other Wordless Wednesday posts, please visit here or here.

Wordless Wednesday: Door of Opportunity

Door of Paris apartment - July, 2011

I took this picture as an after-thought, yet it remains my favorite photo of the trip.

There is a blog post here, or perhaps an article, or maybe even an entire book hidden within this image.  But for today, it will remain "almost" wordless.

To view other Wordless Wednesday posts, please visit here or here.

Wordless Wednesday: Peace

Today's Photo Prompt:  Peace
This is my interpretation