Rock Walls and Fences

Rock walls and fences

Boundaries that keep us safe

Oft deny freedom

Tear down the fences

And open wide all those gates

Freedom then returns

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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Childhood Dream Come True

Ron has been a serious space advocate since before the first space launch.  Every space launch was a thrill.  Currently, on a clear night the telescope comes our to watch  Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.  Sometimes Little Boys grow up to be Men who still have their dreams.

 So it was that this last October we finally journeyed to the Kennedy Space Center.  He was in Hog Heaven!!!  Just like the little boy in a man's body.  

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 If you've not had an opportunity to visit, it is a wonderful experience with many gifted and talented people to show you around!  There is even an occasional astronaut available for a picture!

So, I would say an entertaining and educational treat is in store for anyone who visits the Kennedy Space Station and Cape Canaveral.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

Knittin' for pleasure

Heart palpitations

Gifts like this cause elation

Knitting's a pleasure

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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Erin's Countryside

When you know you're going to be taking a trip you've hoped you'd be able to take ever since you've been a child what do you anticipate?  Well, I had no idea.  I just remember watching the Quiet Man until I was sure that's what I'd experience.  Well, I was not disappointed.  Ireland's landscape is truly beautiful.

Needless to say, I was not disappointed.  It was so very incredible!!  

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

Hope In Sunrise

On days like today

Cloudy, gloomy and frigid

One seeks rays of hope

~~~^j^~~~
Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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Belfast City Hall

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The site now occupied by Belfast City Hall was once the home of the White Linen Hall, and important international Linen Exchange.  

Plans for the City Hall began in 1888 when Belfast was awarded city status by Queen Victoria.  This was in recognition of Belfast's rapid expansion and thriving linen, rope-making, shipbuilding and engineering industries.  

Interior of Belfast City Hall

Garden of Remembrance

The gardens surrounding the City Hall are popular with office workers taking their lunch in summer months, as well as tourists. . .to enjoy the green.

Various statues stand in the grounds including one of Queen Victoria by Thomas Brock.  There is also a granite Column dedicated to the American Expeditionary Force, many of whom were based in Belfast prior to D-Day.

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We were 2 days in Belfast.  There is so much to see and so little time.  I found a bookstore on a side street that was intimate and friendly It was quite a  a find!  Treasured memories!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy 

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

Information about the Belfast City Hall is offered through Wikepedia.

Peace

Quiet surroundings

Serenity and peace

Reflective silence

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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The Zoo In Winter

What do you do when the grand kids are restless and they're bored with the TV.  Well, no matter what the season, you go to the zoo. 

All the animals were very good hosts and were most accommodative.  The peacock pranced.  The camel posed.  The giraffe even winked.  It was a great day to go as the crowd was elsewhere, I know not where.  They just weren't at the zoo.  We all had a great time!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

The Wise Men Cometh

Wise Men traveled far

Searching for the royal one

Newborn King of kings

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Christmas Day we challenged ourselves with this 300 piece puzzle. It was great fun and the start a new tradition. 

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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Winter Reflection

Winter has beauty

Often hard to visualize

I reflect on this

So with the New Year
Take time for reflecting
It's good for the soul

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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Merry Christmas To All

Happy Christmas Time

Blessings and love wished for all

And thanks be to all!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Mohher sea cliffs at the southwestern edge of the Burren region of County Clare.  The cliffs rise above the Atlantic Ocean and at their highest they are 702 feet just north of O'Brien's Tower.

We traveled to the Cliffs of Moher on the sixth day of our tour in Ireland.  It was windy and cool on the day before this stop.  If it looked like rain on other days the storms seemed to pass us over.  It was not so when we arrive at the cliffs.  It was windy, cold and it was raining horizontally!  So what I did is resign ourselves to the fact the we'd not be getting any photos here.  Well, I was wrong.  After lunch and some time spent in the gift shop the storm died down enough so that we were able to walk out to the cliffs.  Yes, and photos were a lot of fun to take! 

Like many of the places we stopped in Ireland the sites were spectacular.  The Cliffs of Moher were no exception.  

O'Brien's Tower

O'Brien's Tower is  a round tower built near the midpoint of the cliffs, built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien.  From the cliffs and the tower the Aran Islands, Balway Bay, and Loop Head can be seen.  

I was another grand day we had on this adventure!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

Mary and the Children

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

Vision of Mary

Shepherds caring for their flock

Children of the Lord

Having been to Fatima and having experienced the beauty of the shrine, I was reminded of it when I came upon this to Mary and the Children of Fatima.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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On Retreat

Saint Mary-or-the-Woods, IN

I'll be on retreat starting tomorrow at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.  I'll be back next week.  Pray for me as I pray for you!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Jingle Rails

Jingle Rails is a Great Western Adventure in a G-scale model train wonderland containing nine working model trains that wind through a stunning miniature landscape.  The exhibit features miniature versions of local treasures of downtown Indianapolis, including the Eieteljorg Museum, Monument Circle, Union station and Lucas Oil Stadium.  The trains then head through the National Parks of the American West, passing legendary sites including grand railway lodges, Northwest Coast Native villages, and wonders both natural and human-made--Mt. Rushmore, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Yosemite Falls, Old Faithful, and much more.

Every year for several years at Christmas time we would go to INDY to visit with Kid and Grand Kids and visit Jingle Rails.  Grandpa being a model railroad fan had the best time of all.

I have to admit I had a grand time as well, in awe of the talent of those who achieved this work of art.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

Oh, The Sunrise!

Happy is the morn

When the sunrise is glowing

Praise the Almighty!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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In Dublin's Fair City. . .

Trinity College, Dublin

 Originally Trinity College was established outside the walls of of Dublin in building of the outlawed priory of the Catholic Church.  Though Catholics were admitted from 1793 there were restrictions.

The Library at Trinity College is the largest research library in Ireland.  Housed in the Old Library is The Book of Kells.  Along with the Long Room in the Old Library it is one of the largest tourist attractions in Ireland.  

It truly is amazing and though the Book of Kells itself was not on display, being replaced by a replica, it was still a grand experience.  

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

Oh, the Blarney

Blarney Castle

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Wisdom shared in words

Enlightening all who hear

That's blarney foresight

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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Once Again In Ireland

"The Giants Causeway is an area of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption.  It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills."  (Wikipedia)

"According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant.  The story goes that the Irish giant [Finn] MacCool accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet.  In one version of the story [Finn] defeats Benandonner.  In another [Finn] hides from Benanadonner when he realizes that his foe is much bigger than he is.  [Finn's] wife Oonagh, disguises [Finn] as a baby and tucks him in a cradle.  When Benandonner sees the size of the 'baby', he reckons that its father, [Finn], must be a giant among giants.  He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that [Finn] would be unable to chase him down.  Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish isle of Straffa and it is possible that the story was influenced by this." (Wikipedia)

Now that I've shared with you the legend and the geology in brief, I'd like to share my impression!  In a few words it was incredible, impressive, and awe inspiring.  It took my breath away.  Just witnessing the crashing of the waves, beating against the shore and seeing what the results of millions of years have done to sculpt this leaves one speechless!  Oh, to have been able to spend more time there.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, image-in-ing, and Our World Tuesday.

Return from the Emerald Isle

 Garden at Blarney Castle

Fall in Ireland

Foliage all green, orange and gold

End of the rainbow

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I’m back from the Emerald Isle and it was the most beautiful time to visit.  The greens were so green and the gold so very gold. Maybe this is where the Garden Eden really was. 

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

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