May 30, 2011

Weekend Wrap-Up

Our family celebrated part of our Memorial Day weekend with good friends at Canyon of the Eagles near Burnet, Texas.   


I love the native plants of the Texas Hill Country...cacti and wildflowers mingle on an escarpment high above the lake.


Bees buzzed lazily in the perennial garden.


Rockers called for contemplative moments and relaxed conversations.   The relaxation and time spent together as a family was priceless.  This week marks a milestone for our family; our oldest is graduating from high school!


Congratulations sweet girl!


The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your
heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.  I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

                                                                        ~Oriah Mountain Dreamer

22 comments:

  1. I want to know if you can sit with pain
    mine or your own, without moving to hide it
    or fade it, or fix it. . . .


    I want to know if you can live with failure
    yours and mine
    and still stand at the edge of the lake
    and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes.”

    One of my favorite poems, and one that sustains me sometimes. Lovely photos, especially of the grad!

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  2. Congrats to your beautiful daughter. Looks like a very peaceful place. Glad you got to enjoy the weekend with good friends. Nothing better in life.

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  3. Yes Laurrie, these words have the ability to saturate and move heart and soul. I can never get through the whole thing without being moved to tears.

    My best friend took the photo of my daughter...she is an amazing photographer and her portraits are stunning!

    Thanks HolleyGarden!

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  4. Lovely, thought provoking and moving poem Cat. Thank you once again for sharing and making me stop and think (although I've been doing a *lot* of that lately!) Beautiful photographs and your daughter is gorgeous! Congratulations on her graduation...a milestone indeed. Best to her as she moves into the next, exciting phase of her (and your!) life :)

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  5. My Dad has that poem hanging on his wall. I guess I have to go back now and study it real hard. The first 2 lines you chose are great. Please tell that beautiful girl in the picture above congratulations from me. Has she made up her mind yet?
    Take care, Sandra

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  6. A lovely post!!

    Congratulations on your Daughters graduation. She is a beautiful girl, you must be very proud!

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  7. Thanks for including us on your holiday celebration...and congrats to your daughter! I have several books by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, and they are very inspirational.

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  8. That is a stunning portrait of your beautiful daughter. You say your friend took it? Does she do it for a business? I'd love to get her name. Can you send me an email? Thanks, Cat!

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  9. I love that poem, Cat. It will always remind me of you because you introduced me to it. :-)

    Can't wait to watch your beautiful daughter graduate soon. I love her.

    And thanks to everyone for the compliments on the portrait of Cat's daughter. She's not too difficult to photograph, as I'm sure you can tell! She is not only gorgeous, but smart too!

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  10. Great pics as always Cat. You work with textures is fantastic. I've tried several times and can never get things to look half as good as your work. Maybe I really need PS?

    Congratulations to your daughter on her graduation! She looks lovely in this portrait. I'm sure you are all very proud. Definitely a milestone.

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  11. Cat congratulations to your daughter on graduating, a real portraite photo, beautiful,
    glad you all had a wonderful family time together it looks like a really nice place, lovely photos as always, Frances

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  12. Cat, your textures are perfect for the evocative, nostalgic feel of family unions, accompanied by lovely words. I can see where your daughter gets her looks - beauty shines from the inside out

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  13. Hi Cat, I am glad that you had a nice memorial weekend. Congratulations to your high school graduate. What a beauty she is. You must be so proud!

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  14. Congrats to your daughter! What an exciting time in her life and yours too!

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  15. i love the poem. sometimes you have to remind yourself, allow yourself, just to dream! your daughter is lovely! my son is graduating high school this year, too! such wonderful adventures awaiting them!

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  16. Nice cactus (or should that be cacti?).

    Glad you had a good Memorial Day!

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  17. Those empty chairs are calling to me. It must have been a perfect long weekend. Congratulations to your beautiful daughter! Perfect poem too. This must be a very emotional time for you.

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  18. @All - Your sweet words are precious and I'll pass them on to my daughter. Thank you.

    @PatioPatch - thank you ;) She does shine from the inside out!

    @Sarah, me too - I would love to still be sitting back in that rocker taking in the beauty of the lake but too much to do! Yes, it is an emotional time - like a roller coaster. She is ready though, so I must be too.

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  19. Love your textured shots - that adds a lot of feeling to them. Beautiful shots too of the cacti. And congratulations on the big milestone - to the grad and to the family; another chapter is starting !

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  20. So glad you were able to spend some quality time with your loved ones. Your daughter is beautiful! Congratulations to her!

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  21. Congrats Cat to you and your family...so glad you had a wonderful weekend...

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  22. Congratulations to your daughter!

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