Family Heirlooms

Unsteady hands reach for shoebox on the top shelf of the hall closet. It sits on its shelf in a precise row along with others of its kind. Inside the shell of cardboard are kept the most cherished treasures of her life. She’s not impoverished. The safe in her bedroom holds plenty of gold and silver. But those are only trinkets and bobbles. The  real valuables are the treasures of her heart. She wipes away the thin layer of dust from the lid and begins to unload the box a piece at a time. The broken watch that belonged to her father. A necklace of plastic beads purchased from a tourist trap during a special weekend vacation. A little deeper into the box she finds the salt and pepper shakers her young brother gave her as a wedding gift all those years ago. They were very plain but he was a young teenager with no steady job at the time. So he walked the roads and picked up glass bottles to turn in and earn his own money to buy them with. She recounts the story of each item in vivid detail to her visitor. There were the love notes from her late husband that were folded neatly in an envelope. Finally she got to the odd cube shaped bottle in the back of the box. The glass seemed to be thicker than one would think a bottle that size would be. And the lid was fitted with a valve. Inside was a single rose. She told her visitor about how she and her late husband had purchased their first house. It was small and with a small yard but it had a gate and by that gate he’d planted roses for her. For a few years they struggled to get them to bloom and the rose in the jar was the first flower from that bush. She had cut it to adorn the dinner table for a few days but the next morning it was missing. Her husband was a science teacher and had taken it to work where he used the lab equipment to freeze dry it and vacuum pack it so it would last forever. With that her eyes glistened and she opened the valve slightly. The bottle hissed and the room filled with the fragrance of the rose. A few pumps of the valve at the top and the bottle was perfectly sealed once more. Her eyes twinkled again and she produced a second bottle that was similar to the first one except it was full of seeds. The second bottle was the seeds of that rose bush that had also been preserved in a vacuum. They had not been freeze dried, just bottled and the air removed from the chamber. The elderly lady opened the jar and poured out a measure of seeds and handed them to her soon to be married granddaughter. “These are for your first home.” She said as she presented her visitor with the seeds. ” Our lives are like roses. You’ll not always be able to avoid the thorns and it might take a while to get your rewards. But if you keep trying you’ll be successful eventually.”

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Small Wonders 61021” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Sunny days make for Sunny dispositions. Especially when that day holds no particular agenda. We all need a chance to simply exist as part of creation and fresh air in combination with sunlight is the best option. I’ve been told that it’s the little things that matter most in life. My mountains are full of little things. Things that often go unnoticed until we slow down a bit. Like the little yellow inch worm hiding in plain sight on a daisy. His camouflage is so effective that I didn’t spot him until I was processing the image. It brought to memory a poem written by a classmate in grade school. ” If you don’t see me it’s not my fault. I’m no bigger than a grain of salt. ” I wish I could remember who it was so I could give them credit. The assignment for art class was to draw a picture and write a poem about it. The poem was accompanied by single dot in the center of the page.

Now I realize that in reality inch worms are pests in gardens and they damage our plants. Most notably the cabbage loopers that roll the leaves into little cocoons for protection. But in the innocence of childhood they’re so much more. And let’s face the facts. It’s fun to watch them as they undulat their way to wherever they’re going. I remember that more than once they were gently captured and placed side by side so they could race up the tree. One inch at a time. Or if found clinging to an article of clothing that it meant God was measuring you for your robes in heaven. Even today when I spot an inch worm I have the urge to stop and watch it do it’s thing.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

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Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.