It is better to travel hopeful ...

... than to arrive. This simplified phrase is based on a Robert Louis Stevenson quotation, from Virginibus Puerisque, 1881: "Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour." Stevenson was expressing the same idea as the earlier Taoist saying - "The journey is the reward."

Simply put, hope and anticipation are often better than reality. You could avoid the past and the future by, as my wise cousin Barb once said, by living in the moment. The past may be filled with good and bad memories (odd, how we remember the bad ones most clearly). The future may include good and bad things also but we won't know until it becomes the past. Indeed, right at this moment, we don't know if there will be a future.

Happiness is living in this moment ... and keeping on journeying.

Better Late than Never

Writing a blog post lately has seemed a chore. With a cold wet spring and now an unusually hot summer, there always seems to be something else that needs to be done (including a daily nap!). Photography leads the way. I've taken hundreds of images over the past month or so, some of which I've posted on my Flickr page.

Because I edit all my images in Photoshop Elements before I upload them to Flickr, that process often takes longer than the photography. The good thing is that I can sometimes enhance a mediocre image, minimizing the discards to the recycle bin. Others, I just toss, knowing they can't be salvaged.

Then, there's the time spent trying to identify a particular flower, weed or bird. I've dozens of great images, waiting in that category. I don't like to post an image unless I'm fairly sure I've correctly identified the subject. I spent a lot of time browsing online and in my reference books.

I also do get ideas for blog posts. I keep them in one of my Evernote folders. I have other folders for ideas for photography that I periodically review.

Some of my photos of family (my kids and their kids) are posted to my Google+ account that is only shared with family. I won't post these to Flickr for privacy reasons.

I won't get into the time involved with yardwork, cooking, grocery shopping, medical and dental appointments, or visiting family.

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the summer. Happiness is ...