Without Regrets...

How beautifully leaves grow old. 

From green to red to shades of gold. 

Full and vibrant in summer sun

'Til the fall winds come and they are done. 

How beautifully leaves grow old. 

As summer heat turns to autumn cold.
No whining complaint is ever heard
No sorrow or regret, no bitter word.

How beautifully leaves grow old. 

To subtle hues no longer bold. 

For all a lesson to be learned, 

When our time comes, be not concerned. 

Another Saturday Centus from our beloved Mrs. Jenny...the prompt this week in red above, as always, plus 100 words. The poem was inspired by the words of Dieter F. Uchtdorf in his Saturday morning talk at the semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which he spoke of how we can better live life without regrets.

Be sure to stop by and see what the other Centusians did with this week's prompt by clicking HERE...and then...get off-line, go spend some time with family and loved ones running and playing in the fall leaves or doing whatever brings you joy.

Torres del Paine

Time for Alphabe-Thursday again, and this week it's the terrific letter T. Travel with me back to Chilean Patagonia...only 6 more weeks to go... just about as far south as you can imagine to Torres del Paine National Park. To get there, we fly into Punta Arenas and then drive for about 6 hours northwest. Once again, it's well worth the drive to see this magnificent park that rivals many of the national parks found in the US and around the world.

Home to guanacos....

...foxes

...condors

...huemules (an endangered species of deer)

...parrots (nope, they don't just live in the tropics)

...and ágila moras (blackberry eagles), among other creatures.

That's it for this week. Be sure to head over to Mrs. Jenny's and see what the other Alphabetarians are thinking about by clicking HERE.

On Stress

They say that we should reduce the stress in our lives. Breathe deeply. Stop to see and enjoy and be grateful for the beauty that surrounds us. Take a walk; go for a run. Set your priorities. Don't sweat the small stuff. Etc etc etc.

But some days it seems that even if you do all those things, there is still too much stress...just in the everyday things of living a full and busy life.

Nonetheless, I'm breathing deeply. Grateful for the beauty that surrounds me. Going for a run. TRYING to set my priorities and IGNORE the small stuff. Hmmm...still feeling stressed. Dang it.