Uphill idealist

Bold, beautiful and busy can be a source of pride, but it can also be a sign of  impatience. Seeking the next best, or always hungry for the next flavor sometimes make savoring what's present a challenge. Taking time to sip water and soak up sun is something that a flower can teach. Impatiens grow easily in the right place. Good soil, moderate sun, moist soil, and regular watering are what they need. Perhaps the balance and moderation of the impatiens life are what makes their colors so bright. Home, light, water = life. I the impatient need to learn from the life lived by the Impatiens. Impatiens are not impatient but somehow... they are bold, beautiful, and proud. Photo and poem Copyright 2015 Tara L.Eastman

As my post last week cheering the fullness of Summer may have hinted - my grandson has arrived! Owen Samuel made his entrance on Father's Day  - June 16, 2013 at 11:39 AM. He weighed 7.13 lbs and was 21.75 inches long. What an amazing week it's been. Mommy and baby are doing fantastic - we all are so thankful. More to come, but wanted to give you pictures to start the wave of grandma posts to come!

That is, if expresso and cannoli can get me there. :) Happy Fat Tuesday to you and yours! T

Sometimes surprising, always enlightening. The color and vitality is sure to awaken and inspire new dreams. To mend, to make something new, something great if only in grace we weave.

Early start. I can hear the beat of my heart. Tires crunch through the snow. I know this is the way to go. Bags are packed, feeling on track, now waiting for the next leg in the road. Adventure awaits, no time to waste, only minutes till take off, depart. Warmer I pray, at the end of this day. With water, and wisdom, and heart.

Project Life 365 Web Trailer from Project Life 365 on Vimeo . Project life 365 is: Daily Photos. Personal expression. Group interaction. Storytelling. Creative. Simple. Do-able. If you want to play along - join me and many others at: PROJECTLIFE365 Today's photos is a segment of a collage called "Something from nothing". I began this collage last April and re-found it this morning on contemplating the ideas of non-worry and trust. Consider the ravens, they do not sow or reap... Art and Photo by T.L. Eastman

On Monday I had some time to wander around a local greenhouse a capture some photos of the lovely flowers that were growing there. They are called Hibiscus and vary in color. These were growing about 4-5 feet in height with blooms at least a foot wide.                            Here are a few examples or their beauty.  For the white, and fuchsia and all the colors in between - I'm thankful. Fuchsia by  Katrina Vandenberg That summer in the west I walked sunrise to dusk, narrow twisted highways without shoulders, low stone walls on both sides. Hedgerows of fuchsia hemmed me in, the tropical plant now wild, centuries after nobles imported it for their gardens. I was unafraid, did not cross to the outsides of curves, did not look behind me for what might be coming. For weeks in counties Kerry and Cork, I walked through the red blooms the Irish call ...

Sources of light can bring warmth, discovery, and safety. May your day be filled with moments of authentic warmth, discovery of new joys, and the safety of a heart that is supported just enough to reach out and help someone that is surrounded by darkness.

SNAP! It's hard to take a photo that holds the depth and breadth of a moment. The light, the people, the feelings and atmosphere are too great to fit in the second of "SNAP" to collect all of it. But there are times, like this, that the photographer catches the right angle, at the right moment, and the right place that not only communicates feeling for the viewer but for the subject as well. It was a summer night, full of music, energy and life. This picture makes me think of a moment filled with freedom of expectations and boundaries. Life was as open as the multitude of city streets and a bucket of side walk chalk. T.L. Eastman 2/11 (Photos taken by Relevant Ministries August of 2009)

It's not the shaking that people will notice, as long as you are speaking the truth.

This Saturday was a busy, busy day. Each spring we have an annual clean up downtown event and for the last two years I've encouraged the youth from our church and community to come and help. It was rainy and early but in all 14 youth and adults showed up this Saturday to clean up all trash from our Church yard and surrounding neighborhood. Thank you all for coming and helping! Saturday evening was my daughter Heather and her beau Will's Prom. Will is graduating this year, so Heather was invited to attend with him. It's amazing to me that my own daughter will be graduating from High School on only 374 days or so. Heather and Will had photographer Kenzie Mencer of Kaboom Photography come and do a photo shoot just before they went out to dinner and to the dance. I'm in love with these photos, even though they make more real how fast childhood passes. It's bittersweet, but it's so good to see pictures of how far she's come. I'm so proud that Heather is m...

This photo of Kristen was taken last month while in India by her friend Chanda. Matthew 21:1-3 "As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." A few weeks ago, an friend of mine returned home from a photography/mission trip to India with more than the usual souvenirs you would expect from such an adventure. Kristen took hundreds of photographs, made some new friends and fell in love with the people of India. One thing she did not expect though was to contract Colitis while she was there. In fact, during her last few days in India, Kristen came into contact with a virus that began this infection when caring for some children she had met there. It became necessary for ...

The mural project that Billy Torres, Kristen Briggs and I led and worked on with the help of many volunteers and community support was revealed on Friday February 12th, 2010. Thanks to Linda Gross for documenting this event on her Facebook and her blog . Its my hope that projects like this and ones in the future can help to bring a stronger sense of community, creativity and unity to Jamestown NY!

Just when you thought everything was all gray - some sunshine and snow show you different. Photo taken at Strider Field in Jamestown NY/February 2010

My facebook and high school friend Jill just posted some oldies but goodies of me in my Jr. and Sr. years of high school... enjoy! Singing "Bless the beasts and the children" winter chorus concert of 1987. Spring program of 1989 - I'm singing Bob Dylans' "Forever Young". Our choir trip to NYC in 1987- I think this is the morning we went to visit the statue of liberty. Can you spot which one is me? Here's Bob doing "Forever Young" as only Bob can do...

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke Photo by H. Eastman So far this weekend (It's late Friday night as I write this.), I've seen a glimmer and shimmer of gifts and talent in both my lovely children. The photo at the top of this post is one taken by my daughter, Heather. She's a great photographer and I'd love to find a means for her to foster her natural abilities in our area. Any ideas? She's the wood sprite to the right in the photo below. Nigel had his first open mic night at Infinity Performing Arts , a local music education program that he's been a guitar student of for almost two years. He's done a great deal of growing and developing as a guitar player in the last six months or so and had this opportunity to play with a group assembled for this night only. The group played two songs together and Nigel was asked to solo on 'Stand by me.' He looks so s...