December has arrived, time for the holidays, time for family, time for friends who have become family, time to remember what the season is all about. Time to remember a birth that brought change and hope, a birth that scared many, but many looked forward to!

December is a time for me to remember all that we’ve been blessed with!! Take a moment and think of the blessings you and I have. It will boggle the mind how much we have been blessed with. Even during these times of sad news events, people who care less for another’s life, selfishness, sadness and all the other sadness around, you and I have been blessed!

Take a moment just like I did and think about all that we have been blessed with, you are going to be surprised how much we have, also take a look and remember how you and I shared a smile, a kindness, a piece of our hearts with someone around us. It agains boggles the mind how much good and kindness we have done this year.

So “Remember this December” how much good we have done and good we are and how much better we can be in the upcoming year!

December to Remember is a blessing to us all!!! Merry Christmas to you and yours from me and mine!!!

As Thanksgiving 2017 winds down and the sleep endorphins kick in I become thoughtful and thankful for so much and for so many!!

I want to take a few and reflect, remember and share my thanks to the those that make this life so grand.

Thankful for family, near and far, mainly far but in recent years near because of the technology of the day, thankful that we keep a door open and hearts open!

Thankful for folks that have gone from friends to family, who remind me that I am not alone and shall never be! Thankful for the little things, a smile, a touch, a text, a call all which lift the heart as high as heaven!

Thankful for my companions a dog and a cat that seem to know more about me than anyone ever has. Thankful for the smiles they provide on days when I think no smile is possible. Thankful that they don’t kick me out for passing gas!!!

Thankful for the roof over head, the place I call home, something I never thought would be possible, but has become the reality of today!

Thankful for a school, a sport and a team that has become family, that I support with my heart, a camera and a lens, but most importantly with my soul. They have become family and their families are family to me.

Thankful for a job that at times make me scream and shake my head and wonder why, but when I look at the most important things, the good people, the fair people I keep showing up and doing my best for them, the people that ride, drive and makes it move everyday. I remind myself that they are the most important thing, not the theory or current fad or fashion, but the people and the mission!!

Thankful for the love bestowed upon me each day from many places, but from the most important place from God and His Son Jesus Christ. My teacher, protector and provider, my Thanks to You!!

I hope that all who read this have had a blessed and fun filled Thanksgiving!!!

Friendships, they are something special, all are different, all are special! People friendships are one of life’s life’s great treasures, especially when they last a lifetime! Animal friendships are something on a different level, like all they have there ups and downs just like with people, but the ups and downs come from the human side of the friendship, we suppose to be the smarter one can make things so difficult.

Think about the other side of the furry friendship, they are always there, at the door, at the window, ready to meet and great. Funny the fur people I share life with are truly a blessing, they have made me smile when I thought there was no reason to smile after dealing with new levels of stupidity or evilness or my own self doubts!

They took the crazy ass moments and make me forget there is still a very simple level of innocence and love. Never asking me for crazy stuff, just for some attention, some love and some conversation. I know they need me to open the food tins, bags and box’s, but only because they don’t have thumbs!!!

I am blessed that the two fur people who share life are unique as all my other fur friends have been. Red is my first dog friend and I think he’s the best, sometimes I wish he could talk human cause I would love to know his thoughts about me and Cruiser, but I am fortunate enough that he doesn’t as well as Cruiser!

They do speak to me in the best way by being at my side when I’ve dealt with Level 10 stupid and so much more. Just want to say your fur person is a special friend, so if you haven’t had your conversation with them today, what you waiting for, have to special friend talk and let your heart smile!!!!

Again it has been a very long time since I put words to this page!! I am best at writing when it comes deep from my heart. So these words are deep from my heart to you!!

“The Times They are a-changin”, a song written a long time ago by Bob Dylan, the title fits what my heart feels right now. In the past few months we have witnessed some crazy people committing acts of violence against peoples they have never met. It is not an act of terroriasm, not an act of war, these are just acts of insanity , craziness beyond the imagination. I will go no further with the acts or the persons that committed the acts. I want to concentrate on the way life’s have changed forever. It seems it takes tragedies like these for people to come together, people who have never met before and more than likely would never had met each other unless these acts of sadness occurred.

These past few days have made me think of the people in life that mean a lot, they worked their way into my heart through their actions, their love, their kindness, their smiles, their just being them!! I am forever thankful for these people, they may be blood family, adopted family, family through acts of caring, through acts of daring to care, through actions that we shared life together, in uniform, in times of dire need, because we shared each other with each other!!! Plus many other reason that I can not put into words at this time.

Besides thanking all who have that special place in each other’s life!!

I challenge each to say hi to those that mean so very much to your heart, do it now, let’s make love and caring now the way of the life. Don’t wait until some senseless tragedy makes us wish we had said hi, call, message, text or even visit if it can be done. Send them love and laughter their way, surprise it comes back. Send someone flowers, a old fashioned box of chocolates, something that you know will bring a smile. Don’t be afraid to, I have lost the fear to say I care, it will not lessen you it will make you stronger, it will make you better! These are the people that mean so very much to you!!! My challenge to you, my family, my friends, my life people’s!!!!!

Over the past few months I have begun to believe that acts of kindness are going extinct, but then as I let that thought settle in I am reminded that acts of kindness are abundant and live strongly around us. What I have done is let myself fall into headlines on the news, post on social media and wild rumors and that fly like the breeze!

When I let my eyes and ears open, I see and hear acts of kindness around all the time. Some are big, some are small, but they are real and live well around us. Someone is performing an act of kindness every moment, it may be as simple as holding a door open, offering a seat, offering to assist, sharing knowledge, mentoring someone to be better, do better, be stronger. It lives out there! I let myself fall into a trench of sad, horrific news, false hoods and so forth.

Just do something kind, good for someone, hold a door an extra second for someone, you may not get a thank you, but then you just might and a smile to boot!!

Every day I practice a random act of kindness to someone I know or to a person I’ve never met, These acts of kindness are a part of me, they are part of what makes me ME!

Sometimes I feel like people think that I am crazy, strange and whatever because I practice this, it did bother me that some would not even acknowledge the kindness, but no more, don’t need that acknowledgment, just need to know that the kindness comes from my heart and it shall always remain that way to the day I am called back home!!

So if you are the beneficiary of an act of kindness from me or from another, be thankful that someone gave you such a special gift. Go out and do the same to someone you know or don’t know, just get out there and do it!!! Thanks from my heart to yours!!!

The 2017 season has come to a close, but the memories and smiles along the way shall last a lifetime!! I have been following and supporting Texas State Softball program for many years, if you have followed this blog you already know this. If you are new you will find that I have a passion for this program and all the folks involved with this program. My level of support is meager in comparison to other supporters of this program. My support comes through a lens and  a camera, through my heart, soul and mind. When possible I attempt to capture moments and preserve memories with the lens!! I quote from two great people, one who is considered one of the greatest in baseball and the other who was considered to be one of the greatest in the world of photography.

Lou Gehrig –  “Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”

I am the luckiest man because I am witness to such a awesome program as Texas State Softball, and capture the moment of heart, hustle, determination, smiles that have made “Dreams Become Reality on The Field”

Ansel Adams – “Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.”

I Thank God that I do get to places when God is ready to have somebody click the shutter!

Been fortunate to capture many memories and moments of some of the greatest young ladies as they play with all their heart and make it look so easy! Been clicking the shutter for many years now and each year my passion grows because of the talent of each and every one of these fine young women, their coaches, the parents that give so much so that their kids can make their dreams become reality. All across this great nation in many schools from coast to coast some young girl is putting on a uniform, tying on a pair of cleats, taking swings, fielding grounders, fly balls and getting dirty and it’s great, it’s awesome! I am fortunate to be part of The Bobcat Family and I Thank God for all the great folks I have met and will meet!! Y’all make the heart smile! It’s been a Texas State Affair that I LOVE! How many people can be proud of having an affair, I can and DO!

Thank you to all the great women that have gotten dirty on the Field, past, present and future!! Thank you to everyone that makes this program a winner! You renew the youth of my heart!!!

Family

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Family

Has it been a year? Yes it has!

It has been a year since I underwent surgery to repair an abdominal aneurism which the doctors informed me would kill me within a year. Through their gifted hands the surgery went well, with help from A Friend (God)!

The past year has been filled with some rough roads, but it has smoothed out a lot, I survived the operation, moved into a new home (my own!) and am back to LIFE!

During this time I found out a lot about me and am still learning about me. I also found out a lot about people, my family, my friends and co-workers. I was going to write about the rough time, but I have decided that does no one any good, we all have rough times and mine are nothing special. But what is special are the people who came into LIFE with me and have stayed with me and have made LIFE so much better and brighter!!

I am and shall forever be your friend, your family member, we may not agree on everything and that would scare me if we did! I am guilty of not always seeing the good in all around me, but I am much better at seeing the good that you have given with an open heart, you have extended an open hand and picked me up when I was falling on my butt, you have steadied me when my gait was wobbly, you have shown me sunshine on a cloudy day, you have given me a smile and something to smile about when I thought there were no smiles left around. You have showed me that I can still hit a homerun and still protect home plate like a warrior or like Yogi Berra (my idol) and sometimes I talk like him too!

I have been blessed by you, By The Father and Son and a cat and dog! The road still unfurls before me and you and I shall remain on the road trying to do the right thing and share a smile with those on the road besides me!

I want to say thank you to a not so long list of people (you who are close know who you are). I will say that you renewed the drive to survive and seek the smiles that LIFE has to offer. I can never repay or say thank you enough, but when my day comes to stand before The Father I will ask Him to bring you into The Place where joy and peace are eternal, this I will ask for you before me, for you are the best the God has placed on this earth, you are “The Gems, The True Treasures of LIFE”!!

Thank you for being LIFE for me! God Bless You Always!! Not afraid to say “I Love YOU”!!

“We Deliver” or should I say I deliver!

Over the past few weeks I remind myself of a class I went to years ago, a sociologist from UTSA gave the class and started it off with a story that has stayed with me for many years and has been brought forward over the past few weeks due to others action and inaction.

The story goes like this.

There is young boy that delivers food to area residents and businesses in the area; he is always seen running through the streets making deliveries all day long. Always running making deliveries, the kid is stopped one day by a business owner and asked why you always running making deliveries, the young kid stops and tells the business owner, “People always like their Fries hot!” The business owner just looks at the kid and smiles, thanks him and the kid goes off running to the next delivery!

It may seem like nothing for a moment, but think about it, you have to admit you like when your fries are hot!

The lesson here is that when you are doing something or providing service to others, you should always do and give your best! Some days you get a good tip, somedays you don’t, somedays you make the other person smile, somedays you don’t get the smile. But no matter what you do, you should always give your best, for you may get the big smile, the good tip, but most of all you get the feeling inside that you have given your best to others.

I can say that there have been periods of my life that I did not run while delivering the fries, but as I have gotten older and maybe wiser I find that making the run to deliver whatever is my goal.

From taking photos and sharing them with the folks involved or doing my job keeping people on the move and safe I move to get it done in a timely manner and give my best! I don’t run anymore up and down the street, age has taken that away from me, but I step out a purpose so that they get their fries hot!

So whatever you do in your life, if you provide a service to others, to family, to friends give it your best, and don’t forget you are making the delivery!

For those folks that can’t or don’t want to make the effort, don’t be surprised if your fries arrive cold!!

Thank you to all my friends that stop by and check out my blog and for being there!!

A happy 4th of July!! Hope all had a fun and safe 4th with many smiles shared?

Independence Day holds different means for me these days, instead of BBQ’s, beach time or fun stuff I took the time to share time with a departed friend. A man that I’ve only known for a few years but felt like I’ve known for a lifetime. Took time this morning to go to the national cemetery and visit with him, brought a bottle of Garrison Brothers Bourbon which he introduced to me some years back and took me on a tour of the distillery. A grand tour and a fun time which has turned into a lifetime memory. Sat at the headstone and had a conversation, talking about photography, a shared interest and passion for the both of us!  Spoke of family, friends and times good and bad.

After the visit, made my way to main post and recalled the times when I was young, fit and never wrong!! I reflected and found that boy was I wrong so many times and how I have grown into a better person over the many years that have passed since those days in a uniform, how this person has learned to care deeper and not forget the folks who took the time to care and show it. Those folks that make each day better by the fact that I know they share this life with me and you. I reflected on the many times spent doing my duty near and far, the many faces, places that I have seen and looked toward heaven and said Thank You to The Father for providing all those sights!

Again I find myself wishing all those great people a thank you for the deepest part of my heart, a place where you shall reside forever!! I hope that all had a great Independence Day spent with the ones that make you smile, feel cared for and loved!!

Until the next time, stay safe, keep a smile on and share a smile with others!!

Pete

Happy Independence Day!!

The time has come to attempt to return to normal! The last three months have been a whirlwind in some ways and slow grueling torture in others. The one for sure thing I have gained from this time is who are truly standing with you when the times are the most difficult. For one has been The Father and His Son Jesus! I don’t as a norm speak of Them but without Them and some others this would have been my loneliest time.

I have been fortunate and blessed to have some great family and a few friends that are family, so the term friends really means family!!!

Surgery was performed on April 20 and on June 27 I will return to work, as I need to and must to keep a roof over my head and to keep my mind from being taken over by boredom and depression, but that is not what this entry is about.

It is about the great family that stayed with me through this ordeal and a not mentioned ordeal that is still being worked out.

The recovery is not done, but the time has come to get back into life and save my mind.

Still looking for a new home and home that I can call my own! This process is slow and so new to me! But again lucky to have family that is there and pushing me in the right directions.

What I want this entry to be about is that during this difficult time I have surrounded by the greatest family, the family that is  meant for me! Thank you to all that opened their hand and heart to me during this difficult time, you shall always be in my heart, my mind and my soul for without you this entry would not be here!! Although I don’t express it enough and openly, you are loved and appreciated. Pete

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