The words chosen for One Community to celebrate the start of April are perfect for this time of year – they celebrate the arrival of spring and the promise that the new season holds: SPRING – FLOWERS – PURPLE – RISE

Now that all the snow is finally (!) gone from around here, signs of spring are starting to appear. Among all of the downed trees and limbs from the winter, there are glimpses of green and buds pushing through the dirt an onto limbs. The most evidence so far is the light coating of pollen on my dark colored car. In the absence of grabbing local pictures, I’ll pull some pictures from my March travels to Washington DC & London.

Spring | While enjoying some sight seeing via double decker bus on a Monday afternoon, I saw numerous green parks in London that just seemed to “scream” spring is here – the lush green lawns, the bright yellow of daffodils in bloom, people out & about in the parks.

Flowers | My quick trip to Washington DC last month was just ahead of when the famous cherry blossoms are in fully bloom explosion. While walking past the Native American museum, we saw this bit of bloom starting to emerge.

Purple | The only purple in this travel collection is a blurry shot of huge orchids in the Conservatory at the National Botanic Garden.

Rise | Amelia Earhart’s plane at the National Air & Space Museum. Pretty much every where you looked in the museum, “rise” was an appropriate word.

Connecting with One Community – to learn more about this monthly photo blog link-up, Sarah’s host entry has all the details.

I had several different ways I had thought of representing the February One Community words: STYLE – HEIRLOOM – HEARTBEAT – WARM. In the end, I decided to go with one picture that I think sums up the words.

The fireplace & mantel are obviously a focal point of my living room. And as I have looked this space “a lot” this winter, especially the last week of snow & ice & a bit of no power & 5 days of no connectivity, I see a representation of each of these words together in one spot.

Style – The plates on the walls are from adventures with family & friends – each tells a story. The street markets in Florence with my sister. A favorite potter from my time in Marinette. A plate from Rebecca’s trip to Turkey. A tile from La Purisima Mission in Lompoc, CA – a favorite place to go when we lived there. And more.

Heirloom – The pewter candlestick is from my great grandmother’s boarding house. These days, it houses an LED candlestick that comes on every evening. A connection from the past housing “the newest” light.

Heartbeat – The picture frames capture moments with those most dear to me. Times with these folks definitely top the highlight reel.

Warmth – This fireplace provides all sorts of warmth: both actual heat and visual warmth. For the most part, I rarely turn my heater on – instead, I turn this on for a few minutes & before long all is warm and the more minutes it is on the toastier the room gets & the heat flows back to the other rooms. Last Wednesday morning I had the fireplace on while watching the news about the ice storm when the power went out – I kept the fireplace on until power was restored 8 hours later – at times the apt was “too hot” & I might have had the windows open on a winter day, but I knew that I would want the heat that night if the power didn’t come back.

Connecting into One Community hosted by Sarah.

As one way to be blogging on a regular basis, this year I’m participating in some blog link-ups. After “following” this one for last year, today I’m jumping into the “One Community” photography project that asks us to photograph words in our lives and communities. This month, the words are TREASURE – SILVER – RESOLUTION – WINTER.

Treasure…While home for Christmas, I snapped a picture of a family treasure that surely doesn’t look like much. This ornament has been in the family since Dad was a baby. Dad was born during WWII and this ornament seems like a snapshot of the era to me – the glass has not been metallic glazed and the top and hook are paper and string because of the metal rationing in place during the war. While this may not be the sparkliest or priciest ornament on the tree, it is one of the most treasured by our family.

Treasure

Silver…A bit of shine (and “hidden JOY“) on my Christmas tree. I had several silver stars on the tree that provided extra reflection and sparkle during the holiday glow. Not on the tree this year…silver icicles that were so tarnished they were almost brown. (Note: need to get the silver polish out & shine up several pieces…) 

Silver

Resolution…As I refocus on fitness & nutrition this year, It’s time to keep the sneakers active – walking around the neighborhood with an audio book, a lap around the office park at lunch, taking advantage of the Y membership.

Resolution

Winter…Winter arrived early here in Pennsylvania this year. Before the first day of winter in December, we had already seen 4 snow events & almost a foot of snow on the ground. This week, another six inches followed by dropping temps and bitter winds. So far, we’ve had more winter this season than we did all of last year. After several winters in Marinette (& the Chicago-Marinette white knuckle winter commutes), this is still a “mild” winter for me. However, I am enjoying my 4 mile work commute in this weather, the ability to work from home, the rumbles & beeps of the snow removal in the apt. complex, the covered carport.

Winter

I’m linking up with other bloggers today through One Community – a monthly photo project that is all about the connections between us even though we all live in different places. Sarah is hosting the link-up here.