The Kisses of an Angel in January

The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly. ~G.K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy"

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. ~George Elliot

The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.
Umberto Eco

William of Baskerville: How peaceful life would be without love, Adso. How safe, how tranquil... and how dull. ~ from The Name of the Rose

A day of sunshine rapidly turned to rain. Just as the sky turned dark and wet, Dixie and I captured this shot of the small angel in our cemetary.

My first shot of this was at Easter last year with daffodils at her feet.

Easter seems a long way away.

Today is Umberto Eco's birthday. A photograph of an angel seems a good way to pay homage...

I have allowed myself to slip into that netherland of despair. I am trying to remember how hope feels and tastes. I am trying to remind myself of all I have yet to accomplish... of all that I have to offer my small world. I am trying to remember that life is a gift.

I saw an angel today
It was trapped in stone

I sighed with the beauty of it
I longed to see life in its wings

With a dog at my heels
and eyes firmly shut

I almost felt angel's breath
on my cold, pink cheek

When the sun turns warm
I will remember this day

And know that on a winter's day
full of despair
I was kissed by an angel