These guys caught my attention recently while shopping in a Mast General store in North Carolina. Sometimes, I’ll have a tender heart and find myself wanting to purchase a monkey like one of these. But then I’ll remember the time I did. I took it home as a gift to the dogs and they proceeded to rip it’s arms off in short order. So, that happy thought is something I won’t follow through on ever again.

Someone has kissed this dog on the top of it’s head!

Last week, I was in a a couple of small towns on or near Lake Erie. One, Bucyrus, Ohio, had a 3-D mural that was painted years ago on the side of a prominent city building. My friends walked up to it; and for a moment, I thought that if they kept going they would walk into the painting!

Last week as I toured a manufacturing company,  I was reminded anew that we truly are precious stones being set in a foundation of infinite love and hope. And and buffing and shaping of our lives is only meant to bring out the true color and depth of our character.

My trip north was cut short after I learned the news that my uncle had passed away, but before I left Denny and Joy managed to take me out to photograph a couple of barns. We only had a few minutes, but we all fell in love with this one. It had a new roof but its siding was in desperate need of repair.

And this barn appeared to have an old church window on its side. Everyone kept looking for red barns but I really would have been okay with white barns. They seem to fit the Pennsylvania countryside best.