Nothing Tops a Rainbow

Top of Niagara from the Top of our hotel!

So this is my entry for the April #Square Tops Photo Challenge. Rainbows… they are on ‘Top of the World’, and let’s face it… few things can bring a smile to your face like the beauty of a rainbow!

My first photo was taken at Niagara Falls from the gorgeous touristy mecca of the Canadian side. Our somewhat newly blended family was taking an epic excursion through Canada to visit my family in Ontario, New Brunswick and breathtaking Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. This was the first time my husband and his twins had ever seen Niagara Falls up close and personal. It was also the first stop on our 10 day adventure, and this was the awe-inspiring view when we opened the door to our hotel room. Talk about an incredible start to our amazing family vacation!

Top Priority for the Top of the Week!

This next picture is my rainbow of ribbons I have been cutting for my face mask production line. Our county in Maryland announced an executive order that goes into effect today for the requirement to wear face masks while shopping. I had already been gearing up to begin my batch sewing for our family, local hospitals and recently heard that the police department was looking for face masks, as well. Originally, my goal was to sew 150 face masks, but I have grown to realize that the needs of our community and nation are escalating. I sifted through my bins and drawers to find suitable materials, then placed multiple orders to meet my original goal. Now I’m looking forward to our COVID-19 stimulus money so I can buy more ribbon, elastic & fabrics! We’re gonna need it!

Top priority for the Top of the Morning! 😉

And finally, this is my husband’s rainbow… and his personal Easter miracle when the Nespresso box showed up next to our garage door a week earlier than the estimated delivery date. 🙂

If you would like to join in the photo fun, these are the themes, which you can read more about by visiting Becky’s website, “Life of B” – Top of the Morning to You:

1. On Top of the World – summit, crown, peak or uppermost part of something
2. Under the Big Top – topping or covering (or if you’re really lucky circus)
3. Room at the Top – first or highest in position
4. Cherry on Top – something made even more wonderful by becoming square
5. Top and Tail – or maybe you’d prefer to play around with word combinations such as top dog, top stitch, top full, top line, top fruit, top hat, top secret, top knot, top drawer and top dollar!

On Top of the World

Top of the Hill in Ogunquit Beach, ME

This is my first submission to The Life of B Photo Challenge. This quarter’s “April Squares” challenge is a celebration of ‘Tops’, so as a nice transition from her January ‘Light’ challenge, I’m entering my Hilltop Sunrise photo taken from Marginal Way in gorgeous Ogunquit, Maine. Ahhh, how I would love to be sitting on that bench with a cup of coffee right now! This particular weekend in March, we were on a college road trip to visit a first choice university up North. It was just after the bomb cyclone had settled off the coast of Cape Cod, so the ocean was incredibly powerful…

...and on Top of the Rocks!

When you experience that kind of power in nature, it’s a reminder that there is something… rather SomeONE greater than all of us, who created this universe and is able to handle all that we cannot control… especially now in these days of uncertainty.

I especially love the third picture in this challenge with the waves crashing against the rocks and my youngest daughter is standing in the front confidently, almost defiantly… unmoved by the thunderous surf. To fully appreciate the significance of this image, you have to understand that this has been a particularly tough season for my daughter. In January 2017, she sustained a concussion during a normal PE class at school. Another student threw a basketball across the gym, that struck her on the side of the head, and dramatically changed the course of her teen years. What we thought would resolve in a few weeks, evolved into considerable loss of her vision for the next six months. Our world completely shifted as I dropped everything to adapt all of her lessons to her academic needs at home with the help of a home teacher assigned by the county, just so we could get her across her academic finish line. Once her vision returned that summer, following intensive medical therapies and treatments by teams of doctors, nurses and various therapists, at Sinai Hospital and Kennedy Krieger Institute, her daily migraine headaches began to intensify. Finally in June 2018, after 3 days on ‘migraine cocktail’ IV’s at Johns Hopkins Pediatric Hospital, she experienced her first 24 hours of migraine relief in 17 months… Since then, she has continued treatment at Hopkins, Krieger and Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital to try to navigate her new life in the aftermath of her traumatic brain injury… still pushing through and managing the pain, still looking for solutions.

As her mother and her primary caretaker, you can imagine the range of emotions I have experienced. So in an odd way, with all that has recently rocked our world, I almost feel like I was prepared for this COVID-19 wave to hit. I don’t mean to downplay the seriousness or the impact this virus has had on individuals, our country or our world. I have simply learned how to roll with the challenges of unexpected happenings and unfolding circumstances. This is where we are… and we are all in it together. The sun will rise tomorrow, and we will start over with the new day, hopefully moving forward. And if we need to stop to take a breath, it’s okay…. take a moment… just don’t live there, and I mean that with love in my heart… Put on your fuzzy pajamas, eat a bucket of popcorn while you watch a movie that makes you laugh until you cry, then let it out, Sister… or Brother!… Let the rain… fall… dowwnnn… Then without touching your face with your ungloved hands, wipe your eyes with a tissue or your sleeve if you’ve run out of tissue… run a comb through your hair or polish that shine, slap on your good looks and step into the next day! You can do this… We all can do this… We need to do this for each other.

Sending you so much love, beautiful sunrises & healing prayers! XO