Spring is always such a beautiful time of renewal. And it’s right around the corner…
Celebrating life!
~Ana
photo
A Bright Future Begins With You
The future is an open landscape resting at our feet. We each define it, day by day, through our perception of it and the steps we knowingly choose to take.
By perpetuating the good, we can make it a bright, shining playground for all!
~Ana
Lazy Day on the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, Washington State
I apologize for my long term absence here! There’s much updating to do, but that will have to wait for another day. Currently I’m back up in Washington State to visit my father, family, and this time around, to attend a school reunion. It’s been a great visit so far and here’s a shot from earlier day: the Skagit River in western Washington state. More photos and stories to come!
Hope you’ve all been well. Speak with you soon! 😀
~Ana
My Little Slice of Heaven
I wanted to share my special place—just a couple blocks from my home. It’s where I feel like I can connect with the rest of the world.
Wishing all my friends a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter. Be well!
~Ana
“Freedom on the Wing” – By Ana Livingston
It’s all about being at the right place at the right time.
“Freedom on the Wing” Photography Copyright © 2014 by Ana Livingston. All Rights Reserved
My Heart and the Last Light of Day
There’s something magical about watching the sun calmly drift across a room.
After arriving home, I’d placed my earrings on a nearby table and burrowed under a soft blanket on the couch. While the sun continued its gentle march and evening slowly consumed the last light of day, it was by chance I looked down at this moment: when my heart danced to life.
Life truly is beautiful, isn’t it?
~Ana
Sending Warm Thoughts to My Northern Friends
I am originally from the islands in the Pacific Northwest and from there moved up into the mountains (I am adventurous that way). I lived on a plot of land that bordered the National Forest. The air was fresh, our creek’s water was pure glacial run-off, and there were firs and pines as far as the eye could see. Idyllic.
After a wonderful first summer and beautiful fall, winter struck on the first of November. I found myself buried under snow for the next six months of my life. One quickly learns at a point such as this that you have a choice: do or die.
Needless to say I got very adept with a snow shovel (and later a snow blower) but even those tools didn’t do much in handling the constant physical (and mental) strain that arises from trying to carry on with even the simplest of daily activities.
I now reside on the Suncoast of Florida, but that does not mean I don’t have compassion and an understanding of what you folks up north are enduring. We are thinking of you down here and hope it ends very shortly.
From me to you, here’s a little something to warm your day:
Chin up!
Love,
On My Birthday this September 27th…
…I will be happily maintaining the style and decorum for which I’m known…
Enjoying life to the very last crumb.
Happy Birthday to me. 🙂
~Ana
Mariah June and a Sherbert Sunset – Clearwater, Florida
It’s another calm and colorful late evening. Seated is my daughter, Mariah June, enjoying the few last moments of a setting sun here in Old Clearwater Bay. In the distance is one of the beautiful barriers islands to the mainland: Clearwater Beach.
A nature woman just like her mother; my youngest, Mariah June
This sunset is a wonderful gradient of sherbert hues: yellow through to orange, pink, purple, and finally blending to blue. The tide is out, offering many treats for the seabirds and a warm breeze glides silently over the water with nary a care. It’s almost magical.
Wishing my friends an equally serene and carefree weekend.
~Ana
Poolside on the 4th of July Weekend
What a glorious weekend it is; low 90’s with a nice breeze, constant boat traffic to and fro in the Intracoastal Waterway, and I am enjoying every moment, in and out of the pool.
I’m downwind from someone’s great smelling bbq!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. My best to you all!
The water temperature is a little coolish. Perfect on a hot day!
~Ana
“The Grandness That Is You” by Ana Livingston
What is the value of a woman
Filled with the wonder of you?
One who loves you despite all
Who never sees shortcomings
Just the grandness that is you?
~Ana
Copyright © 2009 Ana Livingston. All rights reserved.
“I See Life” by Ana Livingston
Many see nothing ahead but a menacing storm.
What do you see?
I see a gentle road through dappled hills of green; a chance to fuse myself with the swirling clouds above; to catch the sweet scent of grass and trees.
I welcome the strong, cooling winds, the torrential rain about to fall, the lightning that will enliven me. Such serendipity to be here at just the right moment.
I don’t see danger ahead. I see life.
~Ana
Copyright © 2009 Ana Livingston. All rights reserved.
A Walk Down Memory Lane: 1943 Group Photo from MGM
This is a promotional photo of many of the actors under contract with MGM at the time of the studio’s 20th birthday party:
Recognize anyone?
1st Row: James Stewart, Margaret Sullivan, Lucille Ball, Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Louis B. Mayer, Greer Garson, Irene Dunne, Susan Peters, Ginny Simms, Lionel Barrymore.
2nd Row: Harry James, Brian Donlevy, Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, William Powell, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Taylor, Pierre Aumont, Lewis Stone, Gene Kelly, Jackie Jenkins.
3rd Row: Tommy Dorsey, George Murphy, Jean Rogers, James Craig, Donna Reed, Van Johnson, Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt, Ruth Hussey, Marjorie Main, Robert Benchley.
4th Row: Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Keenan Wynn, Diana Lewis, Marilyn Maxwell, Esther Williams, Ann Richards, Marta Linden, Lee Bowman, Richard Carlson, Mary Astor.
5th Row: Blanche Ring, Sara Haden, Fay Holden, Bert Lahr, Frances Gifford, June Allyson, Richard Whorf, Frances Rafferty, Spring Byington, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper.
6th Row: Ben Blue, Chill Wills, Keye Luke, Barry Nelson, Desi Arnaz, Henry O’Neill, Bob Crosby, Rags Ragland.
Hope this brought back some great memories.
~Ana
The Sleeping Giant Awoke
Well, I’m back.
It’s odd to think that those three little words are the first line of my long-overdue post while simultaneously being the last line of a long, yet very epic novel (spoiler alert for that link). At any rate, it’s been awhile, eh? Probably 3 months. And I’ve missed you. 🙂
I have been wrapped up in this and that, and well…you know how life goes. In deciding the content for my first post in so many months, I thought of my time in Hawaii so many years go.
I had just graduated high school at age 17, my step-grandfather had passed away, and I was asked by my grandmother to accompany her (with parental permission) to Hawaii that next winter. My family and I were living on the west coast at that time, and I had always wanted to experience the islands; all the while growing up they seemed so close but at the same time a million miles away. Now my dreams were to become reality.
Winter came and I found myself boarding my very first airplane to a new world. We left a frozen land, crossed an endless sea, and ultimately landed in an oasis of sun, fun and surf. The two of us then proceeded to travel the normal tourist route of shops, hotels and marketplaces in bustling multi-cultural Oahu.
I have to admit that Oahu—or The Gathering Place— being the busiest and most tourist-friendly of the islands, did not resonate with me. After due time I was happy to find myself finally climbing a tarmac staircase onto a rickety puddle jumper destined for Maui.
Now, this was many years ago, mind you, and probably at least 2 dozen major hotels have since been built on the leeward side of the Valley Isle, and built in what I remember as being “nothing more” than pineapple and sugar cane fields at the foot of the West Maui Mountains. In those days it was a magnificent sight and one I never grew tired of.
The West Maui Mountains back when pineapple and sugar cane fields ruled the shorelines.
After the Maui experience we flew up to the northernmost island, Kauai. The Garden Isle, at that time, was scarcely populated and I recall there being a building restriction in place: a maximum of 5 stories. Consequently, it kept the hotel chains to the bigger islands and the result on Kauai was that you were surrounded by the native culture, which I had come to love.
I stayed in a hut on the Wailua River. Banana trees grew in the front “yard” which seamlessly merged with the shoreline.
For a short time I stayed in a very small cabin on the Wailua River. This was a calm and quiet time, and I somehow escaped ever viewing the boat that would take sunburned tourists up the river to see the famed Fern Grotto.
The famous lava-rock grotto covered with hanging ferns otherwise known as the Fern Grotto. Kauai, Hawaii.
I was more content to pick ripening bananas off the trees by the shoreline or crossing over the road and down the hill to collect shells on the beach by Kapaa Town. And then, there were always the moonrises…
Moonrise on the shore of the Wailua River. Otherworldly, to be sure.
Kauai is known for many things, one of them being the mountain range that serves as the resting place for the mighty Sleeping Giant (Nounou Mountain). As Hawaiian legend goes, the giant (after much labor or overeating….or both,) laid down on the mountain ridge and never again rose.
This island also holds the record as having one of the rainiest spots on Earth: Mount Waialeale (Hawaiian: overflowing water). Rain has fallen more than 340 days within a single year here, and has at least once accumulated close to 700 inches of annual rainfall. The result is endless green.
The “Wall of Tears”: a mountainside in the crater atop Mount Waialeale, Kauai.
It’s interesting that I recalled these memories today, and perhaps even more interesting to me that I decided to share them. Simply put: Hawaii was a life-changing experience for me all those many years ago. It was there that I decided what I wanted to be in life—truly.
Is that to say I haven’t taken a detour now and again? No. But at least I knew when I had wandered, and which was the right path when I’d finally made my way out of the wilderness.
Well, I’m back.
~Ana
Another View of Clearwater Beach, Florida
This is from my sunset stroll in the Old Clearwater Bay area this evening: Clearwater Beach, which just recently was voted “Florida’s Best Beach Town 2013” by USA Today.
Looking west from the mainland city of Clearwater out to Clearwater Beach, Florida
That’s what’s new in my world.
Hope everyone’s week got off to a calm start…
~Ana
Dinner on the Beach (Clearwater Beach, Florida)
Clearwater Beach, Florida. The sunsets here are incredible.
To New Beginnings…from Ana
To new beginnings…
My very best to all my friends in the coming year. Let’s make those dreams come true.
Love,
Ana
Happy Holidays from Ana Livingston
Tis the season, my friends. I am wishing you the very best in the coming year.
Just walked through my dining room and this was waiting for me. Happy Holidays.
Sunset from my Patio
A friend of mine is traveling Europe and the Far East for a month or so. I’m housesitting and loving it. I’ve temporarily traded in my Gulf view for that of a calm lake. No complaints here.
Sunset on the lake. Peaceful times.
Backyard Bougainvillea: A Flower Within a Flower
I took a few moments this morning to idle away in my sun-filled backyard. Amazing what you can discover with just a turn of your head.
Bougainvillea thriving in my backyard.
~Ana
Mariah June’s Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
I am so ridiculously proud of my daughter, Mariah June.
Mariah June: Actress, Vocalist, Photographer and Screenwriter, and on her way to mastering the Culinary Arts. Photograph courtesy of Mariah June
She’s a true Renaissance woman and has added the culinary arts to her long list of artistic skills:
Mariah June’s Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. Photograph courtesy of Mariah June.
Bon Appétit!
~Ana
Sunset in Dunedin. Florida
Sunset in Dunedin. Photograph by Ana Livingston
This Really Cuts to the Heart of the Matter…
Happy October to All, Near and Far!
Good morning one and all! It’s October! And that means for me, here on the Suncoast of Florida, that tolerable weather is almost upon us! 😉
Beautiful Autumn is on its way!
I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend and speak to you soon!
~Ana
Fine Artist & Muralist
www.ana-livingston.com
www.clearwatermural.com
www.themakingofamural.com
Ana Livingston, Fine Artist and Muralist: A Photograph
My Hand-Picked Bouquet from Dunedin Edgewater Park
I hope you find this as lovely as I did.
~Ana
Ana Livingston
Fine Artist & Muralist
www.ana-livingston.com
www.clearwatermural.com
www.themakingofamural.com
