All we need is love ...

Love graffiti on Pensacola's Graffiti Bridge.

Today, 12/21/12, is predicted to be the end of the world. Well, if it is, this post will never be. On the other hand, the way I see it, all we need is love to set the world to rights. If we love one another, how can there be wars? How can there be hate? How can one kill another? So I'm sticking with my beliefs, that all we need is love.

Pensacola's Graffiti Bridge seems to be a sounding board for all kinds of thoughts. So I keep a running record of photos of the oft profound comments found there. I think the love graffiti says it all.

Love on the Graffiti Bridge.

There was a mixture of graffiti that day, so I'm including the original photo. The day was bright and sunny with strange little white puffs of cloud. I don't recall seeing a sky quite like that before or since.

I grew up in the '60s in the days of love, love and more love. Did we have hate back then? Yes, in the form of the Vietnam War which, in my opinion, never should have happened. That war and the draft changed us all. We had a sense back then of no future, that the end-times were near. So to counteract all that we talked of love and free love.

It's time, once again, to bring back the love. We need to love our families and friends in spite of all their flaws. We need to love those around us, those we don't even know.

I don't normally attempt to stand on a podium and preach anything.  But maybe it's time that I do? There's so much talk lately of end-times, apocalypse, 12/21/12 and the world as we know it coming to an end.  Well, maybe we need to take this day and make it a new beginning instead? Let's push for love instead of hate.

Since I'm talking about love, I thought this would be a perfect time to mention some of those books I love, old favorites and new. So here's my list, in no particular order.

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier
Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
The Geometry of Sisters by Luanne Rice
The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners by Luanne Rice
A Prologue to Love by Taylor Caldwell
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensability by Jane Austen
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
Hawaii by James Michener
Caravans by James Michener
Pale Moon Rider by Marsha Canham
Through a Dark Mist by Marsha Canham
In the Shadow of Midnight by Marsha Canham
The Last Arrow by Marsha Canham
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Darkest Knight by Gayle Callen
A Brighter Dawn by Stobie Piel
Some Like It Hotter by Deb Stover
The Widows of Wichita County by Jodi Thomas
Whispers of Heaven by Candace Proctor
The Last Knight by Candace Proctor
Hunter's Moon by Karen Robards
Northern Lights by Nora Roberts
Angels Fall by Nora Roberts
The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe
Swimming Lessons by Mary Alice Monroe
Charming the Prince by Teresa Madeiros
Midnight Rider by Kat Martin
The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey
A Veiled Journey by Nell Brien
The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
The Salaryman's Wife by Sujata Massey
Mariana by Susanna Kearsley
Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware
Whispers in the Sand by Barbara Erskine

The common thread in all these books is love. In spite of all the obstacles and hardships, love survives.  As I was saying, all we need is love ...