I would love to say that, while I was waiting for my second adoption from Russia to finally happen, I waited with grace. I didn't. I ranted, I raved, I ripped out old bushes and an old patio.

Maybe that's what some of you are doing now as you wait for Moscow to get the accreditations moving again. This slowdown has seemed more nerve-wracking than the one I went through in 2005. But as I was working on another assignment last night, I was reminded of the calming, and inspirational power of an image. Of how looking at the right picture can mentally take you to a more tranquil place. And of how, when your mind gets there, it can almost take your body along with it.

For some of you, those images might already be in your home, like the picture of a relative who always had reassuring things to say. Or maybe it’s a picture of you having a silly day.

But I spend most of my day on the Internet, researching and writing stories. And I simply love the photo-sharing sites that are out there for the inspirational images they bring right to my desk top. There are free sites, like Fotki, Fotolog and my favorite, Flickr. There are also sites that require subscriptions, like SmugMug. Whatever your choice, you'll have plenty of pictures to chase away the blues for an hour or two.

I chose "steel" as my first keyword to search on this morning. I got plenty of strong images, like skyscrapers and steel bridges, but I also got a picture of a meandering stream located near Steel Bridge Road. "Wave" brings up gentle surf and big breakers, and more than a few friendly humans. Flickr has almost 1 million photos under the keyword "cloud" and more than 1 million under "sun". You can click on the photos one by one, but many of the photographers have also organized their pics into online slideshows; you can sit back and just watch the images roll by.

So pop on your favorite music, call up some great pictures, and take a break from the wait.

Image Credit: Annfrau