new years eve

and though there be darkness
round about

let us dwell on
memories bright

and gentle mercies
through
the night



*If you have spent any time at all this year, looking at this little experimental blog of mine, I say a sincere "thank you".  Your presence out there in cyber space has meant so much to me. How would one share if there were no one to share "with". Happy New Years Eve!

**As to future "slice of life" blogs.....check out the site tomorrow. :)

december road

and how is your
journey
today

your personal odyssey?

exhilarating, exhausting
uphill or
down?

whatever it be
i hope you see
meaning
in the steps that you take

whether "closing a
deal"
making a meal
or walking the dog

could the futility
we sometimes feel

be false
reality?



*As noted in the following quote, even our smallest actions, can make a difference.

"I nod to a passing stranger, and the stranger nods back, and two human beings go off feeling a little less anonymous."  ~Robert Brault

under ice

the creek is
frozen solid

leaves
locked away
like emotions

waiting
the miraculous thaw
of
spring



* "How much has to be explored and discarded before reaching the naked flesh of feeling."     ~Caude DeBussy

the pasture

as we near the end
of another
year

i rejoice again
in simple
things




* "To find the universal elements enough; to the find the air and water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter...to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring--these are some of the rewards of the simple life."  ~John Burroughs

boone

oh, my mr. boone

watching you circle the pasture
at full speed

indeed
lifts my heart



* "I think i could turn and live with animals....
    I stand and look at them long and long....
    They do not sweat and whine about their condition.
    Not one is dissatisfied.....
    Not one is demented with the mania of owning things....
    Not one kneels to another....."
             ~ Excerpts from Walt Whitman

scene from the home place

i will never look at this picture
without thinking of
dad

in his green coveralls
and cap

coming in from the cold
and cupping my face
in his chilled calloused hands

never
ever



*"We do not remember days; we remember moments."  ~Cesare Pavese

from heaven on high

and the shepherds found
mary, joseph,
and the baby

just as it had been told to them

yes, "glory streamed down
from heaven above"

and became all that was
foretold
of Him




*May your Christmas be blessed.

like Christmas Eve

the sun
not quite
risen

but, ah
the surety
and anticipation


*"and you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger"....and they ran....

giving and receiving

carla came over last night
presents in hand
and so elegantly wrapped

(she has the gift of
"bow making")

how fun to have her
visit
before the snow sets in
and the last minute rush
of cooking

besides the beautiful tin
of homemade chocolates
(yes, i say again........."homemade")
she gave me a special pan

"in memory of our muffin making sessions"

hear me when i say
i now have a way
to make

the muffin "tops"
only

with my brand new
teflon coated
"muffin top"
baking pan!  

imagine!



*She also included a wonderful muffin recipe book that contains the most fabulous photos of muffins. Last night i had visions of muffins; not sugar plums dancing in my head. Can't wait to start baking my way through this fabulous book. Plan to visit sometime soon and taste the results.

**Remember Jo's exclamation in "Little Women"...."It won't be Christmas without any presents!"?  As "uncommercial" as we long to be in our celebration of Christmas, we must admit it really IS about gifts. There were so many that first Christmas, even if you don't include the gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I hope your Christmas is filled with many true and wonderful gifts. If you're lucky, you may even be blessed by the "giving or receiving" of a "visit",  some jelly, or a magical muffin top pan.

Christmas jelly

"we made it
yesterday"
she said
(as i took it from
the gift bag)
"mary and me"

sand plum
jelly

the sight of it
bringing back
a shaft of sunlight
through the window
of our farmhouse kitchen
those many years ago

and mom
in her apron

stirring
at the stove




*I'm not a jelly lover; even as a child, i never ate the jelly mom made. But the memories invoked by the sight of this jar were invaluable. Thanks ann.......and be assured that my husband and sons will definitely delight in the jelly!

hide and seek

when i look at you, oh mirror
i see a part of me

the outward only

a shadow
of reality

the part, (though chipped and worn)
i can perk up
quickly

but beautifying
the heart in me?

now, that's another
story



*"If i make the lashes dark
   and the eyes more bright
   And the lips more scarlet
   Or ask if all be right
   From mirror after mirror
   No vanity's displayed:
   I'm looking for the face i had
   Before the world was made."

       ~From the poem "A Woman, Young and Old" by William Yeats

donkey

'twas such a one
as this

carried mary
into bethlehem

carried the Christ child too

the Prince of Peace
enters history
on the back of a colt

by His choosing


*I am in awe of  an all powerful GOD who chooses common ways to visit common men for most uncommon purposes.

** Isn't it interesting that days before His death, Christ again chose a donkey.  This time for His ride into Jerusalem. (See Luke 19:30)

pear tree in december

the tender white blossoms
have fluttered away
like so many snowflakes

the leaves fallen
too

but look at her!

look at her
splendor



*"Of winter's lifeless world each tree
   Now seems a perfect part
   Yet each one holds summer's secret
   Deep down within its heart."
             ~Charles D. Stater


** We have lived on our property for almost 20 years and i think it safe to say, that it wasn't until yesterday, that i really noticed the beauty of the "pear trees in december."

collaboration

isn't it amazing
that man and all creation

are welcomed

into collaboration

the miracle of Christmas

there
was
a manger

there
was
a baby

and the world has never
been
the same


*"Shall i ever be able to read that story again?.....will you tell it to me Aslan? Oh, do, do, do."
"Indeed yes, I will tell it to you for years and years." 

    ~ (Lucy and Aslan from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis)

"you must become as children"

as a friend said recently,
"they don't worry about heaven
because, in a way, they are
already there"

abstract berries

yea
for the way

color stands out
in
winter


*"I felt a tremendous affinity for Van Gogh's feeling for the things he painted, and how he exaggerated the colors of sky, chairs, faces, to bring them to almost more than life."   ~Susan Rothenberg

rough places

all of our journeys
have
rough places

times of getting
bogged down

we slip, slide
and hope to
keep on going

and usually we do

but sometimes
the wheels sink deep
we're buried to the axels
"a snowball's chance in hell" (as dad
would say)
of getting out

alone,
that is


*" Because he clings to me, I will deliver him.
    When he calls to me, I will answer him.
    I will be with him in trouble.
    I will rescue him and honor him."   
                                     ~Psalms 91:14

decorating

let us
deck the halls
with jubilant joy
for the baby boy

born

in a
stable


*"...for there was no room for them in the inn."  ~Luke 2:7b

mr. squirrel

hurry little fella

the wind is picking up
the temperatures falling

head on home
and snuggle
in


*"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food, and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:  it is the time for home." ~Edith Sitwell

adorned

nature
is readying
for Christmas

puppy

oh little bulldog!

your wrinkly face
lends a lighthearted
grace
to my day

were you sent down
with your serious frown
to say

"smile"?



*"Keep smiling. It makes people wonder what you've been up to."   ~anon.

weeds

i wonder how long it will be
before wind
or heavy snow
takes them to the ground

and i wonder how they came
to be called
weeds

they look to me
like remnants of
royalty


*"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting--a wayside sacrament.  Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing."   ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

birds on a wire

they're like a group of farmers
having coffee
at the diner

one
chatters away
loud and long

one may disagree

the others?

they just hold their peace
and maybe look
the other way



*"The older i grow, the more i listen to people who don't talk much."  ~Germain G. Glien

whimsical world

oh the mystical
magical
hours

of fairies and
animal kingdoms

of bunnies who talk
and are naughty

of moles, frogs
beavers
little bears
and other creatures

let us never become
so wise or vain
that we feign interest

in the wonderful world
of
whimsy

barn scene

the gates
crooked

the horseshoes waiting
for another day

quiet
comes
the evening

toward evening

it's early december
and i pause here
to remember

my tender
magnificent
God


* "The whole earth is full of His glory."   ~Is. 6:3b

lesson from a crow

he chose the highest
possible spot

turning his gaze
up to the heavens

not d
      o
      w
      n
         to the ground

he is
to me
this morning

a profile
of courage

horizon lines

where i come from
the horizon is often seen
through layers

like looking into heaven
with the eyes
of faith



*"In the presence of eternity, mountains are as transient as clouds."  ~anon

tick, tick, tick

7:36 and the clock ticks on

i am given this day
to do with
what i will

late autumn air
beckons
the dog, ready to run,
people to visit
life passing on

as i contemplate the choices

a man speeds by
in a pickup truck
stirring up dust
and gravel

tick

oh Father above,
have mercy on your children

he who ponders
and he who
hastens hurriedly



* "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.    ~Carl Sandburg

all because i looked at the schedule wrong

yesterday
i went to the gym
to take a bender
ball
pilates class

unfortunately
it was the wrong day
and alas!
there was no class

forntunately, i had taken my son's i-pod
(with his permission)
(i don't have my own)

anyway. . . . . .

i turned on the treadmill
turned on the pod
and started walking

and it only took
one song
                to   t r a n s p o r t   me
           out of the gym

into the enchanted world
of music

i closed my eyes
for most of an hour
and walked into the
grassy rhythms
and melodies

soon i found myself
on bleeker street
and then j.t.
was telling me
to shower the people i love
with love

sometime later
i made my way through
a warsaw ghetto
led by the violin of
ishtak pearlman and
william's
shindler's list

i sautered through pastures green
as praise
raised high

and ambled through meadows of
folk song
my heart wrung
with pride for a son

who chose such music
as this

harmonies and hints of yearning
for truth
and simplicity

i usually see with my eyes
but that special day
gave way
to seeing with my ears

and with my
heart



*"There is nothing in the world so much like prayer, as music." ~William Merrill

**Thank you son, for sharing your music and your soul.