Peace on Mother Earth

Susan

WINTER IS HERE

     

         HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE TO ALL

         MAY IT BE WARM AND BRIGHT

Poetry Wednesday/Winter Is Upon Us

"The stag bells, winter snows, summer has gone
Wind high and cold, the sun low, short its course
The sea running high.
Deep red the bracken; its shape is lost;
The wild goose has raised its accustomed cry,
Cold has seized the birds' wings;
Season of ice, this is my news."
-   Irish poem, 9th Century

some thoughts about the winter from an Irish poet of very long ago

enjoy

Return to the Poetry Wednesday Tour

susan

The first Day of the Rest of My Life

That's  a photo of my sister Robin and myself in Vegas for my 60th birthday. Bit on the gray side as I was trying an experiment with the hair. It didn't work. so of course you now see me with my original color red.

So yesterday I celebrated the start of my 64th year on this planet. My favorite place to be. I find it strange the way we celebrate the anniversaries of our births. We look back at how many years we have been here instead of looking forward to what is coming up. Our birthday is the beginning of a new year not the end of the old. The day before the birthday is the end of the old, 63 years on this earth. Whoa, that's a lot. I just keep pushing on though. I am glad at the way I have lived those years since I spent them having a rocking and rolling time. Also loving and caring for my most precious of fur kids. Making and keeping the best of friends. That is really important to me. Friends. Of course you are looking at my best of friends, my dear and most wonderful sister/ We have had our ups and downs over the years but she is the most important person in the whole world to me.

Well now I can really start to gear up for the holidays. I always use to wait till after the birthday to start celebrating but lately since I have so many clients coming to my home I have started decorating right after thanksgiving. I do love those christmas decorations, the tree, the green boughs for solstice, which I did just bring in this weekend. Everyone enjoys them, especially me. Solstice is just around the corner, and I can't wait for that sun to start coming up earlier. Been burning the candles every night and I will see in the winter solstice sunrise with them burning.

Christmas morning the fur kids will have been visited by Santa Paws, they do love those toys, I will take Sadie for the long walk, have my collection of classical, Renaissance and medieval records of Christmas music playing. I am the only person I know who still has a phonograph, just to play this great collection I have. No jingle bells here. I may not be a christian or believer in god but I must say no more beautiful music was written that for the birth of the christ child. Big breakfast and then off to the New York family in Arizona with Sadie to spend the rest of the day. This is my secular traditional christmas.

I may not be around much the next couple of weeks so I want to wish you all a very warm and bright Solstice and a very merry christmas and a really great new year.

Susan

Happy Chanukah

 

A happy Chanukah to everyone.

The Jewish Festival of Lights. An eight day commemoration of the Maccabees' re-dedication of the Temple after their victory over the Syrians. The holiday begins to night at sundown.

This is how the Menorah will look on the eighth night of Chanukah. The middle candle is the one all the others are lighted from.

 

Poetry Wednesday/Happy Birthday Laurita

Poet and Singer. This is my present to you. I love this song/poem. I hope you will too.

Happy Birthday Laurita

 Return to the Poetry Wednesday Party Page/Tour.

Susan

Discover the Cosmos/ Comet Tail

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2009 December 6

The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught
Credit & Copyright: Robert H. McNaught

The storm is Here

Well you know it doesn't look like that because I live in Arizona but, I just love looking at that snow. That photo was taken by a friend back in NYC about three years ago. Big blizzard, which is probably what they are having in Flagstaff about 40 minutes north of Cottonwood where I live. We are getting the rain they promised. If it had just been a bit colder we might have been lucky enough to get a bit of that snow.

The whole valley is covered in clouds. You would never know there are mountains all around us. I think when this all clears there will be snow on them too. Our mountains are only about 5000 feet where Flag is about 7500 so they get the real weather up there. We still could get snow if the conditions get worse. Please, please.

You may think I am nuts but snow here isn't bad. It very rarely sticks on the roads just on the ground, which is the best type of snow. Back in the 60's they did have a big blizzard here in town, got about a foot or more of snow, roofs caved in, it was bad. When I first moved out here 13 years ago, we still got great snow in December, first year we got about 6 inches, of course that was the only time it snowed that year. Since the draught has gotten worse, no snow. It's sad. I love snow. I sometimes wonder what the hell I am doing out here. Even though I am in Northern Arizona where we do have real seasons, it just isn't the same as back in good old NYC.

This will last at least two days and since we are in an El Nino year we could be in for a lot of rain, which is good for us. Sadie didn't think much of it this morning when we went for the walk. It was still fairly dark and well my dog doesn't do well with rain. It was a short walk.

Hope your day is good.

Susan

A cold Sunday

I think it must be cold all over the country today and everyone on Multiply is hunkering down in the house and keeping warm because it just took me almost three hours to visit everyone who has popped up on my email alerts.

I have been having a great time visiting everyone, seeing the art tour and finding out what everyone is up too.

I have my house all decorated for the holidays. Just adding a few touches here and there. The holiday cards are all written and posted, starting on buying the few presents that I give every year and so now I can just sit back and enjoy the winter holiday season.

Of course I have been doing what I usually do on Sunday, watching football. The Cardinals (my team) are playing the Vikings tonight, I am looking forward to that. I just love football no matter who is playing.

have a great what ever is left of the day.

Susan

Ring around the moon

Well I sure wish I had a photo but,

I just went out to get the paper it's 6:33 AM and of course almost black out except for this incredable moon out there with this huge ring around it. It almost fills the whole sky. What a sight,

Morning.

Susan

Discover The Cosmo/ this is a good one

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!

NGC 6992: Filaments of the Veil Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez (Observatorio del Teide)

 

Poetry Wednesday/Sylvia Plath

Since it is the time of the year when there are so many family reunions I thought I would go, today, with this poem by Sylvia Plath. Her thoughts on what you must do to be part of that "Family Reunion"

Susan

Enjoy

Family Reunion

Outside in the street I hear
A car door slam; voices coming near;
Incoherent scraps of talk
And high heels clicking up the walk;
The doorbell rends the noonday heat
With copper claws;
A second's pause.
The dull drums of my pulses beat
Against a silence wearing thin.
The door now opens from within.
Oh, hear the clash of people meeting ---
The laughter and the screams of greeting :

Fat always, and out of breath,
A greasy smack on every cheek
From Aunt Elizabeth;
There, that's the pink, pleased squeak
Of Cousin Jane, out spinster with
The faded eyes
And hands like nervous butterflies;
While rough as splintered wood
Across them all
Rasps the jarring baritone of Uncle Paul;
The youngest nephew gives a fretful whine
And drools at the reception line.

Like a diver on a lofty spar of land
Atop the flight of stairs I stand.
A whirlpool leers at me,
I cast off my identity
And make the fatal plunge.

Back to the tour