The Perils of December

 

Who needs a normal cake? 

December is an amazing month for so many reasons for my family, my birthday, our son's birthday, our anniversary, our daughter's anniversary, and our youngest daughter's birthday. It is a busy month with lots of memories. Here are some thoughts that are from someecards.

II

 

  

I sure would like the cake, personally, with whipped cream.    

Ireland Garda: keeping the weather in line

 

 

 translating English to Irish

Winter is a real force to deal with in any country.  For some reason, the Irish are themselves a force of nature. 

Ireland is wet, a given. But winter wet? Oh, yes. 

 

 

Summer? Is it dry? Is it hot? Is it raining? 

 

Ireland is an island that is surrounded by ocean, wind, and rain. Morning could be gray, midday is sunshine, and evening is a pouring rain. Or, it could be all rain, or maybe just clouds.  Or it could be rain that lasts for days... 

 

If you want to know some Gaelic, there are many sites to access. It is a hard language to learn, let me tell you that. 

 

When in doubt just say, "sin Éire duitse (that's Irish for you).

 

 This is more like it.  

Oh, you can't always ...

About what do these artists and their music say?

 

 

  

                        

What do we need? What do we want? What can we have? 

Life in the depths

Recent floods and the installation of artificial turf had forced Ant Colony 307B to relocate at a far corner of an artichoke field. The ant  army acted as a unit to move every member from the arterial twists and turns of the now drenched network of their former home.

Moving the queen ant with her arsenal of ant larvae and drones had proved to be most interesting.  Trudging through soggy tunnels had revealed an unknown treasure of collected artwork.  Minute paint chips, grains of paprika, and tiny shreds of colored paper lined walls of the queen’s chamber.

The treasure remained behind as the tunnels collapsed.

Just how extensive is an ant colony/hill?  Watch this video (if you have Adobe Flash Player).

 

2015? These  words were chosen by Delores  Under the Porch Light who set up the Wednesday Words writing, always fun.This was to challenge bloggers who want to be challenged. River has taken up the mantle and provides amazing words.

Actions and their Consequences

 

We will always face the consequences of our actions.  I firmly believe this, even if it seems that there are some who seem to escape. 

This is not a moral judgment, although I could go in that direction.  No.  This is a simple observation of the Laws of Physics, cause and effect.

You trip over something or miss a step.  You can stumble and maybe catch yourself; if you are all of fifty-one pounds and seven years old, this is a good possibility. 

You can plant your face on the asphalt (I have done this, spectacularly!). If you are said seven year old, chances are you will jump up and keep on going, maybe with a skinned knee.  If you are ME, you will lie there for a while and then roll over to access the damage.

But, the primary point is that the fall-ee will face the consequences of the fall.

So it is that the life-long jogger approaching 70 will most likely be suffering with hip and knee joint problems.  Time for replacement surgery.

So it is that the old rock stars (Mick Jaggers and Steve Tyler) that have danced and contorted their bodies repeatedly probably hurt like heck in the morning when they roll out of their beds.

The current 'street dancers'?  By thirty, they will have hurt every joint they have.

The sunbathers who were bronzed to a fare-the-well back in pre-suntan-in-a-bottle days?  Dermatologists are busy treating skin cancer and unfortunately melanoma.  (Couldn't bring myself to show the sun-related skin diseases.)

To children and young people playing 

sports:  Think blowing out a joint or tearing a muscle, or even worse by the time one would be considering playing professionally. (I looked for photos on this, and some were beyond gruesome.)

 

Those heavy metal bands of the 80s?  Metallica?  I wonder if they are wearing hearing aids?

 

So, to this current generation who are always on the iPod or whatever with the ear bud thingies:  Think ‘hearing aids’ by age 40. 

To the Tweeters, Texters, and Twitters:  think ‘carpal tunnel 

 surgery’ by late 20s.  (Bloggers know this feeling!)

 

To the PStation and XBox players:  Think ‘arthritis’ in the thumb joint by the late 30s.

We all pay the consequences, eventually.

We can tell our own children about this

event in their futures. 

November to December

   This a re-post of 2010.  I liked it, and juggled some words about to post it again in 2017. Now, here in 2019, I post it again.

Why is this post going up in early November, you may ask.  Christmas 2016 my husband's family went on a cruise because Mom Kane had died in February and none of us wanted to be home, without her.

It wasn't Christmas for any of us, we acknowledged it then and now.  Now, each year since 2016 we gather in one home or another and talk about times with Mom and Dad, and the joy they brought to Christmas.

This year, 2019 my husband and I will dance up a storm around the tree with our teenage granddaughters, laughing about all the other dances of the past. WE will stop our dancing after a few minutes while they carry away the night.

YouTube: Flash Mob, 2010

Merry Christmas!

 

Hear my prayer....

 

 Sometimes we get lucky in our home movie watching. We may have wandered off to watch a bit of "A Team" or we wander on to this, Les Miserables, if we are lucky.

This is history, bloody and messy. The whole story is about surviving, being in love, fighting for beliefs, and having some tremendous music.

 

 

 Big scene, sets  up the conflict  and the students manning the barricade.  The   poverty of the poor is a shock for our sweet society.

 

 Of all the songs to watch, this one is a lynch pin.

As is expected, people will die tragically, lovers almost miss their window of love opportunity, the villain throws himself into water, the hero rescues the lovers. The music grabs a hold of the audience and will not let go until the curtain falls.

Victor Hugo was the author, THE author. There is so much that can be told about him and what he wrote.  

 

There are movies that are worth watching, several times.Okay, I could not leave this song, which every one in the music world enjoys. 

 

 

Colm Wilkinson is the famous performer that

sets the whole tone of the musical.

This segment is 7 minutes long.

 

I know, long. This song was written for Colm Wilkinson, specifically.  But

Please

listen to some of this song.

 

 So, there you go. I did not want to make this a movie review, and it is now. This is a review of how awesome the actors are and pure music can be.

 

Keanu Reeves: not just a pretty face

 

 

Donate - Keanu Reeves foundation

Keanu Reeves found a depth of beliefs that changed who he is and what he can do. He speaks openly about his choices.

We enjoy his movies  (I watched "47 Ronin" yesterday, for the X + 1 times.) Keanu has produced a memorable volume of movies. Keanu Reeves lives to a high moral standard as evidenced in how he interacts  with any and all people.  He also is generous in sharing to those around him. He gives when many celebrities buy and spend for themselves.                                             

 If you haven't watched many of Reeves' movies, there are so many quality movies done by him.  Check them out, they are exciting adventures and truly entertaining. True---there is violence. Keanu's characters are good people who make a difference, defend those who need help, and mainly the characters are intelligent who can fight like nobody's business.

  

..Knee deep in water

 

fire and water

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze

Isaiah 42  

These days I feel like I am in the middle of a smoky leaf pile as it is just starting to be a full on fire and my legs are in water 2 feet deep and rising..

!

                                                                        

                                                            Jelly Roll and Celine Dion

                                                                                        

fire and water 

  

Kindle-Windle on a journey

 

Kindle-Windle Valentine

Went looking for something

He could not find.

It need not be something gentle or kind.

But something where the road would wind,

Which would be just fine.

Kindle-Windle Valentine stumbled and fumbled,

Then rose to his feet.
Questions to complete,

Questions in his mind that rumbled and tumbled,

Should he seek a world for believers?

Should he seek a place for dreamers?

Should he seek a space of solidarity?

Should he seek a dance of clarity?…

With hands on his hips, a whistle on his lips,

Kindle-Windle Valentine

Was undone, then done by all his searching

with thoughts in his mind.

He was tired of walking and working,

To find a place of comfort he would find.

Which was where he started,

Which was just fine.

The underlined words are from a Wednesday Words in 2015.

This bumbled and fumbled in my mind.  This rumbled out.

This was posted in 2019.

Chronicles of Samuel continue

 

Thanks Pam and Dawn! See*Photo*Write

 

Heavy rain pelted the sliding glass door. door and Samuel coughed.  It was a wet cough followed by yellow goo from his nose.  Misery was running high.

The Mommy had cleaned him up, wiping his nose again.  ‘Just let it flow, woman!’  Samuel had already found the sofa and chairs useful enough. 

The doorbell rang, and Aunt Tammy came whooshing through the door.  An irritatingly cheerful woman, “Oh, whittle Sammie Whammy has duh sniffuls?” as she scooped him up.  “Oh, who’s duh cutest…” 

Samuel let loose with a full-bodied snotty sneeze right into her open mouth.  ‘Just for you, Tammy Whammy!’

The Mommy carried in a gift from Tammy’s car:  a round fish bowl with a deep-red fish swirling around, its fins fluttering in clear water.  Setting it on the table, she wiped Samuel’s nose again and took him from the retching Aunt Tammy.

Putting Samuel down by the table, the Mommy called, “Here’s some tea!”  Tammy stumbled, retching all the way to the kitchen, leaving Samuel.  Eye level with the fish bowl, Samuel considered it.

Ginger-the-old-fat-tabby appeared on a chair next to Samuel.  Their eyes met, thoughts were exchanged, and challenges made.  Who is faster?  Who is better?  Who will win this battle?

Samuel saw only one way. Giving it his all, Samuel screamed and cried, “Whaaaa!  Mommmmmmammmmmmaaa…”

The Mommy came, saw the crying child pointing at the cat, and grabbed the Ginger.  She scolded the old cat all the way to the front door.  Ginger and Samuel exchanged looks.  ‘So this is the way it is to be,’ Ginger glared through slotted eyes.

Time enough.  Just time enough.  Samuel grabbed the fish bowl between snotty hands, pulling it to the edge.  ‘Be free, my friend.  Be free.’  The bowl dropped.

 

I created a series in which Samuel is a rambunctious, clever toddler. This is from 2011.   Fun write.

Hello, Mom

 

 

Colorado, but it is a beautiful Valley; Psalms 23

Okay, I will admit this up front:  I read the Obituary page in the newspaper, almost every day.

Most people don’t readily confess to this, as it has a sense of morbidity about it.  But, I am willing to bet a whole white chocolate macadamia cookie that many readers do at least glance at that page.

Maybe it is my age.  I will only grow older, although my brain insists I am still thirty-seven.  The primary cause of death in my age range is random.  Women—cancer of some sort, usually breast cancer.  Men—heart attacks and cancer.  Any age—automobile accidents or violence. 

So, I look at the obits and see if I know anyone there.  So far, so good.  Strangers, all of them. 

But every now and then, there will be a tiny obit about a tiny life.  It takes my breath away, and then I read the simple words:  born one minute, lived a short time, and then gone.  So much said in such a few words.

The movie plays in my head, slowly and I can see every moment.  First, the labor and the efforts of the mother.  Then the joy of that moment when the doctor says, “It’s a ----!”  The silence that follows as the room becomes a whirlwind of doctors and nurses, running to NCU with the struggling newborn.  The mother and father cry, calling questions, “Wait!  What is wrong---?”  Then there is the moment when the doctor walks slowly back to the parents.**

And that is the moment where I turn off the movie in my head, and feel horrific sorrow.

 

       Telling Mommy hello 


 If you or someone you know has been through those moments, this book is a healing book.  It celebrates 

 

One of the many part time jobs I held over my early married years was in Medical Records.  This scene was ones I saw that carried out many times and left sorrow in its wake.