Saturday, December 31, 2011

On the Last Day

On the last day of the year...

"When the horns wear thin
And the noise, like a garment outworn,
Falls from the night,
The tattered and shivering night,
That thinks she is gay;
When the patient silence comes back,
And retires,
And returns,
Rebuffed by a ribald song,
Wounded by vehement cries,
Fleeing again to the stars--
Ashamed of her sister the night;
Oh, then they steal home,
The blinded, the pitiful ones
With their gew-gaws still in their hands,
Reeling with odorous breath
And thick, coarse words on their tongues.
They get them to bed, somehow,
And sleep the forgiving,
Comes thru the scattering tumult
And closes their eyes.
The stars sink down ashamed
And the dawn awakes,
Like a youth who steals from a brothel,
Dizzy and sick.

-- New Year's Dawn - Broadway
Sara Teasdale (1884 -1933)"


Or would one in sober humility and contrition, really hear and heed the Lord's call to unconditional grace and mercy...

37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

-- John 7:37-38
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Waits


The Waits
Margret Deland (1857 -1945)

At the break of Christmas Day,
Through the frosty starlight ringing,
Faint and sweet and far away,
Comes the sound of children, singing,
Chanting, singing,
“Cease to mourn,
For Christ is born,
Peace and joy to all men bringing!”

Careless that the chill winds blow,
Growing stronger, sweeter, clearer,
Noiseless footfalls in the snow
Bring the happy voices nearer;
Hear them singing,
“Winter’s drear,
But Christ is here,
Mirth and gladness with Him bringing!”

“Merry Christmas!” hear them say,
As the East is growing lighter;
“May the joy of Christmas Day
Make your whole year gladder, brighter!”
Join their singing,
“To each home
Our Christ has come,
All love’s treasures with Him bringing!”

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Fowl Weather

Guinea Fowls on the Prowl

These two Guinea Fowls have been in the neighborhood for the last few months. They are not easy to spot (pun). While running some errands yesterday, I saw these birds strutting about. Last minute holiday pecking, no doubt. An oppotunity for a photo shoot presented itself, even in this fowl weather. I stopped the car and zapped this picture with my iPhone 4S.

If I don't see these fine feathered friends after Christmas, it could be someone had them over for a holiday feast or two. Foul play then, it would seem.

Hard Freeze

It began on Midwinter, thee longest night of the year. Hard freeze, an imposing first day of winter notice. The outdoor night temperature on 22 December dipped precipitously below freezing (32°F) and remained in the twenties until mid-morning.

It's rare in our neck of the woods to experience winter hard freeze. Yet, here we are into its third day.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Winter Solstice, 2011


Date Sunrise Sunset LoD
Dec 22, 2011 7:15 AM 4:49 PM 9h 33m 34s


Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.

Psalm 74:16
English Standard Version Bible (ESV)




Midwinter
John Townsend Trowbridge (1827 - 1916)

The speckled sky is dim with snow,
The light flakes falter and fall slow;
Athwart the hill-top, rapt and pale,
Silently drops a silvery veil;
And all the valley is shut in
By flickering curtains grey and thin.

But cheerily the chickadee
Singeth to me on fence and tree;
The snow sails round him as he sings,
White as the down of angels’ wings.

I watch the snowflakes as they fall
On bank and briar and broken wall;
Over the orchard, waste and brown,
All noiselessly they settle down,
Tipping the apple-boughs, and each
Light quivering twig of plum and peach.

On turf and curb and bower-roof
The snowstorm spreads its ivory woof;
It paves with pearl the garden walk;
And lovingly round tattered stalk
And shivering stem, its magic weaves
A mantle fair as lily-leaves.

The hooded beehive small and low,
Stands like a maiden in the snow;
And the old door-slab is half hid
Under an alabaster lid.

All day it snows; the sheeted post
Gleams in the dimness like a ghost;
All day the blasted oak has stood
A muffled wizard of the wood;
Garland and airy cap adorn
The sumach and the wayside thorn,
And clustering spangles lodge and shine
In the dark tresses of the pine.

The ragged bramble dwarfed and old,
Shrinks like a beggar in the cold;
In surplice white the cedar stands,
And blesses him with priestly hands.

Still cheerily the chickadee
Singeth to me on fence and tree:
But in my inmost ear is heard
The music of a holier bird;
And heavenly thoughts as soft and white
As snowflakes on my soul alight,
Clothing with love my lonely heart,
Healing with peace each bruiséd part,
Till all my being seems to be
Transfigured by their purity.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Beethoven at 241

"It is good to strive against wind and rain
In the keen, sweet weather that autumn brings."
-- Princess Amélie Rives Troubetzkoy (1863-1945)

Ludwig van Beethoven
An Immortal of the Classical Music Realm
(15 or 16 December 1770 - 26 March 1827)

The MP3 below expired on 01-06-2012.
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NorthSound, piano
with rain sound background (1994)
- Für Elise (Beethoven)

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Jean Sibelius Birthday Anniversary

Jean Sibelius
Late Romantic period Finnish composer
(8 December 1865 - 20 September 1957)

The MP3 below expired on 12-15-2011.
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Havard Gimse, piano (2005)
Op. 76, Number 6 "Romanzetta" (Sibelius)

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Navel Meditation

A Navel Orange Cluster, Home Citrus Tree Row


An iPhone 4S photo taken on 2011-12-04 at 1322 hours.
Weather: 59.0°F/15°C, Clear.

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Kelly Knows Best

Kelly services - Efficient, Non-union,
Will work for scraps on and off the table


This Kelly résumé picture was taken on 2011-12-03 at 2030 hours.

Friday, December 02, 2011

A Clarion Curtin Call

Phyllis Curtin
Operatic Soprano
Born 3 December 1921

The MP3 below expired on 12-08-2011.
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Phyllis Curtin, soprano (1965)
- O Holy Night (A. Adam)

An Engaging London Advent Calendar

Jacquie Lawson's 2011 London Advent Calendar

Day 2 (bottom left) of this London Advent Calendar is to virtually trim the family Christmas tree. Adding to this festive activity, the transported family room is enlivened further with the orchestral suite of J.S. Bach's Cantata, "Sleepers Awake" (BWV 140).