359 Days Until Christmas, or The Last Day of 2012

This day began like any of the other 364 that went before it; without fanfare, no parades billowing out their untold musical notes, no press conferences to obliterate the public of unmitigated gall.  Ahhh, such is the solitary life of the 62yr. old suburbanite living precipitously on the edge!!  Where is the bantering wit that so often betrays me that on this, the last day of 2012, that some philosophical vintage can not grace these pages and impress the masses?  I think it's simply that as I look back on those 364 days and this one in general, that looking gloriously for some form of "splendor in the grass" is not necessary anymore.  I look at what took place in this last year and reflect on it's significance in my life and how it has changed me or more so, have I effected change in someone else's life.  I had one such encounter several months ago and it had been one of those, "if I ever get the chance again" moments that fortunately did occur.  It is by far and away the most important encounter that occurred for me and while I'm so thankful it happened, it taught me a valuable lesson.  I rely on a Buddhist teaching on this one: "The secret is to want what you have and not want what you don't have." It showed me how love can span the test of time and that what we believe was once lost can be certainly found again.  And Tennyson's oft quote, "Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all" certainly has an element of equivalence here.  And so, I think not of a missed opportunity of years gone by, but the very grace that it happened at all and that the love still exists today after all this time.

I think also of those that aren't here with me; those who have gone before and await my arrival.  I think of Mom and how she'd be eating herring in just about an hour.  It was one of those superstitions that warranted her a look into the future and she'd have good luck for the upcoming year if she'd only eat those silly stinking fish at midnight.  Dad would be bar tending and I'd be waiting for him to walk through the door, just to know he made it home safe.  I'd wander around the house looking for Piper and Dancer to come bounding up the steps ready to jump in bed.  But, I'll look at my Buddhist saying, and "want what I have" and be so very thankful for them.  So, Kody, Remy, Riley, Georgy, and Re-Re, Happy New Year, Love, Dad

361 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

As in yesterday's post, I mentioned a I sometimes will adhere to a somewhat jocular frame of mind and pass on some amusing stories.  A good friend of mine passed this one to me (thanks, Sal)  You've know doubt heard the expression, "shit for brains"....here it is!  Enjoy the day!

The Little Girl on an Airplane

An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."  The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"  "Oh, I don't know," said the atheist.  "How about why there is no god, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death? as he smiled smugly.  "OK," she said.  "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first.  A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff-grass.  Yet  a deer excretes little pellets, while a cows turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps.  Why do you suppose that is?" The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmmm, I have no idea."  To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss why there is no God, or Heaven or Hell, or no life after death, when you don't know shit?"  And then she went back to reading her book.

Ahhhhhh, the wisdom of a child....can't say enough about them!!

AND, ON WE GO-362 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!

We received our first dusting of snow today....nothing of Glacier Park proportions, but it's covered the ground (not the streets), and as I gaze out my window and watch the last remnants trying to deplete itself from the wayfaring clouds, my mind still is engrossed by the failing days of Christmas.  I had received an email from a dear friend across the country yesterday and the "subject" of the message, she had entitled, "Two Days After Christmas".  I briefly told her of my latest blogging entries and how I am steadfastly yearning not to divorce myself from the Christmas season or spirit.  Jokingly I said maybe subsequent emails to her would be entitled as such: "360 Days until Christmas, or 359 Days until Christmas......"  So, in keeping with this theme is why I've named this blog entry, "362 Days Until Christmas".  If you're a regular reader of my blogs, (can't see why not : >)))-there's wisdom, entertainment, good photography, and some humor) you'll know how much I love snow.  And, what better way to assimilate the Christmas season than with snow.  I mean, isn't this how Santa makes it around the world so quickly?  It's much easier to land on our roofs, get out of his sleigh, and have Rudolph and Co. get a flying start with snow on the roof.  Granted, our snow was a few days late, but I've got it on good authority that he's been still delivering presents in our area.  There was a dastard comment he heard called "Fiscal Cliff" and didn't want to disappoint any of the children.

But getting back to this snow thing and it's absorption into the folklore that if it must be Christmas, there must be snow.  As my last several blogs have had this Christmas theme, they've also touched upon the understanding that if it's Christmas, there must be snow, and so, there must be Christ.  In previous blogs I don't disguise my unrelenting belief in Faith and how it sustains me now.  And as I watched the undiluted ice crystals fall helplessly to earth, the serenity of His promise to all, "Come to me all you who are labored and burdened, and I will give you rest" lulls me into muted tranquility.  It's this element of Christ that we so inexcusably take from this season.  And maybe this is what I'm trying to vigorously defend....keep Him not just now, but for the rest of the year as well.

IF YOU JUST "BELIEVE"

Since we're only a day after Christmas, I wanted to continue on this theme of "believing" in Santa Claus before the notion begins to slip away.  I don't want to diminish or have some form of miscarriage that just because Christmas has come and gone, the idea of Santa Claus has to go as well.  I love this song, "Believe" because it summons not just the children and their unfailing wish to see this cherub, jolly, rascal, but the adult as well.  How often to the parents put up the guise for their children, and yet take them each year to sit on his lap and pour out their heart in the hopes that he will deliver.  Don't we just take this idea on faith as the central theme in the movie "Polar Express"?  It is one of faith that leads us not to just Santa Claus but our Creator as well.  We "believe" without seeing and yet we so much want to see and believe those most important things that we can't see-Santa Claus and God.  Maybe because of that very importance, we must believe.  As a child, and even as an adult, aren't we challenged daily by our core belief system and rely on faith, hope and awe in a Higher Power?  If we're to lose this, what becomes of our world?  Do we lose that sense of expectation and excitement and life begins and turns boring?  But, by fostering these elements we not only nurture and preserve them, we garner them for our very existence.  We continue to scrutinize, question our faith and our belief system for this is what challenges us mentally.  Not to lose this ability continues the childlike innocence of our youth into our adulthood.

Where Are You Christmas

This song is rapidly becoming one of my, if not my favorite Christmas song.  This, along with the beautiful song, "My Grown Up Christmas List" that I referenced several days ago.  But I look upon this song and its meaning of not letting the idea of what Christmas is all about fade away.  I'm not just referring to the idea that we so often take Christ out of this time of the year, but that random acts of kindness seem to take place at this time of the year.  The local radio stations begin playing Christmas songs usually just after Thanksgiving to get people "in the mood" and then will stop usually just a day or two after Christmas.  Why does Christmas, or at least the idea of what it is about leave us, Dec. 26th?  With the recent tragedy in Sandy Hook School, people are taking up the cause of doing 26 random acts of kindness.  This time of the year is also familiar with giving and sharing.  People are donating turkeys, volunteering at the local shelters, finding homes for the homeless, paying off the layaway balances for customers at Wal Mart.  Do we need a particular time of the year to remind us to do this?  I'm aware that there are isolated incidents that occur throughout the year but the awareness seems to be only heightened at Christmas.

"Where are you Christmas
Do you remember
The one you used to know
I'm not the same one
See what the time's done
Is that why you have let me go"

As Faith sings in this verse, is it Christmas that has "let her go"?  No, we've let Christmas go...on Dec. 26th or some time soon after.  If only we can keep that verve or sense of favor in our hearts the other 364 days during the year.  It's something that I try to impress upon my kindergartners, hard that it is, since their world revolves around an X-Box, or the latest video game, or Transformer.  But as I try to leave in their hearts that "Santa"doesn't just come once a year to deliver their presents but he sits deep inside of them each and every day as he looks out for them and that the love that exists there doesn't just fade away on Dec. 26th.  To keep it there, "the joy of Christmas stays inside us and fills each and every heart with love".

Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad, Piper and Dancer....I miss you

My Grown Up Christmas List

"And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

As I sat this evening at Midnight Mass and listened to these words like I've listened to them each Christmas evening for the last 50+ years or for the number of years that I can recall hearing them, my thoughts drifted some 1044 miles to the east to Newtown, Ct.  I still think of these young children whose lives were so inexorably stripped from this earth.  It is, as I have aptly named this post, "My Grown Up Christmas List"that the events that took place on Dec. 14th not be so forgotten in such a callous way that the path to change will not be given up so easily.  As the words to David Foster's song continue, "no more lives torn apart", reach out to not just the Newtown community, but the world in general.  Imagine the irony of my words; asking to remember such a tragedy and on a completely paradoxical flavor, that no more lives be torn apart?  One can whittle this inside their brain and wonder what has become of his thought process?  But what I'm asking is that this tragedy NOT be so easily forgotten as previous events as this that no change ever took place.  All of us in a small way are responsible to (I include myself in this endeavor) to take this to those that can effectively see that this is stopped once and for all.  Am I dreaming, as Foster continues in his song...."why is this illusion call the innocence of you?, maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth".  Can we NOT see the innocence of these young children who will never see another Christmas?  And she "wrapped him swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger".  These mothers and fathers will never have that opportunity to take their Noahs, Graces', Jacks, and Daniels, wrap them in their clothes, carry them to bed, and tuck them in ever.  It will be one of the most agonizing traumas of their lives.  "No more lives torn apart, that wars will never start, And time will heal our hearts".  Can any of this occur for these people, for this world?  I recall the words of Fr. Dale's homily this evening, "let us remember these 3 words and apply it to our world; immensity, intensity, and intimacy".  This is part of my Grown Up Christmas List for 2013.

26

I, like the other 20 billion people on this planet have been shattered by the events that transpired last Friday, Dec. 15th in Newtown, Ct.  There are NO words to describe what has happened and NO words to explain to the parents of these children (and adults) that were murdered. We can only accept that this terrible grief and sorrow is to be placed on the altar of God and that He will show them mercy and consolation.  We have experienced tragedies such as this before, (Virginia Tech, the Sikh Tempe in  Wisconsin, Columbine) and most assuredly we will experience them again until our legislators, Mental Health officials, and the general population come to a common and hopefully expeditious discussion on this horrific circumstances that continue to take our people.  There could be a ray of sunshine that comes of this in that because of the innocence and age of these latest victims, people will finally be so outraged at the moral depravity of our society that something will finally be done.  As a teacher assistant in above all, a kindergarten room, all weekend as I watched the events unfold, I could only imagine the children in my room being mercilessly and methodically murdered, lying on the school hall floors in a pool of blood.  It has taken an emotional toll on me.  So many lives so ridiculously taken away.  I hope the rest of the world will unite with me in prayer for this never, ever to happen again.  I offer the words to my favorite Christmas song and a photo of a young infant with her whole life ahead of her and the gentle touch of her Mom so preciously in love of her.

May God Bless the people of Newtown, Ct.

"Grown Up Christmas List"

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies
Well I'm all grown up now
Can you still help somehow?
I'm not a child but my heart still can dream

So here's my lifeful wish
My grown up Christmas List
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars will never start
And time will heal our hearts
Every man will have a friend
That right will always win
And love will never end
This is my grown up Christmas List

May kindness rules our lives
Not just the strong survive
Sweet tears for all the thousand years on mind
This is the world I pray
We will all share some way
Help me begin by reaching out my hand

No more lives torn apart
That wars will never start
And time will heal our hearts
Every man will have a friend
That right will always win
And love will never end
This is my grown up Christmas List

Why does this illusion call the innocence of you?
Maybe when the time believe we can find the truth
No...

No more lives torn apart
That wars will never start
And time will heal our hearts
Every man will have a friend
That right will always win
And love will never end
This is my grown up Christmas List

This is the prayer that I will keep
This is my grown up Christmas list
Christmas list

Define Love

"The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them”  

Thomas Merton

Set Your Priorities

"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is itself to succumb to the violence of our times". ~Thomas Merton

A Work of Art

What would it be like if you lived each day, each breath, as a work of art in progress? Imagine that you are a Masterpiece unfolding, every second of every day, a work of art taking form with every breath. ~Thomas Crum

This is my most favorite place on earth to visit.  Now, I say that with certain qualifications as I've not traveled out of our country.  Well, I've been to Canada so that registers as "out of our country"but I've not been to Europe, Asia, or the like.  But for now, until a trip such as one of those occurs, this will have to suffice.  In case you're not recognizing the scene, it's the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.  And, maybe I may again have to qualify my statement.  IF I were to venture to New Zealand, or the Serengeti, or the Matterhorn, the Grand Tetons may very well still be my most favorite place.  One can just look at the majestic beauty of those snow capped peaks, or the jagged foundation of them, the hues that crisscross the skies, and see what I see here.  I think it's the face of God and the inherent peace that abounds.  It's the resilient aura of life that magnifies my belief in not just love of nature, but my never dying respect for the creation that has hold on us all. 

"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering". ~St. Augustine

I like this quote by Augustine, who in his day was one of the most prolific philosophers and teachers of his time.  And if we look inherently at what he is saying, aren't we all somewhat guilty of failing to recognize and acknowledge the beauty we all possess?  Who isn't awestruck by the the aforementioned natural creations?  Most of us have stood at the beach, danced away from the crashing of a wave as it rushed at our feet.  Or, have been fortunate to cross a mountain pass in a car, or better yet, walked up a pass and witnessed the beauty of it.  But, how often do we fail to look within to know the wonder of our very being?  It is truly a God given quality that escapes us.  Look within, see your beauty.

Your Heart

        Sorrow is how we learn to love. Your heart isn't breaking. It hurts because it's getting larger. The larger it gets, the more love it holds.

Rita Mae Brown

The End of the Tunnel

The Light isn't at the end of the tunnel, it's wherever you are!

                  

In Memoriam

He was getting
old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For old Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won t be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.
While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end?
He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Visualizations

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour".   

William Blake  

  

The Realist

Again,the times has slipped by and my thoughts and putting them down on paper have once again eluded me.  I've gotten inspiration from a most unusual and unexpected source.  I'm going to try this again, start slow, and allow the creative juices to flow.  My camera certainly hasn't waned in this respite as I've been to several "old" haunts within the last several months.  

I'm offering a quote here:

"THE PESSIMIST COMPLAINS ABOUT THE WIND, THE OPTIMIST EXPECTS IT TO CHANGE, AND THE REALIST ADJUSTS THE SAILS".  

In scheme of life where do you see yourself?

365

On Feb. 12, of this year I made a similar post to this one.  It was about time, death, and exposure to certain unexplained phenomena that we experience in our lives.  Today I'm experiencing some of those ethereal moments that really have no explanation or rhyme.  I lost my little girl-Piper a year ago today.  Just like in Feb. of this year when I acknowledged Dancer's one year passing as well, I expressed my sadness, my sorrow, my void in my life.  This "anniversary" was not any easier than the one in Feb.  In retrospect, death has not become any less significant nor has its impact been less unavailing.  Two very close friends of mine passed several months ago and their deaths have not been ineffectual.  I know that we don't live forever and unfortunately, our pets don't either.  Way too often, they leave ahead of us.  Like the mother or father who loses their child, the grief is almost unbearable.  Yet, bringing a pet into our home, we know all to well that this is going to be the likely outcome.  How do we overcome our sadness and what procedure, what strategy do we use to impede that irrefutable sorrow that often controls us?  We pray, sometimes we drink or take legal or illegal controlled substances, we speak to our minister or pastor, we read words of consolation from a philosopher or other spiritual mentor. Some of these actually help.  But, if there is such a thing as a universe that is truly connected on some unrevealed cosmic entity, then there is another person in this universe that we're unquestionably aligned with.  It may not be in a physical sense but more so as a spiritual or mystical, even transcendent.  When I needed that boost today to ignite might mood, my unparalleled person came forth with those very words that I would have searched endlessly to ease my sorrow.  All from a lady I had not seen, nor spoke to in 17 years.  I cannot give you an explanation as to why this chance encounter took place several months ago.  Was that meeting a consequence of serendipity that brought her words to ease my grief?  I am awestruck by this unparalleled universe that intersects what the philosophers describe as fortuity.  Until some simple explanation can be discerned, all I can say for now is, there are no words in the English language to describe what your words of consolation have done for me.  I know Piper would say the same, "thanks K for taking care of my Dad".

Spring Morning

Wow, I look back at my last post and again wonder where the time as gone.  There has been somewhat of a "mental diffusion" of what I've done with this blog.  And, the only thing that I can attribute to is a lethargy of mind and spirit.....and of course-body.  For to separate my ass from the couch sometimes takes a back hoe.  It's not that the mind has gone stagnant for there have been many times when the thoughts were "flowing" like the proverbial river, but my gluteus maximus was hermetically sealed to Old Mother Hubbard.  But, I was watching a silly movie the other evening-"Kindergarten Cop", (I confess...I like it) with the Honorable-the former governor of California, or maybe he doesn't deserve the title, "Honorable" since he fathered a child while still the governor even while Maria was pregnant with their child.....oh well, such is the life of a politician.  But pardon me, I digressed for the moment.  As I was watching this movie, there was a scene where he was reading one of A.A. Milne's stories...."Spring Morning".  In case you're not familiar with A.A. Milne, he's the author of the Winnie the Pooh stories.  I love these.....there the epitome of what I believe most people should adhere their lives too.....the simple, unfettered, and relaxed state of mind that would add years to our already complicated lives.  So, here's to Pooh, Piglet, Winnie, and Co.

"Spring Morning"

Where am I going? I don't quite know.
Down to the stream where the king-cups grow --
Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow --
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.
Where am I going? The clouds sail by,
Little ones, baby ones, over the sky.
Where am I going? The shadows pass,
Little ones, baby ones, over the grass.
If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
You'd sail on water as blue as air,
And you'd see me here in the fields and say:
"Doesn't the sky look green today?"
Where am I going? The high rooks call:
"It's awful fun to be born at all."
Where am I going? The ring-doves coo:
"We do have beautiful things to do."
If you were a bird, and lived on high,
You'd lean on the wind when the wind came by,
You'd say to the wind when it took you away:
"That's where I wanted to go today!"
Where am I going? I don't quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow --
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.

366

I've often reflected in my past blogs on time and it's rather pervasive way of escaping us.  We're often so caught up in our own respective journeys that we fail to acknowledge momentous occasions.  It is only when we sit back, catch our breath, and draw on our life that the reflection we so choose to look at as almost inexorably passed us by.

In the preceding days and actually this past month, I couldn't allow Feb. 12, 2012 to escape me.  I was almost transfixed on it and often sat down, caught my breath, and wondered how this time had come so quickly.  I was almost impaled and was often frightened about it's coming and wondered how I would respond.  I knew it was going to be a difficult day as I looked back on the significant events that had occurred during that time.  Most notably was an event that occurred 167 days ago.  Little did I suspect that two tragedies would have befallen me during these past 366 days.  I look back on Feb. 12, 2011 and what I was doing that morning.  How I dreaded getting up and making that last drive in the car, knowing that it would be our last together.  It is the most difficult event that I ever had to do and will ever experience.  I remember our last moments as I clutched him in my arm never wanting to let go.  A grip that was tenacious and yet fleeting.  I felt his breath leave me and watched him slip away.  And yet, while this has occurred, I separate myself from the way he left me but in how he lived.  I know he has spoken with me and my comfort lies there.  I know he's well taken care of and she is as well.

Thanks Dad for looking out for them.

REMINISCING

As Mr. Webster defines it, "indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events".  As I get closer to Feb. 12, my recollections indulge me as how quickly time does fly.  And as I gingerly sorted through past videos of last year and my fond remembrances of my big boy and little girl, the sadness undeniably followed.  Yet, in spite of the sadness, it still brings a smile to my face to know they're safe, know that I'm well and have added to our little brood.  My "contacts" with them over the past year tell me they're time here was enjoyed if not glorified.  I still continue understand that everything has a purpose, He has a plan, and by His grace, I will continue to be part of it.  I often fail to understand, but know that it will be for my benefit.  

The other evening I was privilege to partake in the celebration of a couple who have been married 70 years!  Quite a testament to commitment, devotion, honor, and above all-love.  I can honestly say that I don't know any other couple who've been married that long.  And the beauty of watching these two that night wasn't just that their love was expressed for that night, but I know these people and that love is shown each and every day.  Granted, I don't live with them, and see them on occasion, but when I do visit with them, their passion, demeanor, and expression is constant. It truly was a sight to behold.  God, grant them another 70

Is It New Year, or Knew Year?

Wow, it's the 4th of January already and I wonder where did this year go, or where is it going?  The New Year snuck up on me, well, not exactly as I dillydallied the last week or so pondering what to write about these last several weeks; the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012.  I've languished about it's demise (the end of 2011 that is) and like many bleary eyed souls attempted to relinquish those events that plagued me in 2011 and endeavored to resign myself to those that embraced me.  It was not an easy task as I have to admit I'm still wallowing in residual grief over my two monumental losses this past year.  While Dancer's was "expected", Piper's was a shock.  It wasn't the same this Christmas without them and while I have to couple the undeniable sadness that    clouds me, my newest entry into this household has "rescued" me.

 His name is Kody and a picture is worth a thousand words as they say.  He has certainly filled a void and as my delinquent attempts at establishing a lasting relationship with Diane, Tea, Kate, Diane, Juliette, have fallen on deaf ears, my four legged friends certainly keep my time fulfilled.  I won't mention Meg in this vane, as one of my more ardent followers of this blog is equally beguiled and less we challenge each other to a duel for her affections, we'd have to come by Mellencamp first.

And as part of my title of this particular post states; "knew" year as in, what can I know or what is it that I may "expect" for the next 12 months.  Absolutely nothing, for blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall not be disappointed.  And to be honest, I prefer it that way.  For expectation is the breeding ground of complacency and pride and I've never had any pride.  I'm far to much of a realist to be smug about myself.  Like the oft used idiom, "it's not about the destination, it's in the journey".  I know I'm loved, I have two wonderful sisters who as they say, "got my back".  I know with His undeniable love, my way shall be unfettered.

So, here's to an exciting, hopefully joyous New and Knew Year.