Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Some say the world will end in fire; some say in ice. . . .


35 comments:

Pat said...

Thanks, Puddle, for the new thread. I love Robert Frost. I love his directness, his metaphors that are nature and human reality oriented.

Snow here all day, really cold. I'm wearing a nose mitten a friend made, makes me look like Minnie Mouse. But, it works.

I enjoy the posts. I'm thinking, Puddle, you might have been a film critic. And, Shirlee, recently a friend of my sister's on Facebook told me that I used to make her check out books in my Nancy Drew Library. I have no recollection of that, but I'm grinning, a librarian in the making, I guess.

Listener, it's a delight to read of your activities and occasions with the grands.

Always good to hear from you as well, Barb.

Well, off to write some Christmas cards and sit in front of the fire.

Shirlee Murphy said...

Pat...that sure does sound like a librarian in the making. I know I treasured every book
I had when a child. Also only joined the Girl Scouts so my Mom would buy me the
official guide book...rules and regulations! Chilly day here.

Love to all.

Jo_in_Vermont said...

Ah geez. Wrote a post on the old thread i guess. XO

listener said...

{{{ ♥ JO!!! ♥ }}}

I'll call soon!!!

:-D

listener said...

Remember that spot on Bernie's cheek at the end of the campaign?

a href=http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/vermont-senator-bernie-sanders-had-procedure-to-remove-cancer-cells/620799690

Shirlee Murphy said...

I just did the same thing....updating...
Will try to get to this one tomorrow.

Sleep well...or read, listen,
or dream well!

Love to all .


listener said...

Some say the world will end in bluster. For goodness sakes. What if we had real Republicans and real Democrats and lots of Progressives. Instead we have tea partiers and people so boughten that they are afraid to say Boo. You can tell who hasn't sold out by who is still speaking out ... like John McCain and Bernie Sanders. Too little too late? I guess we'll know tomorrow. SIGH.


McCain: Russian election-related hacks threaten to destroy democracy.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/18/politics/john-mccain-russia-hacking/index.html

Shirlee Murphy said...

More Bernies...no more John McCains....he it was who thought
Sarah Palin would make a fine VP.....lost any respect I had for him
after that.

Just got a Christmas box from daughter Dana in Cincinnati.
The mailman plopped it outside my apartment door. He often does
that with packages because he knows I must truck them back up
on top of my cart. When I went to retrieve it...could barely budge it
over the door sill...then I saw it weighs 44.5 lbs.! Pretty sure it has
some audio books...which I love.

Stay warm all. Too cold here for this time of year!

listener said...

When I heard that today the Electoral College voted for DT, I thought, "What the heck good are they if they can't do what the Founders intended?!" Then, when I heard that the Russian Ambassador had been assassinated today, I shivered and thought of the Archduke Ferdinand. Then I heard that Russia is suggesting it was planned by the UN and Western interests. God be with us. May sanity come back into fashion soon.

I feel like all that is holy and wise and good is going underground again, as has happened so many times in history. Let's protect the Prayer Book and the icons and the deep down loving goodness. Let's be secret conduits for God/Love/Goodness.

listener said...

Note: Find a copy of Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It is vital reading for this time we are in.

listener said...

Shirlee, I never would have voted for him, but he's been burned by the fools and has maybe learned a lesson or two. After all, DT said he wasn't a good soldier because he was captured. { !!! }

listener said...

Hurrah! I just found Jo's phone number! :-D

I will call tomorrow for sure!!

Dare I tell you where I found it? IN my iPhone phone list! LOL!!!!

listener said...

President Obama has designated large areas of the Atlantic coast and Arctic as OFF-LIMITS to Off-shore Drilling!!
This is intended to be permanent and cannot easily be overturned by DT.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/20/506336885/obama-designates-atlantic-arctic-areas-off-limits-to-offshore-drilling

listener said...

Plus! Bernie initially got an Electoral vote in Maine! Very cool speech made by David Bright. Read it here:

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/maine/2016/12/19/bernie-sanders-get-electoral-vote-maine/2047631

Watch David Bright's speech given, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rziDCJC1wHE

Pat said...

Hi friends,

I'm still amazed and horrified at the election of Trump and Republicans. There's an interesting archived essay in January Harper's on the election of Andrew Jackson, another unlettered, ignorant president. People in opposition to him performed brilliantly, were motivated to excel and become statesmen that made a difference. Do you suppose?

Here's an old poem about the Solstice.
The Longest Night

The sun stands still
Light sliding into the mound
The shaman approaches
The longest night has ended

Spirits wait shifting shapes
They saw them met them
Traced markings on stones
Walls trees the Otherworld

A glowing blue spiral deep
In a cavern fires drumming
Power herbs a fusion of life
All life earth sun Sacred Time

We current ones mark our
Calendars meet with friends
Rituals lost spirits of ancestors
Unknown just a long dark night

How to find the invisible amidst
The palaver the tweets the
Traffic the check-out lines
The too close buildings to

Envision a Zeus a Yahweh
Tagaloa Krishna Kuan Yin
The noise pulls at us hurrying
To get home for peace for sleep

Dawn as if peach blossoms
Were tossed up over the mountain
Floating into the blue and for a
Few minutes everything is still

Winter retired a respite
On the day of the Solstice
Then diffusing spreading out
The whole sky suffused in light

Shirlee Murphy said...

Thanks, Pat...beautiful.....a reminder we ARE heading toward spring...whatever the state of the world.

Unknown said...

Pat, I'm afraid that Trumps people are all as craven as he is. Certainly most of the Repubs in Congress.

Lovely poem.

At work so sneaking in a word or two.

much love to all

Pat said...

Thank you, Shirlee and Barb. I'm glad you like it.

Yes, I agree, the absence of critical thinking, of holding a representative of the people accountable floors me. Are we really content to be perceived as greedy, arrogant, liars, cheaters, prejudiced, entitled, bullying, self-aggrandizing? That's what Trump is, and Republicans and others who voted for him must be okay with this. I just don't understand.

While teaching overseas, I was proud that Americans were viewed as fair people, competent, willing to be helpful and to try to understand other cultures, respectful, generous, and kind. Now, I wonder.

listener said...

I just spoke with Jo!! :-D

She says "Tell the girls [that's you] I said Hi!" ♥ She would love to be here more but between no internet and her hands not working so well, it's difficult.

Maybe we could leave her notes, from day to day, for when she gets online again. Hopefully soon!

Jo sounds wonderful, though! Her new place is really nice, good architecture, friendly neighbours, and it's even on the first floor. We are going to get together in January and have a ramble! I'm looking forward to it!!!

listener said...

I appreciate the poem. "How to find the invisible"...yes. yes. And all the more poignant, given the eclipse.

Pat said...

Good Morning,

This is going to be an ordeal with Trump. His selection of a right wing ambassador to Israel is one example. Gird our loins, I guess, and hopefully, we can muster the populace to oppose these cabinet picks.

Another old poem. I haven't written in a long time, so this just to get back into some sort of mode. Whatever we choose to do: crafts, organizing, cooking, reading, listening, viewing, I think we need the creativity in our lives. So here goes.
Sometimes I'm Overwhelmed in
What My Culture Calls Clutter

For Joanne and Bert


I want to gather up my life

the piles of papers, stacks

of magazines and books,

the artifacts I have saved.

When I touch them memory

unveils itself like Alpenglow

on the mountain in the window

of my living room, and then my life is

suddenly whole, never ending

as I see the past, see those whom

I have loved and who loved me.

The thrill of living on an island

in Samoa, to be part of a village,

to know the children and the families,

new friends initiated in need and

generosity, all the places, people,

knowledge of my one small life,

to gather it into a book, a painting,

maybe a library and give it to you

unknown friend from the future

who may even understand what

I cannot and make something

new, enlightening, and beautiful.

listener said...

"TRUMP CALLS FOR EXPANSION OF NUCLEAR CAPABILITY"
(Will nothing shock us anymore?)
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/311519-trump-calls-for-expansion-of-nuclear-capability
I clicked on the article and the advertisement on the same page read: Rest in Peace, with a $350,000 Life Insurance Police for $21/month. Talk about product placement!

listener said...

Thanks for your poem, Pat, which is a reminder for me that when Bush was bombing Baghdad (after we had protested until our feet nearly froze), we wallpapered the guest room. And when it got worse, we redid our kitchen (ourselves...including the plumbing) from scratch. I think during this administration we may have to build a whole house.

Pat said...

Hi Listener,

We are certainly called on to witness, participate, improve, protest, make our voices heard. This is something so extreme I don't think we've experienced it in our lifetimes.

puddle said...

Too funny. Don't know how/why, but have been over on the old thread for a week or so. Cept for Shirlee, who was companioning me. I'll catch up, soon.

Shirlee Murphy said...

Well, Puddle...I didn't want to miss anything! Love your poem, Pat.
I find the older I get the more I want to talk about "old times" with my
family...who are mostly receptive. Agree...it is a need/feeling of leaving
something behind....hoping they recognize the good ...and learn from
the bad! Tonight is Brenda Night! Love to all.

Shirlee Murphy said...

Just went back to check the old thread...yep!

puddle said...

Very cold in and out last night--not good for sleeping. Hurty knees, calves, thighs. Glad to get up, even though it didn't hurt less, lol! -- did offer distraction.

Nice neighbor arrived with mail: all gifts except the delivered one, are now in house. So done on that front.

Now. COOKING. Turk going slow/low, so needs twenty hours. Think I'm going to boil bones after, make several quarts of turkey broth/soup/base. Since this may be the last turkey I ever do. . . . Miss the days I did goose for Christmas. Used to have to drive to Baltimore to get one fresh (stores didn't carry them fresh Or frozen). Goose is the perfect bird: ALL dark meat, lol!

listener said...

"This is something so extreme I don't think we've experienced it in our lifetimes. "

I agree, Pat. Those who worked and fought during the World Wars sacrificed as we never have had to. I feel a certain fresh appreciation for what they endured. Of course, they had the advantage of believing their government was doing the noble thing. It may be that we're going to feel as the Germans did at the end of WWII.

Bill said today that what makes him most sad (and angry) about this coming mess is that DT and his cronies not only disrespect us, but their actions spit in the face of all those who worked and sacrificed before us, and potentially renders their contribution moot. It harms us and it also harms the world.

Isn't there yet some way to stop this madness?

Shirlee Murphy said...

Happy Christmas Eve Day to all! Brenda and I are continuing the tradition of celebrating Christmas
For at least three days...maybe four. She was here last night with dinner and a gift that was to be opened
immediately. It was the CD of music from Triad Stage production....which we saw last year. Laurelyn
Dossett....just gets better and better at composing and performing the musical settings to Triad's productions.

Brenda will be back this afternoon/ evening and again tomorrow for more festivities! My young'uns take
Christmas seriously!

Now for a nap before she arrives. :)
Love to all

Happy Christmas Eve to all.

whitznd said...

Merry Christmas to my favorite Blog Family. Much love to you all.

Pat said...


Merry Christmas to all of us. It is a gift all year to be able to share our thoughts and experiences. I hoped to copy a Gingerbread House to the blog, but only the words copied.



Gingerbread House

Shirlee Murphy said...

Your gingerbread house appreciated, Pat!

puddle said...

Has anyone ever made more than one gingerbread house? Has anyone managed the temptation to make any at all?

Getting ready to put turkey in oven. My company's coming on boxing day. Da boy and his dad. So lotsa leftovers/no cooking. Yay! Nice not to have to have the stuffing done till the turkey's almost done, lol!

puddle said...

NEW THREAD!!!!