February 14, 2012
Colorado, USA
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Happy Birthday Tina!
February 6, 2012
They say it takes a long time
to grown an old friend.
May we ever tend that garden well.
Happy Birthday Tina!
Love ya girl!
-V-
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Happy 50th!
February 2, 2012
Colorado, USA
To our good Okie friends Nancy & Don (with a great sense of humor) we wish a very Happy 50th Anniversary!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
A ma wise beyond his words...
February 1, 2012
Colorado, USA
Those who write of the art of poetry teach us that if we would write what may be worth the reading, we ought always, before we begin, to form a regular plan and design of our piece: otherwise, we shall be in danger of incongruity.
I am apt to think it is the same as to life. I have never fixed a regular design in life; by which means it has been a confused variety of different scenes.
I am now entering upon a new one: let me, therefore, make some resolutions, and form some scheme of action, that, henceforth, I may live in all respects like a rational creature.
1. It is necessary for me to be extremely frugal for some time, till I have paid what I owe.
2. To endeavour to speak truth in every instance; to give nobody expectations that are not likely to be answered, but aim at sincerity in every word and action -- the most amiable excellence in a rational being.
3. To apply myself industriously to whatever business I take in hand, and not divert my mind from my business by any foolish project of growing suddenly rich; for industry and patience are the surest means of plenty.
4. I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of every body.
Benjamin Franklin, A Plan of Conduct, 1726
Saturday, January 28, 2012
I was born to live free across sunshine days...
January 28, 2012
Colorado, USA
Shared with me by a friend...
Sunshine Days and Foggy Nights
by James Kavanaugh
I was born to catch dragons in their dens
And pick flowers
To tell tales and laugh away the morning
To drift and dream like a lazy stream
And walk barefoot across sunshine days.
I was born to find goblins in their caves
And chase moonlight
To see shadows and seek hidden rivers
To hear the rain fall on dry leaves
And chat a bit with death across foggy nights.
I was born to rub my hands in dirt
And walk green hills
To plant corn and make bread
To build a house strong against the wind
And to live free across sunshine days.
I was born to watch owls in dark forests
And hear coyotes cry
To feel trees tremble and the grass sleep
To taste cold air and smell the damp earth
And watch ghostly shapes disappear across foggy nights.
I was born to love a man wrapped in sunshine
And dressed in fog
To make a pact on a high hill
Ratified centuries ago by the sun
To walk together through sunshine days and foggy nights.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Ambitious only for life itself....
January 27, 2012
Colorado, USA
Today a friend with a random post on a social network reminded me just how much I loved Kavanaugh...
“I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains,, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know - unless it be to share our laughter.
We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.
For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves.”
― James Kavanaugh, There Are Men Too Gentle to Live Among Wolves
Thursday, January 5, 2012
New Year... New Resolve... Mostly Baloney
January 5, 2012
Colorado, USA
About those New Year Resolutions...
Sure, I have made resolutions, promised myself I would do better at this or that in the coming year -- but I don't really buy into them [resolutions]. I am the kind of person who believes if one feels the need to make a change... then one should make a change rather than arbitrarily plan for it. Waiting for a day on the calendar to make a resolution to be better at this or that or the other is procrastination not resolve. New Year's Day is a day much like any other day. The sun rises and sets just like any other day. If betterment of our personal selves and circumstances is the goal, then now, today, whatever that day may be is as good a time as any to begin -- isn't it?.
Still, the arrival of a New Year is a time of reflection for many, myself included. I read the following many years ago and was delighted when I ran across it again just a few days before Christmas. I believe any one of us could use this list to improve upon ourselves and be all the better for it. Any day. Any time.
An excerpt from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1784):
It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient to prevent our slipping, and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the following method.
...and I included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurred to me as necessary or desirable...
1. Temperance
Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality
Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry
Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity.
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice
Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation
Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. Tranquillity
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. Humility
Imitate Jesus and Socrates
Read the entire discourse at the following link:
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Happy New Year Eve!
December 31, 2011
Colorado, USA
...it was the season of hospitality, merriment,
and open-heartedness;
the old year was preparing, like an ancient philosopher,
to call his friends around him,
and amidst the sound of feasting and revelry
to pass gently and calmly away.
from The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
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