A Toast
By C. K. Armistead
Dec 31, 2018
And so, with a raise o' the glass,
And a verse o' Auld Lang Syne,
We bid another year adieu
And consider how many have passed.
For now our time is growing short,
Our years add up to many
We are not exempt from Time's court,
No, nor are any.
But in those years
Our lives have been
With laughter filled, and tears
That always dry when we meet again
My friends.
So here's the Cup O' Kindness,
Raised to hail a new year
And may the love still bind us
As it has lo, these many years!
Happy New Year my friends!
Monday, December 31, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Out Of The Long, Deep Silence
I have been finding myself unwilling, uninspired, unmotivated, tired, weary, bereft of the words.
Today, for some reason, that changed.
I was looking out the kitchen window as I sipped my fresh, very hot coffee, and realized I did have things that I should write before the images got away.
So, apropos of absolutely nothing, here are my observations that have been a long time coming.
The neighborhood wakes up in stages. Matt is one of the first group to leave for work, when it is still dark out, and all is quiet. By the time I make it staggeringly out to the coffeemaker (thank God for programmable coffee makers) there are more folks out and about, getting ready to leave for work.
I am sure we all get up and stumble around inside where no one can see us FAR earlier than the outward signs of life would suggest. This neighborhood is well designed for such privacy. Ours is one of the few houses with a kitchen window on the front wall.
So, we wake up, we sustain ourselves with caffeine and food, and we make our way out into the world. Later, about the time I finally get around to my walk, there are those out doing things around the yard, or running errands. These are the retirees, or the ones like me that work different hours, or the stay at homes, who are rare.
I think perhaps I have been battling off depression. I have had no desire to do the things I know I should do, or even the things I used to enjoy. My reading even has degenerated into escaping into stories I've already read several times. Perhaps there is comfort there that part of me needs, I don't know.
Christmas time is usually a season I enjoy, in fact, used to get quite emotionally mushy about. Not so much now. I don't know why, except that it is harder and harder to see the magic in a season that seems to start with ads as close to Halloween as possible. It isn't about gifts and buying, not really. The season is really about a gift given to us, and how we need to respond from our hearts, not from our wallets. All the touchiness about whether people say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Totally missing the point. If you count yourself a Christian, stop being so incensed about Happy Holidays. You are not really celebrating the time Christ was born, you know. He was likely born in Spring. You are celebrating the occurrence during the time when the ancient Romans used to celebrate the Feast of the Saturnalia, because the first century Church couldn't openly celebrate at the appropriate time. During December, the Romans were too drunk, hung-over, or stuffed with food to care what the Christians might be doing, so they celebrated the gift of Christ's birth then, when nobody would notice and feed them to the lions. Also, just how do you think Jesus feels about this? What was His first rule? LOVE. That's right, Love God, love your NEIGHBOR. (Even your Jewish, Atheist, Muslim, or Pagan neighbor.) Griping at them about "Happy Holidays" is NOT love.
No soul ever found its way truly into God's love by being bullied, chided, or openly persecuted. You can't change people's minds by being hateful. You only drive them further away.
There are no elegant solutions for anything in this world, far as I know. Problem solving is hard, dirty work. Compromise is NOT a dirty word, it is a necessary tool.
Pain that does not go away, physical pain, is something that seeps into every part of your existence and strangles it. We need to do more for those who suffer chronic pain than throw opioids at them. That's the last thing they need. I have recently had a battle with chronic back pain, and I find stretching and strengthening exercises helpful. Not everyone will. I have steadfastly refused any pain reliever stronger than a single Ibuprofen, simply because I do NOT want to deal with the undesirable side effects. I'd rather hurt, frankly.
Gardens are wonderful things, but they require far too much work for me anymore. I am slowly transforming what we have into things that can suffer benign neglect. It still looks awful out there in winter, but at least Spring still has promise.
I think I've about run out of gas for this post.
Thank you for tolerating my navel gazing.
Today, for some reason, that changed.
I was looking out the kitchen window as I sipped my fresh, very hot coffee, and realized I did have things that I should write before the images got away.
So, apropos of absolutely nothing, here are my observations that have been a long time coming.
The neighborhood wakes up in stages. Matt is one of the first group to leave for work, when it is still dark out, and all is quiet. By the time I make it staggeringly out to the coffeemaker (thank God for programmable coffee makers) there are more folks out and about, getting ready to leave for work.
I am sure we all get up and stumble around inside where no one can see us FAR earlier than the outward signs of life would suggest. This neighborhood is well designed for such privacy. Ours is one of the few houses with a kitchen window on the front wall.
So, we wake up, we sustain ourselves with caffeine and food, and we make our way out into the world. Later, about the time I finally get around to my walk, there are those out doing things around the yard, or running errands. These are the retirees, or the ones like me that work different hours, or the stay at homes, who are rare.
I think perhaps I have been battling off depression. I have had no desire to do the things I know I should do, or even the things I used to enjoy. My reading even has degenerated into escaping into stories I've already read several times. Perhaps there is comfort there that part of me needs, I don't know.
Christmas time is usually a season I enjoy, in fact, used to get quite emotionally mushy about. Not so much now. I don't know why, except that it is harder and harder to see the magic in a season that seems to start with ads as close to Halloween as possible. It isn't about gifts and buying, not really. The season is really about a gift given to us, and how we need to respond from our hearts, not from our wallets. All the touchiness about whether people say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Totally missing the point. If you count yourself a Christian, stop being so incensed about Happy Holidays. You are not really celebrating the time Christ was born, you know. He was likely born in Spring. You are celebrating the occurrence during the time when the ancient Romans used to celebrate the Feast of the Saturnalia, because the first century Church couldn't openly celebrate at the appropriate time. During December, the Romans were too drunk, hung-over, or stuffed with food to care what the Christians might be doing, so they celebrated the gift of Christ's birth then, when nobody would notice and feed them to the lions. Also, just how do you think Jesus feels about this? What was His first rule? LOVE. That's right, Love God, love your NEIGHBOR. (Even your Jewish, Atheist, Muslim, or Pagan neighbor.) Griping at them about "Happy Holidays" is NOT love.
No soul ever found its way truly into God's love by being bullied, chided, or openly persecuted. You can't change people's minds by being hateful. You only drive them further away.
There are no elegant solutions for anything in this world, far as I know. Problem solving is hard, dirty work. Compromise is NOT a dirty word, it is a necessary tool.
Pain that does not go away, physical pain, is something that seeps into every part of your existence and strangles it. We need to do more for those who suffer chronic pain than throw opioids at them. That's the last thing they need. I have recently had a battle with chronic back pain, and I find stretching and strengthening exercises helpful. Not everyone will. I have steadfastly refused any pain reliever stronger than a single Ibuprofen, simply because I do NOT want to deal with the undesirable side effects. I'd rather hurt, frankly.
Gardens are wonderful things, but they require far too much work for me anymore. I am slowly transforming what we have into things that can suffer benign neglect. It still looks awful out there in winter, but at least Spring still has promise.
I think I've about run out of gas for this post.
Thank you for tolerating my navel gazing.
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