Saturday, December 24, 2011

FIRST NIGHT OF CHANUKAH -- A PARODY!

Here's a fun parody that popped into my mind this week... while a bit late for the First Night of Chanukah very appropriate for tonight!

FIRST NIGHT OF CHANUKAH
‘Twas the first night of Chanukah
When all thru the house
Every Creature was stirring
Even pet mouse
The wallets were laid
In a haphazard way
Expecting the gelt
That daddy would pay
Us children were shouting
Refusing to sleep
And Mama was crying
‘Keep this noise to a peep’
When out at the door
Came a knock so loud
I knew it was Grandpa
Who would bring in a crowd.
Dad sprang from his chair
To attend to the matter
Aunts and Uncles trooped in
O my, such chatter
Coins jingling in pockets
Enough for my rockets
Bundles of presents and toys
One for each girl and each boy
Mama, hands on hips, I could tell
She hadn’t expected
This visit from Hell
But ‘wait’ Grandpa shouted
Before anything’s outed
Light candles and recall
Judas Macabee and all

And now I have kids who dutifully shout
‘Not clothes,’ with a pout
‘Please mommy and daddy,
We’d rather have money
All that time in the store, waiting in lines
What happened to me-I opined
Have I been corrupted
By commercials that state,
‘It’s your duty to spend, buy all that you can, and even more’
‘Forget that plea from that old sage advisor
As he bade his good-bye, Grandpa always implored
“Don’t waste money, spend right
“Happy Chanukah to all, I’ll see you next night!”

Saturday, December 17, 2011

To Blog or Not to Blog

If you are like me you might find yourself saying... where does the time go.  There are so many things on my to do list and somehow I just don't get through them.  The past five months blogging has been one of the things on the list that I have just not gotten to.  Why???  I'm asking myself that question.  It isn't for lack of ideas or adventures I've had.   Maybe its priorities.  Other things have demanded my attention and had to be taken care of.  That is clearly part of the reason.  And sometimes even though I have had the time I just haven't felt like it.  If I am to be honest, some of that may be due to my Mom's passing last May and this blog didn't feel like the appropriate expression of the grieving process.

This morning I decided to look at the traffic to the blog and was surprised how we continue to be picked up by the search engines and the posts that get a number of hits.  The statue of Franco Harris's Immaculate Reception is the top of the list receiving quite a few every week as does the one on Boquette Crime.  Of my Art Postings the one "She Paints Sea Shells" is the most popular.  Well.. that's some motivation.  To know that I might be providing some information to the general public.

I think back to the reason we started this blog.  Some friends and family had expressed that they liked the unique things we were doing in "retirement" and that it was providing inspiration for them. OK! Today I don't even like the word "retire."  I prefer Jane Fonda's term "Third Act" which I heard via a podcast on a  retreat she participated in at Upaya (which I listened to on their Dharma podcast  and highly recommend). The retreat explored the fact that we are living longer and encouraged us to find ways to make the 30 years that people often have after retiring from their formal careers meaningful.

For me each day has the potential to be an exciting adventure and it is up to me to make it so.  It is fun to share those adventures on this blog. So I'm committed to writing again and to encouraging Murray to do some writing too.