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December 31 Hogmanay Haiku“New Year's Eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening, that come with the coming of darkness on other nights”
~Hamilton Wright Mabie
“Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.”
~Brooks Atkinson
“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
~Bill Vaughn
Happy Hogmanay to you all!
~Hogmanay Haiku~
Finally it’s here
The end of a crappy year-
So goodbye to you
I can’t rightly say
You were good in any way-
So goodbye to you
Hoping the New Year
Will be much more bright and clear-
So goodbye to you
Midnight I’ll be there
To watch your end and declare-
So goodbye to you
It will be so good
For you, the scythe and the hood-
So goodbye to you
Hoping that next year
This same song I will not cheer-
So goodbye to you
December 28 Haiku Friday- X-mas Story
I got the idea from Siobhan, and thanks to sarcasticmom, I know now the path to that part of the misty realm of the blogiverse it originated from. So for better or worse, here is my bumbled start:
~ X-mas Story~
Perfect tree is found
Adorned and made the homes heart -
The curb awaits you
Cookies baked with love
A rich delight to my eyes -
My waist now hates me
Gifts wrapped with great care
Family is all gathered -
Paper torn and tossed
Gifts are all given
Joyful sounds are now faded -
Sorrow comes by mail.
December 17 100 Word Challenge - Christmas SpiritThe one really good thing about NabloPoMo, was that I got to meet a lot of new people that I might have never tripped over of my own accord; one of those is Velvet Verbosity who has posted ‘The Velvet Verbosity 100 word challenge – Christmas Spirit’.
I decided to do it on the actual ‘Spirit’ of the season, as it applies to me.
I may be a little late getting started here, but what the heck.
The Promise
Uncommon star that had appeared so very long ago
To herald in a brand new age to make on high, the very low
A promise made within the dawn to those destined to fail
That one day Grace would flow to all, within a babies wail.
The Angels, although mighty, could not themselves convey the word
To hearts that had turned cold and hard, against old prophesies they once heard
But wise men looking to the skies for the sign that they did know
Would guide them to the outstretched hand of God, set in a manger low.
© 2007 December 16 Castle In The Sky
12 December 07 \ 13:09: Inner core temperature drop sensed.
Outer shell temperature increase of 5 degrees also noted.
14:48: Propulsion systems start to experience catastrophic cascade
failure.
15:36: Emergency power at maximum; but unsustainable.
18:14: Warp containment is at critical mass, communications are
garbled and unintelligible, Life Support seems to be all but depleted.
18:30: On nothing more than the proverbial ‘Wing and a prayer’,
docking procedures are finally completed.
Garbled transmission to command center:
‘Honey………….I’m Sicky!
We have had the black quarantine flag flying over our house for almost a month now. Three days after Thanksgiving, my wife came down with a nasty combination of grievous maladies that had her at home and off her feet for about a week, and only with the help of mystical pharmaceuticals, was she able to once again join the ranks of the miserably employed.
One week later found me, near the end of my workday, suddenly feeling that inner chill that can only mean one thing: Throat lozenges and Nyquil will be my main staples for the next day or two. I’m not one to call in sick because I don’t want to go into work, but when I get sick, even the slightest bit; I make sure I stay home. I hate it when people ‘tuff it out’ and go to work because they are (please choose any that apply):
If you chose #5, then you are correct.
I can truly empathize with #1; I have been there as a child watching a parent struggle with that dilemma and also as an adult, when I was in the hourly workforce. I may get angry and not like it one bit, but I also cannot fault their decision to go to work.
Everyone else automatically falls into the #5 category.
All you #2’s out there; I don’t care if you are Gods gift to the corporation, you come into work sick makes you a jackass. Hey all you #3’s; If you are looking for a spotlight to be placed on you from on high, trust me, when everyone else is out sick and you are remembered as being ‘Patient Zero’, you will have more spotlight on you than you would ever care for.
And you #4’s, please remember that the old adage rings true: ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’.
When I get sick, I usually blow it off in a day or two at the max. I attribute this to strong Celtic genes, the proper usage of miraculous healing waters and oatmeal cookies. However, even the best preventive maintenance will still see breakdowns occur, such as is the case now. I have a sore throat that is making its way into my ears, a fever and a cough that even when I can find a comfortable moment to doze off, prevents me from doing just that. My dreams have been very strange and forgotten at the moment of consciousness, with the exception that the underlying theme seems to be about twos; One being good and the other being tainted.
The one dream I do remember was not so much a dream as a fusion between real and unreal.
Let me explain:
The other night I was watching the 400th item on TV since I was quarantined to the bedroom. Reading was too much a chore and writing was totally out of the question, so the ‘Sucker of Souls’ was the only thing available to me that I would not need to work at (except for the remote, and I was still man enough to be able to do that). The movie was ‘Jack and the beanstalk; the true story’, which turned out to be an enjoyable movie. The very short of it is that a modern day descendant of the original stalk climber, must return the gifted goose and the magic harp back to the land where it came from, in order to lift a fatal family curse. As all good movies go, Jack succeeds in his quest and everyone lives happily ever after.
Sometime during the night while once again enveloped inside a dream, I was struggling with this problem: If the goose that lays the golden eggs and the magical harp were returned to the magical castle in the sky, as I know they were, why is it that my throat still hurts?
It seemed like the entire night saw me struggling with this perplexing mystery.
© 2007 December 09 Over The River & Through The Woods
“The automobile… is ideally suited for our vast landscape and our generally confused and contrary commuting patterns.” ~Brock Yates
"Commuter -- one who spends his life in riding to and from his wife.” ~Elwyn Brooks White
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, why do we still need to explain to people what they’re of?” ~Rocas
MY DAILY COMMUTE – A PHOTO ESSAY
2:01:00 am - (YES; A.M. (Latin: Ante Meridiem; English: Way too F’ing early)), the alarm clock sounds
2:01:25 am - The (pre-flight across the room) alarm clock
2:10 am - Enjoying a rousing cup of joe
2:20 am - The invigorating shower (I can hardly contain myself)
2:55 am – Dressed and packed, my trusty chariot springs to life (at least one of does)
2:57 am – All charged up & ready to go; ‘Atomic batteries to power, Turbines to speed’
2:57 am – Around the corner and on my way. Only 112 more miles to go!
3:05 am – 10 miles of sleepy local road like this until I reach the highway.
3:20 am – At last, the 1st highway link
3:25 am – My morning stop to top off the tank, but where is the attendant???
Oh, there he is! We are all a lively bunch at this hour of the A.M.
3:30 am – Back on the road. This sign seems to be as surprised as I am to see some jackass on the road at this hour.
A highway; yes. Smooth sailing; no. My morning battle with windmills begins. This one is named ‘Zorn – Destroyer of Hope’
4:00 am – 40 miles from home and finally on the ‘super’ highway.
4:10 am – 50 miles from home and I enter Pennsyltucky.
4:35am – The Philly skyline. Trust me; asleep at the wheel at 65 miles an hour – this is as good as it’s going to get!
As you can see by all the ‘Z’s’, the city is as asleep as I am.
4:55 am – I finally enter Delaweird.
5:10 am – Finally at work
5:15 am - All fired up and ready to begin my workday.
Lots of top secret stuff happens here, so I can’t show you – but this is the end result:
The Saturn Sky
The Opel GT
The Pontiac Solstice (as you can see, there are a few bugs to work out on this model)
2:00 pm – A good days work & happy that it is done with, I’m ready to head back to the ranch.
2:05 pm – A different route home: directly from Delaweird to Joisey (no toll on the bridge heading north)
2:10 pm – Back over the bridge to the land that won the Civil War.
A view from the bridge
I am welcomed home and my 67 mile trek on this highway leg begins
This is a pretty, tree lined highway that is just so B O R I N G!. It’s just a good thing that I am already asleep.
And there is a lot of this going on too. The Governor has promised to have all of Joisey paved over by 2012.
The next highway to take and only 40 miles left to go.
This is the best part; I have thus far traveled 100 miles with no issues, but this small part is only 60 feet from my exit and will take me 5-10 minutes to get through.
Finally!!!
4:25 pm – 225 miles and 14 ½ hours later, I am back where I started.
8:00 pm – You would think that after a full day of semi-consciousness and ass dragging, that NOW would be a good time to sleep!!!
Welcome to my world.
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