Favorite pictures with comments

These pictures are so good that "lifting" them off of one of my favorite "go to" blogs..........might be ok?

The cute young lady is holding her ears as the young man on the ground is saying something that probably should not be heard. The other young man in the background is "contemplating" the whole event in his own way.

(maybe I will add something to the prior blog too)

Saturday, revisited it, and yet to be revisted

Another Saturday, another walk, another shot with the Sandias in the background. MJ in the shot too of course. Blue skies. All the good things about a Saturday.

*

This shot somehow made it's way to FB, posted I think by MJ. If I would have taken a picture of him looking to the west the horizon would have had a balloon or two. It might be interesting to walk the same path regularly over a lot of years and take a picture along the way often over those same years. The things that would change would probably be the "characters" of the story. When later we looked back we would see the changes as growth and how we see them would probably reveal a lot about our own changes.

I "felt" the light

Today I heard a young girl, just turning 12, express her testimony and in doing so she said that she had written a poem for her mother and had "felt the spirit" when she did. I was glad to hear her express herself today. Her thoughts made me think about a poem that I like and also about the words of the poem and what it really means to feel passionately. Maybe the passion you feel for the poem is connected to a testimony about "truth and light". When our thinking is in tune with "truth and light" we "feel" strongly. Perhaps passionately. Maybe one could say our own soul "rages" and excels.......................

*

I think the 12 year old girl in her simple testimony showed that she was willing to stand up in her own unique "rage" of a testimony of the truth and light.

*

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Old age should burn and rave at the close of day:

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right.

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in the green bay.

Rage, Rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

who is at the other end of that phone call..........

This blog is about "what I did on December 27th" I suppose we could say that it is really about what my friend Glenn did since that is him with the phone and his granddaughter and daughter and probably those folded hands on the right are his wife Fran's hands but then again this is my blog and I could call this "what did I do on December 27th" so therefore I can tell you that I called Glenn. He was at Red Lobster as you can see and he was talking on the phone to me. That is why this post is about what I was doing that day. Not having anything else to post about today I thought that I would just post this picture...............Happy Birthday again Glen a few days after the fact. Course he sent me the photo a few days after the fact.

Reaching down

When you think about the coming year or the time ahead it is challenging to really come up with something that represents what might be ahead. I thought a little about goals the last few days. Often over the years I have sat down and reviewed goals and set new ones. Ben Franklin wrote some good advice about goals. He suggested we focus on 13 goals and that we spend a week on each of them.

*

Temperance

Silence

Order

Resolution

Frugality

Industry

Sincerity

Justice

Moderation

Cleanliness

Tranquility

Chastity

Humility

*

The focus on each of these areas worked for Ben Franklin. He was pretty wealthy by the time he was middle age. On the other hand is getting wealthy what goals ought to be about? It seems like in some ways goals are about running a race and the winner somehow beats the others. A few weeks ago I saw a commercial that I thought might be a good case for "not setting goals". Not trying to win the race in life. The event shown in the commercial was a race. Some down-syndrome kids lined up at the starting line. All were smiling. All were happy. The parents on the sidelines looked excited for their kids. The kids were ready and the race started. They ran. The parents smiled. All were excited. (on their way towards the goal of finishing or maybe winning) Soon a little boy fell. He went down. His parents looked on in shock. He looked so sad. His happy face was changed. A little girl looked back. She stopped. She went back and "reached down" and pulled him up. The started to run. The others looked back. The waited. They locked arms and ran together when the little girl and boy caught up. The parents smiled. The faces were all happy. They finished together. The goal was not winning it should have been finishing and they did it together. Life is an opportunity at times to reach down and pull up and stop and wait. Wonder how old Ben Franklin could have worked this idea into his 13 steps for success. What a better way. Good reason to set no goals that involve winning and beating those around us. On the other hand we have to develop the talents we are given. Interesting how to do both. Reach down, develop our talents. Are goals needed?