What makes us {Beautiful}

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain;

Grandpa's Air Force regiment, WWII

For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

 

Grandpa, radio operator for the United States Air Force

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.

My Grandpa, Raymond, on the right.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control,
Thy liberty in law.

Ray and Liz

 ~Katharine L. Bates

Happy Veteran's Day. 

Love,

Liz

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For some unknown reason...

How come there are never any blog tributes to President's day?? It's a least as fantastic (and by fantastic, I mean stupid and phony) as the holiday it immediately follows, yet it gets no love.

Well, I am here to rectify!! (Can I get a witness?) Brothers and sisters! Join me today in celebrating a vaunted group of individuals who, regardless of age (old), gender (male) or religion (Christian), were likely to be named James.





The song is by Mr. Heywood Banks, the video was created and kindly posted to youtube by galacticdude7.

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Brace Yourself

Yup, yup, V-day is nearly upon us!

I actually beat no ill will toward this (Bonnie-style air quotes) "holiday." I feel much the same about it that I feel towards birthdays and Halloween: it's great fun when you're a kid and can go to sugar-filled parties, but when you're an adult, it gets rather unnecessarily expensive.

I am also slightly alarmed that we have chosen to commemorate a man's brutal murder by eating candies made of chalk. But to each his own!

In that spirit, I present to you my Saint Valentine's Day haiku:

Required amore
Overpriced restaurant food
Roses bloom in June!

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I carry with me the true spirit of Christmas...and Hannukah

Today, I donned some gay apparel (a holiday sweater loaned by Aunt Kathy! I am normally opposed to such garb, but today I carried with me the true spirit of Christmas and thus needed to look a little more festive. Thanks AK!) and I took my slightly battered dulcimer to a local nursing home. I wanted to spread a little holiday cheer to some people who might not get any other visitors so I googled nursing homes in my area. I found one that looked like a winner and ran a little mapquest.

It's behind my bank.
The bank I go to twice a month, every month.
This nursing home is right there.

I've never seen it.

A Rabbi I know pointed out that the festivals of this time of year all tend to involve light. Some light a menorah, others a Christmas tree, or maybe just a pretty candle. At this season, when the days are shortest, we all seem to have this deep primal need to light up the darkness, be we Jewish, Christian, or pagan.

Light helps us see.

So many people on the fringes of society - the elderly, the homeless, all those "lost in the system" - are virtually invisible.

We just
don't
see
them.

And so I tell you this story of me in a holiday sweater at a nursing home on Christmas day, not to brag about how awesome I am or great is was (and it was really great), but because I think you might be where I was:

blind to the opportunities around me
unable to see the needs I could meet in some small way

Maybe this story will help you see better.
It is the season
of light.

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Merry Christmas

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A Holiday Blizzard

During AK and UJ's Christmas party, the weather outside was frightful!

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The Ghost of Christmas Past

Baby's first Christmas

Singing "Mary's Boychild" at church for a Christmas program.
Look how fashionable we were in our colored tights!

It was one of the goals of my life to be taller than Pam.
Mission Accomplished.
(also, how ugly is my shirt??)

Our brand new Cabbage Patch dolls!
Pammy's been hitting the 'nog a little hard, I see...

Cousins come to visit!
By the way, I'm still afraid of geese.
Also, nice hair, Jimmy.

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The Plaza Lighting in Kansas City, MO

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Thanksgiving Wishes

I do not think of all the misery,
but of the glory that remains.
Go outside into the fields,
nature and the sun,
go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God.
Think of the beauty that again and again
discharges itself within and without you
and be happy.
~Anne Frank

Hoping you and yours are safe and happy
today and every day.
Love,
Jill

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