If there were time I would tell you why time is a thief...
Stealing moments then minutes then hours and weeks...
-- Rod McKuen 1933-2015
Happy New Year my friends!
Tonight, at the stroke of midnight, we lit twelve candles for our friends and loved ones, past present and future, including you.
We offered prayers as we lit each candle, one for each month. We said some goodbyes and thanked God for our time together.
Tonight's ceremony held many tears.
Then, as years before, we ran outside in our pajamas and allowed the January wind to blow away the cobwebs from last year.
Then back into our warm home to face the new year together.
Then back into our warm home to face the new year together.
I shall blog again soon. I miss you.
May the New Year bring you peace, grace, love beyond measure and good health.
xo
Andie
Happy New Year to you, too, Andie! What a lovely tradition.
ReplyDeleteThank you for everything Andie. It is much appreciated for the new year. Hope yours is blessed too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Andie for the New Year's greeting, wishing you and yours the same! I look forward to a new year of your posts!
ReplyDeleteGina
A lovely tradition, Andie, and beautiful New Year's wishes. The same to you and your family. Wishing you a year of love, happiness, good health, and "time to blog". ;-) I've missed your wonderful posts!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Happy New Year to you and yours, Andie; may you celebrate this year in good health and happiness!
ReplyDeleteWonderful sentiments, as usual, Andie. Just so well said, and I love the quote atop this post. The tyranny of the urgent indeed. - Jg.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Andie! Happy New Year to you and your family too! Hugs, Leena
ReplyDeleteDear Andie, Happy New Year and All the Best in 2016!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
This is the Year of Mercy per Pope Francis
ReplyDeleteso all the best to all of us in 2016.
May God's mercy be with us throughout the year
Miss your blogging finds
What a sweet and gracious sentiment. It opens my eyes to what the best of us, should and can be.I am so thankful for everything in my life, my family, our health, and most of all the love we share as a family. Thank you for reminding me of the important things that make life as wonderful as it is. Happy 2016..
ReplyDeleteA lovely post! Wishing you much happiness in the coming year!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Andie!
ReplyDeleteI hope we see more of you in 2016 than ever before.
You too Andie, hope to see even more of you in 2016 than ever before my Friend! Happy New Year from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! xo
ReplyDeleteIN HONOR of MARTIN LUTHER KING'S BIRTHDAY
ReplyDelete___________ A January Man __________
Ghandi set the pattern for your feet ––
Needing methods that could overthrow
Ingrained –– entrenched –– Injustice you faced heat
Ku-Klux-Klansmen lit to bring you low.
Looking Terror squarely in the face
Many would have flinched, but you stood firm.
Relentlessly you gave courage to your race ––
Oppressed –– assessed as lower than a worm!
Truth and Courage were your sword and shield.
Cleansing us from same you spoke aloud
Of mindless meanness –– our disgrace revealed.
Despite denials, our heads are bowed.
O, martyred man of God, you had one flaw
They say, but we look back on you with awe.
~ FreeThinke - The Sandpiper, Winter 1996-97
OFF TOPIC but IMPORTANT to ME:
ReplyDeleteI want to thank AOW for posting what-is-sure-to-be the very last item that will appear at FreeThinke's blog.
We have been forced out of business by electronic bullying –– a modern form of brutality.
Parting is all we know of Heaven ––
And ll we need of Hell.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT'S DEBATE, WHICH SHOULD BE OUR PRIMARY FOCUS TODAY:
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the tone of the Republican debates in general has been warped by the undue influence of the ENEMEDIA in the persons of agenda-driven "moderators."
The moderators' focus has been more on sparking loud, sensationalistic "food fights" among the candidates than permitting them to speak freely –– and uninterruptedly –– on matters of substance –– i.e.:
1. A limp, severely lagging economy -
2. Misleading statistics on unemployment and jobs growth -
3. What to do about the threat posed by ISIS and the extreme volatility of the Middle East -
4. How we ought to deal with the belligerent posturing of North Korea -
5. What might be the BEST way to make sure that ALL American citizens have access to high-quality Medical Care without rationing, and without surrendering their freedom to choose their own doctors and medical facilities -
6. How best to minimize the deleterious effects of unchecked ILLEGAL Immigration -
7. How to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States by fostering an economic climate attractive to the Captains of Industry that is also fair to American workers -
8. How to deal the dehumanizing threat of ever-increaing Automation and Robotization
9. How to deal with Right to Life issues v. Personal Autonomy -
10. How to preserve Freedom of Religion while curbing Islamic Aggression
11. How to shore up and rebuild our crumbling, foundering Infrastructure -
12. How to restore CONTROL of EDUCATIONAL POLICIES to individual communities -
Instead of focusing on things that MATTER, the moderators tend to do whatever they can to pick at scabs, pour salt into wounds, bring up petty nonsense designed to titillate the public, while embarrassing candidates, knocking them off balance, and sparking fruitless, childish quarreling. This turns what-should-be serious ADULT debate into a CIRCUS –– a BURLESQUE –– a TRAVESTY.
Undue MANIPULATION and USURPATION of CONTROL by the ENEMEDIA was well exemplified by three things:
1. The decision to FORBID CARLY FIORINA from PARTICIPATING
2. The way moderators are obviously instructed to EXCLUDE a good man like Dr. Carson from full participation by steadfastly IGNORING him and REFUSING to ASK HIM QUESTIONS. [I loved it when he wryly observed after FINALLY being given a chance to participate, that he wasn't there just to help decorate to the stage. ;-]
3. The INSTANT post-debate ANALYSIS by ENEMEDIA "Pundits" that focused almost SOLELY –– all across the media board today including the supposedly "objective" C-Span –– on how Governor Christie humiliated and pilloried Marco Rubio by mocking him on making "memorized set speeches" instead of answering questions honestly, etc.
The collective purpose of the enemedia seems always to do its best to "DESTROY" any Republican who appears to be gaining favor with the public. WHY they would want to do that is a question that should concern every American with a functioning brain.
In short while the Democrats promise ever greater amounts of FREE "BREAD," the enemedia further corrupts to political process by producing an endless round of "CIRCUSES" craftily designed to take focus away from the critical problems that threaten our very existence.
STOP, LOOK, LISTEN then DO YOUR OWN THINKING, and PRAY for SANITY is the only advice I have to offer.
I do not understand why we, who are friends and admirers of Andie, cannot or will not talk among ourselves when she is absent, can you?
ReplyDeleteOlá, que este novo ano seja de muitas alegrias para ti e tua famÃlia.
ReplyDeleteAguardamos teu retorno.
Sweeping all petty details and side issues out of the way, what we desperately need to do as a natjio, iis get back to First Principles and consider the IMMENSE difference between honest CHARITY, which is always heartfelt and strictly VOLUNTARY, and the COUNTERFEIT version aggressively promoted by the Left.
ReplyDeleteThe former is based entirely on faith in human kindness and a good-hearted devotion to PRINCIPLE. The latter stems from COERCION –– the threat of official ostracism, incarceration, confiscation of personal property,–– possibly torture, and even EXECUTION ––, for failure to conform to the ruthless, ever-increasing dictates of an Almighty Authoritarian STATE.
Charity ceases to BE "Charity," when it is EXTRACTED at the point of a gun.
Jesus Christ sought to transform us on a purely INDIVIDUAL basis, by appealing to our capacity to develop heightened awareness of the significance of and empathy for the plight of Others In so doing He sought to foster the development of a refined moral compass and a reliable good conscience in each.
This could never hope to be achieved through purely TEMPORAL means.
The Marxian-Cummunist-Socialist-Progressive-Liberal-Democrat-Statist model appeals to Envy, Spite, Malice, Pure Selfishness, and the Lust for Vengeance –– the absolute ANTITHESIS of Christian Doctrine.
No GOOD could ever hope to come from such a poisonous philsophy, which is why Marxism and all its hideous permutations have always failed and will always will FAIL to produce anything but misery, mutually shared poverty and deprivation.
It is entirely ILLUSORY to think otherwise.
Doctor CARSON seems to be the only candidate who understands this thoroughly, and does every he can to abide by it.
Is it any wonder the godless, cynical, manipulative, abusive beetle-shelled ENEMEDIA sought to ignore him, isolate him, and deprive him of the opportunity to speak at every available opportunity?
As "Two Kings," a brilliant Christmas Anthem by Joseph Cloakey, says at the end: "We entertain Him always like a stranger, and as at first still lodge Him in a manger."
INDEED!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCONSERVATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS for MEDICAL CARE REFORM
ReplyDelete1. All Medical Insurance Premiums should 100% tax-deductible.
2. The cost of all visits to doctors should be 100% tax-deductible.
3. The cost of all laboratory work should be 100% tax-deductible.
4. The cost of all hospital stays should be 100% tax-deductible.
5. The cost of all surgical procedures, and follow-up visits, whether in-hospital our outpatient, should be 100% tax-deductible.
6. The cost of all doctor-recommended Medications, whether prescription drugs or over-the-counter preparations should be 100% tax-deductible.
7. The cost of all transportation to and from medical facilities and pharmacies should be 100% tax-deductible.
8. Contributions to Medical Savings Accounts up to 15% of each person’s gross income should be 100% tax-deductible. IN ADDITION:
9. Medical Insurance in a wide variety of programs tailor-made to suit the specific needs and financial limitations of each individual subscriber at a variety of cost levels –– from deluxe Concierge Services that cover 100% of all costs, down to Major Medical policies with high deductibles designed to cover only Catastrophic conditions –– should be available to all people.
10. All Medical Insurance Policies should be portable with no lapse in coverage from job-to-job, job-to unemployment, and state-to-state in every state in the land.
11. No one should be excluded, because of pre-existing conditions.
12. Those who truly can’t afford to buy medical insurance at any level should be subsidized on a sliding scale. A special federal fund should be set aside and used EXCLUSIVELY for this purpose and for no other.
13. Rich and upper-middle-class individuals should NOT be prohibited from using their wealth to buy better quality medical care.
14. Generous-spirited individuals who take it upon themselves to help those less fortunate to subsidize their income and help pay their medical costs should be permitted to deduct every single cent they give voluntarily for the benefit of others from their taxable income.
15. Gay partners in stable, committed relationships who share a household and have taken responsibility for each other’s well-being for at least five years should
A) Be able to visit their loved one in hospitals and ICU facilities,
B) Should be privy to all Patient Information,
C) Should be permitted to consult freely with whatever doctors or nursing staff may be involved as any lawfully-wedded spouse would.
D) Should be permitted to make medical decisions for a partner who is unable to do so for him or her self.
16. Insurance policies for senior citizens with a clause also for victims of tragic, crippling accidents should provide unlimited access to In-Home Health Care Service as long as it may be needed, or the cost of Nursing Home Care should it be should it be absolutely necessary.
17. Veterans of Foreign Wars should be given full and free access to ALL private doctors and health care facilities free of charge. The federal government should foot the bill. In this way we could phase out the cumbersome, inefficient, cruelly insensitive VA hospitals, which would
A) Enable veterans to be treated as well as other citizens, and
B) eliminate a large, wasteful, criminally unresponsive federal bureaucracy.
18. All citizens should be have access to the services of whatever doctors and medical facilities they prefer. PERIOD!
SAD NEWS: Mrs. Reagan has just passed away, Sunday, March 6, 2016. She was 94.
ReplyDeleteBecause I could not stop for Death,
ReplyDeleteHe kindly stopped for me.
The carriage geld, but just ourselves ––
And Immortality.
We slowly drove ––
He knew no haste ––
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too
For His Civility.
We passed the school
Where children played ––
Their lessons scarcely done.
We passed the fields of gazing grain ––
We passed the setting Sun.
We paused before a house
Which seemed a swelling of the ground ––
The roof was scarcely visible ––
The cornice but a mound.
'Tis centuries since then,
But each feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horse's heads
Were towards –– Eternity.
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Posted in memory of Mrs. Ronald Reagan, who died yesterday at the age of ninety-four, and in the hope that those horses will lead Mrs. Reagan back to the loving arms of her husband, and that they may live together in eternal peace and harmony forever. - FT
HAPPY EASTER to Andie, her Family and all her Friends and Fans!
ReplyDelete________ RESURRECTION ________
ReplyDeleteCold He lay behind the heavy stone,
Hidden there with broken hands and feet.
Ruthless powers crushed His flesh and bone.
It looked to be the ultimate defeat.
Sadly, in the dawn Saint Mary’s three
Trudged toward the tomb wherein He lay.
Instead of death, an angel helped them see,
Startled, that the stone was rolled away!
A risen Jesus stood! He still drew breath!
Radiance around Him warmed the air.
In banks of lilies sweet we now see death
Stripped of terror. Life, eternal, fair,
Enjoins us all to claim His victory.
Naught could stop us save our vanity.
~ FreeThinke - The Sandpiper
HAPPY EASTER!
Let us acclaim God's Ultimate Victory for ourselves by retaining and increasing our faith, and never giving way to anger, bitterness and cynicism.
CHRIST is RISEN!
ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!
Andie, dear, have you abandoned your blog completely, or may we still hope for a Resurrection?
ReplyDeleteIt would be awfully kind if you would check in at least once a month, and let us know you are still among the living. It's no necessary for you to make a spectacular presentation every time you show your sweet face. A simple, "Hello," would do wonders to boost our morale.
FYI: In case anyone has been wondering I have not abandoned my blog, but have been electronically blocked from using it, because my computer does not have what Blogger considers the "right" software anymore.
ReplyDeleteSeveral experts have been called in, but none has been able to fix the problem so far.
Electronics may
Be as great as they say,
But I doubt they'd be missed
if they didn't exist.
};^)>
_____ On St. Tammany's Birthday _____
ReplyDeleteA shame the name of Tammany’s been linked
With the vilest of politicos named Tweed,
Who ran New York in manner quite distinct
Eschewing never any dirty deed.
The entity still known as Tammany Hall
Shall live in infamy, and so obscures
The truth about its namesake, overall
A noble savage, whose good name endures
Only in the writings of The Sachem,
Neddy, who on Tammany heaped praise.
But kind words today are scarce. We rarely watch ‘em,
Because none restores these days, instead they raze.
Of Tammany, himself, we should think kindly,
Not follow false associations blindly.
~ FreeThinke
DId I walk away from the Maywalk, or did the Maywalk walk away from me?
ReplyDelete