DECEMBER WISHES
WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON
FILLED WITH FRIENDSHIP AND DELIGHT.
JOY
“Tread softly, breathe peacefully, laugh hysterically.”
Nelson Mandela
As we welcome in the New Year, we can choose to be positive, optimistic, and to hold fast believing deep down in our hearts that, just as spring follows winter, good things will come.
LIGHT
“You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in.” (Arlo Guthrie) Arlo’s right, right? … So much light all around us at this time of the year. Light from the Chanukah candles, lights on the Christmas trees, twinkling white lights on the trees in the city streets. In Genesis 1:3 on the very first day of creation “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” As a verb, it means to illuminate and enlighten as with knowledge, to cast light upon. As a noun, we shed a light upon a problem or mystery, gaining enlightenment. The Eagles had this to say in Already Gone: “Just remember this my girl when you look up in the sky, You can see the stars and still not see the light.”
GOT CHOCOLATE?
Did you get or give a box of chocolate? This is the best time of the year for chocolate lovers. Chanukah gelt made of chocolate. Christmas gift boxes filled with all kinds of chocolate treats. Do you like it plain or with caramel or nuts? But the big question is milk or dark? (You know that white is not chocolate, right?) The dark has lower added sugar and fats than milk since the benefits come from cocoa. Thus, the more cocoa, the darker the chocolate, the better it is for you. But the lack of milk solids can make it dry and bitter. On the other hand, the milk is all creamy and yummy because it contains all the good stuff left out of the dark. Me? I’ve never met a chocolate I didn’t like. Luckily my present was a tower of the stuff.
WE CAN HELP: REMEMBER OUR VETS
This mask was painted by Perry Hopman, Staff Sergeant who served in Iraq and Kosovo. “The flag side was the face I showed to the world. The dead side was how I felt.” … Our veterans come back from combat suffering from PTSD. They need to come to terms with their overwhelming memories and emotions. Creating art for the American Veterans Art Wall helps them express their feelings of isolation and despair so they will see the promise of light ahead and feel real community. On the Art Wall, you will see paintings, poems, photographs, collages, cartoons, sculptures – and even tattoos. Take a look. You will feel sad, uplifted, grateful, and most of all proud. To ensure the American Arts Trust can continue to help heal veterans through art, we can donate or volunteer to be part of this worthy project!
Soundtrack to this Issue and a Bonus Track!
Hank Williams’s I Saw the Light
(1948)
C’mon, sing along, you know the words:
I wandered so aimless life filled with sin
I wouldn’t let my dear saviour in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I saw the light I saw the light
No more darkness no more night
Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
Todd Rundgren’s I Saw the Light
(1972)
It was late last night
I was feeling something wasn’t right
There was not another soul in sight
Only you, only you
So we walked along,
Though I knew there was something wrong
And the feeling hit me oh so strong about you
Then you gazed up at me and the answer was plain to see
‘Cause I saw the light in your eyes
Who rescued whom?
So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.
Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l
“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)
Sources:
The Eagles Already Gone lyrics: Jack Tempchin, Robert Arnold Strandlund ©Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Combat Art Therapy Mask pic: American Arts Trust.org
Hank Williams’s I Saw the Light lyrics: Hank Williams ©Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Todd Rundgren’s I Saw the Light lyrics: Todd Rundgren ©Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Yvette Perry's Blog 