When our first child was born in May of 1978, the mother of one of my closest friends created this ornament for him. I loved her like a second mom, and although she passed away several years ago I feel her presence every year when I place this ornament on our tree.
I call this one, “Sweetest Memories.”
Once upon a time I took hours decorating our Christmas tree. I agonized over which ornament looked best in which spot. I longed to achieve a tree that was worthy of gracing a design magazine.
My need for the perfect tree took all the fun out of decorating for my kids and Studly Doright, and soon the task of hanging all of the ornaments landed squarely on my shoulders. Like a big old vacuum I sucked all the fun out of what should have been an enjoyable family activity.
Nowadays, few people other than Studly and me even see our tree, and I’ve finally learned that Christmas trees don’t have to be perfectly decorated to be perfect. So I’m calling this one, “The Perfect Tree.”
Notice Scout in the foreground. She worships our Christmas tree. Seriously.
I call this one, “Nearly Nekkid Tree.” Notice Scout as she adores her old friend.
A pair of tall black boots hid my socks, so no one was the wiser, still I call this one, “Matching is for Wusses.”
Such powerful words from my friend, Mike Steeden.
Renata preferred apricots, blintzes, caviar, a little vodka at times, over ailing nightmares
she hated avid weevil’s in porridge, harvest after harvest that bore so little food
preferred the Fabergé romance of ‘St Petersburg’ over ho hum ‘Petrograd’
a knight in shining armour kiss above being wrestled to a Bolshevik’s floor
Julian calendar’s October revolt put pay to all that she preferred
the day Red molested White, desire and daydreams died
‘Peace, bread, and land’ the big man’s assurance
Renata never believed that for a single moment
squirreled away diamonds, silver and gold
found ‘Peace, bread, and land’
in a place of opportunity
across an ocean
far away
oh, how even now, Renata so misses her Mother Russia
‘Peace, bread, and land’ the big man’s assurance
‘Peace, bread, and land’ in exchange for quashed dissent
no man, woman or child feasts its soul on such a dirtied dish
through…
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I snapped this one on our way home from New Orleans. I’m calling it, “Rest Area Splendor.”
Studly Doright and I spent Saturday night in the New Orleans area, and we had breakfast downtown. On our way back to the interstate I snapped this one. I call it, “Satchmo.”
Excellent piece by Jan Wilberg. What was your click moment?
“I’ll need your husband’s social security number.”
“Why? I’m the one paying the bills. My name is on the account.”
“I’ll need his information in order to give you any information. Sorry, that’s the procedure.”
My hatred could fill a football stadium. I hate the woman on the phone, the bank she works for, and my husband. I’m 65. I earn half our income. I have a Ph.D. for Christ’s sake. I am not good enough to access our joint bank account? Her tone, her insistence, throws be back 40 years.
I am singed.
When I was a very young woman and first married, I always had to go to the grocery store with my husband. He was the one with the checking account. He wrote the checks. That’s how it was. Months before, I had jettisoned the name my parents had given me and taken his. I had my…
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*Warning- this is an editorial containing opinions that may not be your own.
Initially Donald Trump was silent, no comment from his camp on efforts of Green Party candidate Jill Stein to call for a vote recount in three key states. Then the great emperor-elect tweeted his most weathered monosyllabic retorts: “scam” “rigged.” He has also accused Jill Stein of collecting money from donors for the recount under false pretenses- for her own personal financial gain.
The fact is that there is compelling evidence to warrant a re-count:
* In Wisconsin, votes counted electronically consistently resulted in 7% fewer votes for Hillary Clinton than ballots that were optically scanned.
* Stanford studies have proven that electronic voter machines can easily be manipulated.
* Exit poles show Clinton had a lead ranging between 5-6% in key states, yet the results ended with a 5-6% lead for Trump.
Beyond that, Donald Trump…
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On an adventure with Studly Doright on his 59th birthday. I call this one, “DrivingThrough New Orleans.”
Praying for Eyebrowz 