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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century
That was THEN. NOW, we have a fresh calendar.
Have a look at the WIKI article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011
Yes, a long backward look is a valuable exercise - but not while driving or kissing. Look back to the end of the first decade of the first millennium as measured by the somewhat wacky and politicized Gregorian calendar. Asian, Mayan and Hebrew calendars are a lot different.
This New Year marks a new year and fresh decade.
There may be appointments, events and plans marked out on your 2011 calendar. Only the passing of time will tell what really happens.
Many people begin a new year with resolutions. We did the same with the new decade 10 years ago and tried really hard to make things better as we entered the new millennium.
Look at the new year as you would a reformatted hard drive or flash card. Many things will happen without your help or concern. Other things are the direct result of your choices.
Choose LIGHT. Light is knowledge, understanding and faith. Gathering knowledge, experiencing life and encountering new people enriches and broadens your life. Light will win in the new year! Be the light in a dark room. Teach anyone who will listen and live your faith.
Choose LOVE. Love has been defined, blasted for being too vague to really handle and yet I think that it is love that is the real matter that holds the universe together. When microscopes get strong enough to get to the root of the nature of matter - the root energy (matter) at the core of everything will be little hearts and smiley faces.) It certainly holds and heals our hearts and, when shared, is the healing energy that can help others.
Choose to make a DIFFERENCE. By helping, guiding or making a difference in one life you will make a difference in your own. You can ignore pain or enter into a person's loss and support them. You can set your hands to useful work and bring stability and joy into your own life.
This last year I learned how to stand correctly so as not to bring strain and injury to my legs and back. I've been standing since 1949 and doing it wrong all the time. Need help understanding how to stand up? Let me know.
I hope to encounter people wanting to know about photography and calligraphy. Common interests are key and maybe someone will bring a new skill or interest into my life.
That can't be put on a calendar - but it would be nice if it happened early in the year. We'll just see.
BTW - my new business cards do have the handy/dandy calendar people seem to appreciate. It will be interesting to see what goes on. After all, it is a time to drop the old ball, old acorn and old pickle (New Year's traditions) and leave your hands empty to pick up something else. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
Not only on Christmas Day, but until I see You face to face may I live my life this way:
Just like the baby Jesus
I ever hope to be,
Resting in Your loving arms
Trusting in Your sovereignty.
And like the growing Christ child
In wisdom daily learning,
May I ever seek to know You
With my mind and spirit yearning.
Like the Son so faithful
Let me follow in Your light,
Meek and bold, humble and strong
Not afraid to face the night.
Nor cowardly to suffer
And stand for truth alone,
Knowing that Your kingdom
Awaits my going home.
Not afraid to sacrifice
Though great may be the cost,
Mindful how You rescued me
From broken-hearted loss.
Like my risen Savior
The babe, the child, the Son,
May my life forever speak
Of who You are and all You've done.
So while this world rejoices
And celebrates Your birth,
I treasure You, the greatest gift
Unequaled in Your worth.
I long to hear the same words
That welcomed home Your Son,
"Come, good and faithful servant,"
Your Master says, "Well done."
And may heaven welcome others
Who will join with me in praise
Because I lived for Jesus Christ
Not only Christmas Day -- Mary Fairchild
'Tis the Season!
Following a too hot summer we have fallen into the deep freeze.
Wooly worms and an overabundance of leaves and acorns have foretold a chilling winter. Some prophecy - it is here.
We may or may not dash through the snow - but the sleigh will have the top up and heater on.
The other part of dashing is from one warm place to another. These are definitely 3-dog and 4-cat nights.
I am sure this raises the spirits at the electric and gas company offices and, along with the increase in gasoline prices, sees them merrily grinching themselves into our wallets.
A few seasonal (and beyond) treats might be worth mentioning.
One delight is for Time-Warner cable clients. Switch to the Free Movies On Demand (free, my &%$!) and select the Yule Log. There are a couple of other choices, but this continuously running feed shows a comfy fire, plays Christmas music and even has the roar and crackle of real wood burning. Other choices have snow falling, but that is not the reason I moved to North Carolina.
Two other choices for grand music are the radio channels available through Napster and iTunes.
Although the stations are available all year and offer just about any kind of music, their holiday stations are grand.
Just log in, go to RADIO and select your station. Then you can minimize the website and enjoy any music you like.
I am impressed that iTunes radio offers exclusive "Adagio" and "Mezzo" stations. If that does not suit you they will please you with Taylor Swift or any number of performers representing every genre.
Now,at the very least, you can be uncomfortably cold - but have great music in your ears. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
For years the sculpture has stood as a testament to a life tragically cut too short. The love of parents for any child cannot be measured, but sometimes it can be eloquently expressed.
Historic Oakwood Cemetery has been a favorite photographic haunt of mine for decades.
Angels and angles paired with light, texture and tone offer many opportunities for poignant and powerful images. Grave markers in soft rows and small clusters marking little family histories, some so very telling and sad give anyone a chance to feel a sense of place, the impermanence of a lifespan and quiet dignity within these grounds.
On a secluded hilltop hovers a marble angel. This image is loosely anchored to the earth and her face and hands cradle the image of a boy's face.
The angel's soft gaze and the hands that cradle him evoke love and loss.
Her ropy hair is a testament to the talent of the sculptor and there is little damage from the constant dirt and acid rain.
I have hundreds of images of this sculpture and have been there on bright days, wet days, before sunrise and after the sun has rested well behind the image.
This memorial is there to mark the life and passing of Wade Edwards, the son of Elizabeth and John Edwards, whose lives have been observed, judged and made so very public. In my opinion, no matter what they experienced in the past few years, their ability to honor and esteem their child's life was always their mark of true character.
With her passing, Elizabeth's remains will join those of her son.
She lives now beyond her tortured body and in the gentle hands of the Eternal.
Cancer never wins - the human spirit and soul are the true victors.
Elizabeth's interment in Oakwood may create, for a while, a pilgrimage of admirers wishing to pay their respects as best they can.
Maybe the smaller tokens of memory for Wade around the sculpture will be moved for a while, maybe the reflecting bench will be moved and surely the grass will suffer.
Come Spring, things will be back to normal and the little flowers in the plot will burst forth and the little turn in the gravel road will be more quiet.
I will leave the space alone for a while.
I will think about the angel, its creation and my thought that the hands that hold Wade's head are modeled after those of his mother.
I will also think that, in a far more wonderful place, the forever young Wade will cradle his mother's weary head, welcoming her into an eternal, celestial embrace.
© tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
