Alive and Well

OAFS Photo

Just to let you all know that The Missus Herself and Your Humble Scribe arrived safely at our holiday destination. We're happy, grandkids are happy, the granddogs are a happy, and Tuttle and The Nuke will eventually be happy once their workplaces shut down for the holidays.

I remember what that felt like, though it be a year in the past.

I just thought I'd jump in here and say hi while Beans entertains you with Christmas music. Speaking of Christmas music, here's one based on a poem by Longfellow, written during the Civil War when the country was being torn apart. (Tip o' the hat to Brian up in Minnesota.)

Never despair, God's in control ...

Longfellow wrote this on Christmas Day, 1863, here are the original words ...

Christmas Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Peace be with you, now and always.

Ta Da!

Well... finally got on line! Posting a blog post on an iPhone should be "interesting" to say the least. 

Anyhow, the Disney Magic is about 2 hours out of Cozumel. The population on board is about 25% Grandparents 65+, parents 30 + 30% and kids 10 and under 45%. 

One must be VERY careful and keep a downward view or one or more of the younger gang will take you off at the knees.

Still they're fun to watch as well as the parents trying to corral them!

Getting too hard to write on my iPhone. Talk to you next week

Come on, Emmanuel! Seriously....

 It being the Christmas season, it's time for me to get things all wrong and screw up but I'm not doing to do that this time.  Hopefully.  And no random assault singing clowns this time.  Hopefully.

I really like the carol "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."  A favorite one before I married and a greater favorite after, as Mrs. Andrew also shares my love of it.

Within reason, of course.  Parameters are:  Must be understandable if in English.  Must be orchestrated correctly.   No going Gospel or Progressive Jazz or Streisandish or Midlerish or Neil Diamondish or whatever.  Operatic treatments will be shot, same with Sarah Brightman (like a lot of her music but....)

Ya know.  Basic song, sing it.  Make it your own.  But stay within the lines.  Which leaves an awful lot of potential choices.

Like the bog standard version:

Traditional Choir.  Good but... there can be some flexibility.

Better is the Anna Hawkins version.  She has some serious pipe on her.  Clarity of voice and of diction.  And tossing in the Hebrew is a nice touch:

Decidedly not bog standard.

As I said, clear voice and diction.

Nice musical arrangement.

Filmed in Israel.

A little farther out in left field we come to Leah.  Who is the voice for a symphonic metal band.  You know, Heavy Metal but more symphonic.  Like if Alan Parsons (of Alan Parsons Project - progressive rock,) or Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra - progressive/symphonic rock) did heavy metal.  She's known (seriously) as the "Enye of Heavy Metal."  

And that's Symphonic Metal.  Harsh, but good sounding.

Great voice, too.

Way past left field, still very listenable, clear voice and diction is... uh... Geoff Castalucci, who sings bass.  That would be pronounced "Base" juvat.  Not Bass like the fish, Bass like the guitar, and, yes, I still irritate, after 39 years of wedlock, my bride by occasionally pronouncing it like the fish because I see the words in my head spelled out before I talk, sometimes.  Bass as he sings in the bass register.  Not tenors like most lead singers, nor baritones like a few lead singers or the second voice, the bass guys who usually just add sound in the background.  

How low can you go?  Geoff goes really low.

But very correct notes and diction.

So that's 4 versions of 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel.'  All done well.  (actually I tossed the first one on there so I don't know how it sounds but it's just for comparison with the other three.

No singing clowns!!!  Whooo hoooooo!!!!

On the Road Again ...

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The Christmas season, for us, officially begins today as we head out to see The Nuke and her tribe. This has been a much anticipated journey as Christmas with the young'uns is always a blast. As long as I get to play with their toys! (And Lego is very much a thing with Roberto right now, Finnegan as well, but he mostly just takes things apart.)

I mean it's been two whole weeks since we've seen them! (Yes, I'm kidding, I wanted to just stay there from Thanksgiving until shortly after New Year's Day but I was overruled. The Missus Herself had things that needed doing around Chez Sarge, so home we went.)

So today is a travel day, going by automotive conveyance as air travel around the holidays, any holiday really, is something to be avoided. I've been there, done that, don't really want to do it again but probably will when I'm too damned old to drive that far.

Sigh ...

Not sure how much content is going to be posted over the next couple of weeks, so bear with me. I mean it's the holidays, I plan to do as little as possible, other than play with Legos.

If I don't post for a while, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and enjoy yourselves with family and friends.

I'm going to.

Ciao!

Note: I've been retired now for exactly a year. Just thought I'd mention that. 😎

Things to do when you're Retired ...

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Being retired gives me time to seek out and find interesting stuff on the internet. Then spend hours watching things like the offerings from the German YouTube channel PARALIGHTWORX.

I've watched a number of their World War II short films, which are generally very well done using accurate equipment and uniforms. Hollywood should hire these guys! Here's an example of one of their WWII films - 

(Note, turn on CC for subtitles in English.)

It's not just WWII, here's an excellent vignette for a small party of Romans cut off somewhere in the Teutoburger forest¹ -

(Warning, this one is rather bloody.)

If you want more, you should visit their channel's home page here.

They've even done some Napoleonic stuff, I'm just starting to scratch the surface here. If you have an interest in military history, you should check them out.

As I find things like this, I'll share. For now, enjoy!

¹ The Teutoburger forest was the scene of a battle in 9 AD where Germanic tribes under the leadership of Arminius (known as Hermann in German) destroyed three Roman legions. And by destroyed I mean not one Roman survived. Yes, the battle is a big deal in German history.

Remembering ...

Sasha (2016)
OAFS Photo

So that photo above popped up in my Facebook memories today, which triggered a massive wave of memories and emotions. Because Sasha has been gone for over four years now, her sister Anya for over two. We don't have cats anymore for a number of reasons which I won't go into, suffice to say, I miss those days.

Sasha used to "help" with the Christmas cards, pretty near every year of her long (but not long enough) life, from 2003 to 2020. That's a lot of cards.

My Helper
OAFS Photo

She was an excellent cat, as was her sister. Man, I miss them both, a lot.

I mentioned to The Nuke the other day that an old high school friend of mine had passed away, shortly after Thanksgiving. She mentioned that she's starting to see old friends in the obituaries. I suppose it comes with the territory as you get older. Don't like it but hey, circle of life and all that.

I like this song, love it as a matter of fact. You don't have to listen to it but it sums up my life pretty well now. (Other than the "Got no money coming in" line, I do have a very nice pension. Couple of 'em as a matter of fact.)

Enjoy or not, as always, this is America, your choice.

Inside

Ian Anderson

All the places I've been make it hard to begin

To enjoy life again on the inside, but I mean to

Take a walk around the block

And be glad that I've got

Me some time to be in from the outside

And inside you

I'm sitting in the corner feeling glad

Got no money coming in but I can't be sad

That was the best cup of coffee I ever had

And I won't worry about a thing because we've got it made

Here on the inside, outside so far away

And we'll laugh and we'll sing

Get someone to bring

Our friends here for tea in the evening

Old Jeffrey makes three...

Take a walk in the park

Does the wind in the dark

Sound like music to you?

Well I'm thinking it does to me

Can you cook, can you sew?

Well, I don't want to know

That is not what you need on the inside

To make the time go

Counting lambs, counting sheep

We will fall into sleep

And awake to a new day of living

And loving you so

Source

Another day ...

Another day of living, another day of loving ...

Nice work if you can get it.

Winter hat Begonnen¹

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Our first measurable snowfall here in Little Rhody occurred Sunday morning, the 14th of December. Now I know that the first day of "official" winter is Sunday the 21st of December, which means that at some point in that day the sun will be perceived to be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, winter really starts earlier, meteorologically-speaking.

When the cold starts moving in, and staying, that's winter. It's been down in the low-20s and even the low teens over the past week or so. So it felt like winter, just didn't look like winter here in the northeastern United States. Now it looks like it and feels like it. Which, as I get older, gets wearisome. Especially when you have to heat the house and pay for that luxury. Which up here is actually a necessity.

OAFS Photo

Now I know it isn't a lot of snow and I like that. It makes things prettier than being all brown, and it doesn't impede driving and it isn't much to shovel. As Chez Sarge faces south, and the driveway slopes to the south, clearing the driveway, even when it's bitter cold out, isn't really necessary if the sun is out. Anything less than three inches will pretty much melt on its own. We (I) still have to clean the automotive conveyances off, but that doesn't require any lifting.

This isn't the first snow I've seen this year. If you remember my post from a week ago (here), we saw snow the day we left Maryland, after our Thanksgiving trip to see the lads, Roberto and Finnegan, and their sister (for whom I have yet to pick a nom du blog). It wasn't as much and it wasn't as cold, though lately Maryland has been matching Little Rhody degree for degree as regards coldness. Something I hadn't anticipated but am getting used to.

In fact over the last couple of years, they've seen more snow (and deeper to boot) than I have up here in Little Rhody. That big old ocean just out there from Chez Sarge really keeps the temperatures moderated as compared to inland. While they're within a stone's throw of Chesapeake Bay, less than ten miles, they're nearly a hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean. If you look at a map you'll see that Chesapeake Bay is much bigger than Narragansett Bay.

Speaking of which, we're less than a mile from Narragansett Bay and we're less than 15 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. So we definitely have a maritime climate in these parts whereas in Maryland The Nuke and her tribe are further inland.

So winter, as I mentioned above, doesn't officially start until the 21st this year. But by my reckoning, winter begins at the end of November, beginning of December. Sarge-officially, I consider December, January, and February to be winter. Fall is September, October, and November, spring is March, April, and May, and summer is June, July, and August.

While May can feel like summer, as can September, I consider those transitional months containing elements of the two seasons either side of them. Same goes for March, while I consider that to be in spring, it is also a transitional month from winter to spring.

Where I grew up, Vermont, we saw elements of winter (i.e. snow) well into April. Saw the same sort of weather in Colorado as well. I once drove from San Antonio (TX) to Fort Collins (CO) starting the 1st of April, which was a bright sunny warm day in Texas, right through into the 2nd of April, where it was snowing like crazy all the way from New Mexico to Canada. I was lucky enough to follow a snow plow over the Raton Pass!

As an aside, a very dear friend of mine was born on the day I went over the Raton Pass. She asked me how I could possibly remember what I was doing as she was being born, I just looked at her and said, "Driving from southern Texas to northern Colorado in a snowstorm isn't something you forget!" (And yes, I have some young friends, besides which, she was the best boss I ever had.)

So enough about the weather, as Not Your Uncle Skip says, "when you've got nothing to really post about, there's always the weather."

Some of you are no doubt wondering when the next installment in my World War One tale is going to come out. I wish I knew. Ever since the Muse and I shared an Italian coffee Friday last, she's been missing in action. Probably on a bender again, she's been working hard and keeps complaining, "I thought we were retired!" Which we are, but ...

It's the holiday season, Christmas for some and Hannukah for others, and truth be told, I just don't feel like writing much. The news is effing depressing, politicians who control society mostly (nearly all?) suck, and I'm just waiting to go see the grandkids at Christmas. Not going to see my breakfast buddies again until January and I'm in a holding pattern of sorts. I'm kinda the electronic device sitting in the charger until I'm needed again, the tanker flying the racetrack waiting until someone needs gas. My morale is shaky and I'm playing too many games on the computer. (How many is too many? YMMV)

I've given serious thought to quitting this blogging thing, I realize that it's become too much a part of who I am to do so, but I can ease off on the throttle a bit. Being a writer is not something you can just walk away from, it's addictive in many ways. You don't even have to be good at it to be addicted to it!

So that's where we're at.

By the way, juvat's Monday post, wasn't that strange as can be, but surprisingly it worked. At least for those who've been following the "juvat saga" as I call it. Vehicle mishaps, moving to another town after years of living in the same place, getting old, and yes, I'm paying attention. That sort of thing might happen for Your Humble Scribe. Not the vehicular mishap part, but the moving somewhere else? I just don't know. Once my mother is gone, that might happen, but our roots are awfully deep in these parts.

But the damned winters, they get to me at times. (Once the summer starts then I'll bitch about how hot it is!) But you never know, man proposes, God disposes. We shall see.

Personally I'd hate to leave New England, my roots are incredibly deep here. There are many folks here that I love deeply and I would hate to not see them again. My ancestors, at least those I knew personally and those in the generation before them, are buried here.

Geez, I'm such a geezer.

OAFS Photo

I snapped the photo above on Tuesday, firstly to show that the snow which fell Sunday, as little as it was, is still here, showing just how cold it's been. But if you look closely, you might notice the little tracks all over the backyard. (See the detailed photo below.)

OAFS Photo

Rabbits, we have quite a few. They drive The Missus Herself crazy as they love to eat all of her plants. A couple of years ago they wreaked havoc on the vegetable garden so two years ago we installed a chicken wire fence around it. So now we get to eat those vegetables rather than feeding the rabbits.

We have a lot of wildlife around here, rabbits, deer, turkeys, foxes, coyotes, and the neighborhood has a resident hawk. The hawk does more to keep the rabbit population under control than the coyotes, I know this as I found a partially eaten carcass in the backyard last summer while mowing the lawn. I knew it was a bird which had done the deed due to the way the carcass had been pecked at.

Nature, red in tooth and claw, if you pay attention, you can see it in town as well as in the country.

Anyhoo, that's enough for now. Expect days with nothing and days with just a little over the rest of the month.

I might even go "on sabbatical" in January. I'm still up in the air on that.

Stay tuned.

¹ Winter has begun. While the title didn't have to be in German, I like German, so there.