January Blues

December's blaze with Season's light
January dark and cold
Decades of memories spread to stash
the red, the green, the gold

The mem'ries of the weeks that passed
The once full house is stilled
Treats have dwindled, wreaths are down
And gift bags are unfilled

New Year's blues for seconds fade

some outdoor lights remain

Amaryllis blooming strong

For moments doldrums wane

Mem'ries of those Christmas days

Too far back to believe

Daylight makes its gain these weeks

As darkness takes its leave

Days and weeks keep zipping by

This Christmas tucked away

The prospect of another year?

This Christmas needs to stay

The Gift of Christmas

I love the gift of Christmas!

This Christmas season was packed with gifts.  No, not the expensive kind that the television people told me I'd be happy with.  I'm talking gifts from the heart, more treasures from the past discovered, family moments, and a reunion with some family members not seen in several years....

GIFT #1:
When my son's family was making my Christmas gift,
 little Jackie asked him what Grandpa Joe likes so she could
 decorate it.  He answered, "The Beatles."
  Jackie exclaimed, "Oh, I can
draw them!"
 ...and so she did, and I have a new favorite mug!

GIFT #2:

The Bonanno family Christmas gathering this year was especially festive.  It was the first time these two little cousins met.  The little girl, of course, is my two-year-old granddaughter Jenna, 
and the little boy is my sister's one-year-old grandson Nicholas.  Nicholas showed gentlemanly one-year-old affection for his cousin and Jenna was appropriately subdued for a two-year-old older woman.

GIFT #3:
The milestone of the year was the addition of my grandson Jeffrey to my timeline.  This photo was taken at the hospital in October of 2014. We had a big "AWWWW" moment after opening this enlarged and framed version of the photo, given to us by our daughter Karen.  Yes, sometimes simple is better.....  

GIFT #4
Christmas Day 2014:  
Sometimes it works 
best to let the picture do the talking!

GIFT #5:
A Christmas season discovery:
The first picture I can ever remember seeing of my mother holding me as an infant.  I thought there were none.....

GIFT #6:

I Love Christmas!

I love it all.  

I love the cookie baking and eating.  

I love pumpkin pie.

I love the annual viewings of It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, and countless others.  

I love the music.  Each year I try to add a new album to my library.  This year's new Christmas find in the world of music was a 2008 set by Tommy James. I am old enough to remember Tommy James and the Shondells from the 1960's, so this set of reverently rocking Christmas standards and new compositions was the perfect purchase for this year and gave me that Christmas feeling with each spin.

I love my family.  The family time that exists without the burdens of school-work and work-work is irreplaceable.  Scrabble, Headbands, family movie time, a cup of tea with some cookies...

I love the tree, the lights, and the home...

I love the gift of Christmas!

Too Close to Home

A world, a country, a town

A world becomes less magic and more tragic

Less agile and more fragile

Ravage as a head-hungry savage far away does damage 

As the comedians have either gone away or led us astray

A Missouri community scorned and torn

Mourns and searches to be reborn,

And at home the children taken

Leaving all ages shaken feeling forsaken

Though we'd never met, these babes I won't forget

The one who was barely past bottling,coddling, toddling age

The ones who had reached driving, striving, thriving age

I'm not their father, one of their brothers, or even one of the others

I'm no one, but I feel stunned, and I can't run from the tears of our daughters and sons

Moms and Dads feel hapless, helpless

The peers received, disbelieved, and grieved

An impossible defense, this making sense of our abundance of laments

This outsider looks in, hears what has been, watches healing begin

So many sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers

Come together in the bleakest of weather and pray for forever

Bring them peace, help tears decrease, and unfairness cease

A bystander's request for the friends in distress 
Let abundant faith come and squelch the unrest 
Keep a community blessed, and let innocent souls rest.