Perfection

 The New Year presents itself as an opportunity to make personal improvement. Since, I've always considered myself similar to Mary Popppins, that is "practically perfect in every way", contemplating improvement is always difficult for me. 

However, whilst happily haunting the Internet, I happened upon a list entitled, "How to Write Good". Can't everyone improve their writing skills? Here are the a few of my favorites, from the list:

    1. Avoid Alliteration. Always. (I try to avoid alliteration....."Nansense by Nancy" being the     exception!)My sister hated the alliteration of her maiden name, but she turned right around and gave one to her only daughter!

    2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. (Who does that? surely you have never asked......     "Where did you go to school at?")

   3. Writers should never generalize. (Never write Never, ever.)

   4. Who needs rhetorical questions?

Bottom line. I'm guilty of all of these absolutely horrible Grammar faux pax. I've done all of the things listed, millions of times. Which leads to number 10. Of course, it is "exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement." 

Remember Naughty Nancy's Nonsensical Nounery, always knows where you are at.

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 Dear Lord. A little bit of humor, is a good thing. Life gets really hard sometimes, but a smile now and then helps a bunch. Thank you for bringing brightness into our lives.  You are our constant.

  

 

"And since we've no place to go......."

 January, in the Midwest. That means cold weather and snow. Well, as we like to put it, "We got dumped on, this past weekend." At last count, we measured 8 inches of ice and white stuff.....where it didn't drift. But, with the 35 mile per hour winds, we have drifts of 2 feet or more, piled up in places. It was a real blizzard!

It's beautiful. Prior to the big storm, we had gray, overcast weather. It was cold and wet. But, with this big snowfall, we can look out upon a panorama of clean, crisp, whiteness. Now, that we're in our third day of coverage, we see dozens of wild animal and bird tracks, all over the lawn. The sun is shining and the pond is frozen over. No, I'm not going to go skating, but maybe it's thick enough to try it.

Now, there is a caveat here. We don't have to venture out, on the snowy roads, so we don't care how much snow comes down. Like everyone else, in the area, we were well prepared. We went out last week (before the accurately predicted snowfall) and purchased a little extra milk, bread and toilet paper. Stocking up on toilet paper makes sense. Who doesn't remember "The Great Toilet Paper Shortage", during the initial Covid outbreak? Buying bread and milk, not so much. But, it's just what we all do.

I'm just a teeny bit sorry for the parents who have had a couple of extra days added onto their kid's school vacation. Kids shouldn't be waiting at their bus stop, before daylight, in just 6 degrees above zero  weather. But, I really don't care. These days, I'm not always sure what day of the week it actually happens to be. 

Retirement is pretty awesome. I'm sorry, if you have to get out of the house, today. Well, maybe not too sorry.

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"Thank you God for the world so sweet, thank you for the food we eat, thank you for the birds that sing, thank you God for everything."

"Let's start the New Year right...."

First Post of the New Year. This is where my list of New Year's Resolutions, should be inserted. Let me just tell you that my list of faults is unusually long. I have a lot of improvement to make, in 2025.

Most folks, data says, keep their New Year's Resolutions, an average of less than four months. In fact there is a specific, designated "Quitters Day" (The second Friday of January) which tells me that, for a fact, it's way less than four months.

Here is a list of six of the most popular Resolutions, and my thoughts about each of them:

1. Save more money. (Not happening. I'm 78, for what and why would I be saving it??)

2. Eat healthier. (Okay. That's a pretty good one, and I could do that, but I like to eat.)

3. Exercise more. (Another good one. We have a room full of exercise equipment. I just need to use it.)

4. Lose weight. (If I ate healthier and exercised more.....Right?)

5. Spend more time with Family and Friends. (I think my Family is happy that I have a lot of Friends, who keep me busy and away from bothering my Family.)

6. Quit smoking. (I never started.)

So, I have recently read that the best way to ensure keeping Resolutions, is to "add something positive" as a goal. Remember when, as children, we would attempt to "give up chocolate for Lent"? That's negative. We should have been thinking about "helping mom more, or doing our homework without prompting". So, writing a blog a week, or finishing craft projects I've already started, would qualify as positive????

And, those resolutions are more successful, if you celebrate your success. That's where I would have a problem. Because, if I would lose weight, I would want to celebrate with eating something very sweet or excessively greasy.......which would not be healthy eating and certainly would make me gain back, any weight I had lost.

So, I'll not be making any New Year's Resolutions in 2025. I'll just be doing what I can to make it a good year for everyone.

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Dear Lord. Some of our decisions are bad, unhealthy or downright stupid. We need Your guidance. Help us to use the little wisdom that we have and allow us to rely on Your Ever Present Grace.

"Who Are You? Who, who, who who?"

 I did not get "A Hippopotamus for Christmas." I didn't ask for one, but I have been seeing some really cute Hippo videos, on Facebook. Those videos and a few other Internet "surprises" have me thinking. Just who and how has the world, specifically the Web, inserted themselves into my lifestyle, without my permission.

Ah yes, I occasionally click on something that peaks my interest. We all do. But then, low and behold, a similar ad or info blurb will pop up on my screen, for days. I don't like it. 

I am very careful about typing in answers to random questions. I know, that if I admit recognizing a metal ice cube tray, I'm telling my age. And those "you are a genius if you can see a certain letter series in a puzzle" is an ego trap, to get information. I'm onto those tricks. But, if I click on a certain crochet pattern, because it's interesting, who then sends me hundreds of patterns and yarn ads? I don't like these intrusions into my privacy.

If you dare to imagine that the cloud (whatever that is) doesn't know dozens of facts about you and your personal business, you're not in touch with reality. But, bottom line, there isn't much we can do about this particular issue. It's life, as we know or don't know it.

Be safe out there. I know those hippos are cute and the "3 ingredient recipes" are intriguing, but be aware. Someone, somewhere is tracking us and amassing information. Watch what you click on, for I know, almost certainly, that I am on a "hit list". A list of  "old lady, grandma, gourmet, book reader, crocheter, shoe shopper, Beatles fan, adventurous, hippopotamus lovers.

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Dear Lord. Keep us safe from our own stupidity. Your children are constantly in need of Your guidance and wisdom. Watch over us.

"Sleigh bells ring......"

 I would like to write that it is "Beginning to look a lot like Christmas", but it isn't. Today, is December 23rd. We are experiencing mild winter weather, here in Kansas City. Only about 45 degrees and not a drop of moisture to be felt. Gloomy, actually. Furthermore, it doesn't look like we will have a "White Christmas", this year.  I just took a peak outside, and all I see is overcast skies, bare tree branches and brown leaves on the ground. Ugly.

But, who started this idea about snow on December the 25th, anyway? You might reply that it was Irving Berlin, when he penned the seasonal tune, that tops most everyone's Holiday Favorites list. Not true (writes the self-proclaimed "Queen of Lyrics"). He was only "dreaming" of snow. 

It was in southern California, that Berlin wrote, his most famous holiday song, on a typically sunny and warm Los Angeles, day.  In 1941, he created this verse, as an introduction......"The Sun is shinning, all the grass is green. The orange and palm trees sway. There's never been such a day, in Beverly Hills, LA. But it's December 24th, and I am longing to be up North." At this point, Bing starts crooning.......

Maybe, it was Clement C. Moore, when, in 1823, he wrote "The moon on the breast of a new fallen snow, gave the luster of midday to objects below."?  Without a fresh snowfall, why else would Santa need a sleigh? Depending upon his location, Santa could have been just as famous for driving a Conestoga wagon, on a dusty road or poling a gondola, in a canal!

Could it be because of a Currier and Ives printed image?. Those gentlemen started drawing their iconic scenes around 1834.  Snow and sleighs, again. Old time memories.

We don't really need snow, to celebrate Christmas. The Shepherds, because of the latitude of Bethlehem, were not sitting in front of an igloo, watching their flock of sheep. But, I will miss it, this year. There is something about fresh, clean snow that brightens the Holiday scene. I just love a "White Christmas".

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Dear God. Faith is not about facts or even tradition. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". Christmas will come, thank you God, with or without a few snowflakes.

   

L'Chaim

 The lively opening number of a popular musical, is the song, "Tradition". Holiday time is when many of us rely on the steadfastness of traditions. Not a day, or maybe even hour goes by, between Thanksgiving and New Years, when we fail to use the words....... "but, we've always done it that way." 

Traditions don't have to be reasonable, or make any sense at all. Some folks open gifts on Christmas Eve, while other families open their gifts on Christmas Morning. I knew of one family that started "gifting" early on the 25th, and kept at it all day long! They opened a gift or two, ate, opened some more, ate again, took naps, watched TV, ate, opened more gifts, and on and on........

Traditions are what give us continuity, from generation to generation. Familiarity helps us to cope with the cares and challenges of every day life. It's okay. Traditionally, Italian-Americans prepare a Feast of 7 Fishes, for dinner on Christmas Eve. That sounds tasty. In my hometown, crispy waffles cookies, called Pizzelles, were a great traditional holiday treat. And, depending upon the family's ethnicity, they were flavored with either anise or whiskey. 

My mother always gifted her children, with underwear, at Christmas. It was not a very exciting tradition. I never remember exclaiming, "Wow! Underpants, thanks so much, mom!" We were kids. We always got much needed, not wanted, new underwear.

In most families, the decorated tree occupies the same place, every year. These days, it's likely to be an artificial one, that comes out of a box, but it continues to be standing in the sames corner or in front of the same window, year after year. All the kids may be grown with kids of their own, but Santa Claus still comes to town.

Traditions, as the song says, are important. Without them our lives would be as unstable as a....... you've got it.....a "Fiddler on the Roof."

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

"Is it Mary or Sue?"

 I had occasion to think about names this week. Let me start by telling you that my given name is Nancy. Ann. Doing a bit of research, Nancy is a derivative of Ann. So I guess my name is really Nancy Nancy. Nancy is a common name, just about everywhere in the world. Five towns in the USA, are named Nancy. Nancy is a sizable city in France. I once had a Sudanese lady, burst into a song, for me, about "Nancy." From the smile on her face, it might have had some rather risque Sudanese lyrics.

As parents, we all spent a considerable amount of time choosing names for our offspring. We chose good solid names, strong names and often chose to reuse the names of cherished relatives, to honor them. But, in reality, why did we bother? Only one, of my four children, chose to use the name that I called him, as a little one!

Owing to my experience as an elementary school teacher, I cautioned my "Fabulous Four" to please choose names, for your children, that will not encourage playground trouble. Fancy Nancy was pretty annoying, you know.  And don't, I added, make their names so long that they won't fit on one line of a Big Chief Tablet. No 6 year old wants to miss recess, because he can't finish printing his name. My children chose to ignore my suggestions, of course. 

Have you ever read the full name of some of the current Royals? They all have 4 or 5 given names. Why? Prince William is really William Arthur Philip Louis. And I think that his last name currantly Windsor, but it used to be Mountbatten, and before that Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Can you imagine yelling, "William Arthur Philip Louis, go wash your hands!" ? Seriously.

To quote William Shakespeare (did he go by Willy or Bill?), "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." And, we've all heard the line.... "You can call me anything, just don't call me late for dinner."

Call me Crazy, if you must. Actually, Crazy kind of fits with my surname. A mild sort of alliteration, don't you think. I think I'll change my name to Krazy K. Kincaid.

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Dear God. You are known by many names. Right now, in our hearts, you are a little baby, coming to us soon, to save the world. We are honored by your Holy Name.