Year End

As another year draws to a close I am thankful for all the support and good wishes from many friends and blogger's during my struggles. This was not an easy time, for there has been much to think about.

I am happy to report that I made it to this point, despite all the so called evidence from the medical fraternity to the contrary ~ Which just goes to show that nobody really knows what their left or right hand is doing sometimes.

I have no desire to appear brash, Dear God no! But we just have to keep hoping and working hard to retain the level of health I do so enjoy at this time. I kid myself not that everything is perfect, but I will take what I have and look forward to an improving new year.

So to each and everyone out there who stumbles upon this humble abode I wish you and your families, good health, happiness and a very Happy New Year!!

Breathe easy my friends.

C'ya

Christmas ~ Economically

It gets harder each year to keep Christmas
Ask the homeless or a family in need
Then there are those who would remove it forever
Political has-beens who don’t have a creed

There were times when Christmas was nicer
A time when people shared what they had
And they gave for the goodness of giving
For children whether good or they bad

You know the Spirit of Christmas is priceless
Doesn’t cost very much can’t you see
The joys it all brings when carolers sing
And you greet everyone ~ all for free!

So don’t be so sad or downhearted
Especially at this time of the year
With a smile remember its Christmas
And look forward to a better New Year!

Eric Valentine Dec 06/11 ©

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

C'ya

Remembrance day

This is the time of year when we most remember and honor the veterans who gave so much, that we may enjoy the freedoms we have today ~ Thank you.

Muffled Drums

Down through the ages
The drum’s played its part.
Roll the drums softly.

For ‘twas the call of the drum
That said war was to start.
Roll the drums softly.

Drums would sound them to battle,
Drums would march into fray,
‘T was the drums that were heard,
As dead were carried away.

So keep this in mind,
Heed history my friend.
And Roll the drums softly.

History’s shown, in any conflict,
There’s never a Winner, just losers.
So roll the drums softly.

Eric Valentine Sept 8/02 ©

C'ya

Ole Reliable

Sometimes I feel I am like the sun,
I rise up every day on this earth.
~ Somewhere ~

I may not always be seen in person,
But each day I am always there.
~ For you ~

Eric Valentine Sept 27/11 ©

C'ya

YOUR SOUL

When you died,
for several days the very depth of my eyes
was haunted by a dove,
white, restless, easily frightened.
No sooner did I catch a glimpse of it,
than it took wing, fluttered away,
and disappeared into the grayish twilight.
But my heart knew: It's you. Your soul.

And it was good, that sad yet radiant knowledge.
Autumn can be at times like that:
the quiet light, transformed to wisdom,
holds up to earth a sky wide open,
just like a mirror. And you can see the most minute
bud of emotion, quivering in your soul.
All is so clear it hurts:
the sky, the earth
and you yourself, lost in between,
yes, even death.

What you were I know and never shall forget:
A dove. White, easily frightened.

Jurgis Blekaitis

(1917 � 1997) ©

C'ya

My Better Half

I want to compliment my wife
Whose kindnesses, have charmed my life
And though her patience I have tried
Yet, much on her, I have relied.

Many is the time when I needed talk
We two would wander, for a walk
And as I opened my heart to her
She'd disagree, perhaps concur.

Argument’s, our bond did strengthen
And now, as shadows start to lengthen
I think I must, bespeak my love
And laud thee as, my treasure trove.

In silence I, my wife have cherished
And failing her, could well have perished
She's been my sustenance, my pride
A golden girl there by my side.

So darling, speak I now at last
In tribute to our precious past
I know we have a future too
For without you, what would I do.

Eric Valentine Feb ©

C'ya

A Good Man

This last week in Canada, we lost an incredible statesman and politician, Jack Layton. It is a great loss of a man at the pinnacle of his career, certainly prime minister material and who knows, I guess we never will. He died from his second bout with cancer. He will most certainly be missed as he is already. Rest in peace Jack.

These are a few words from the end of a letter he wrote to Canadians before he died.

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.

And we'll change the world”




C'ya

Cancer & Chaos

Britain’s shopkeepers
Traditional bastions of time.
Disappearing in the smoke of night,
Pillaged by thugs and
Gorged by flames,
Violence, and senseless petrol bombs~
What has this world come to?

Eric Valentine August 8/11 ©



C'ya

Whodunit

I can’t remember the last time I took the opportunity to sit down and read a book. I haven’t been a reader since my younger days and then it was Mickey Spillane detective stuff. Yeah I know; pretty ancient material at best. With the advent of the computer, you couldn’t tear me away from the screen, and so, has been the story of my life.

Many things happen to dictate the roads in life you will take. Health has been one of them for me and the challenge of survival. Picking up a book was not high on my list of priorities. Of course all that changed a short while ago, when my computer died an unnatural death! At first I thought it was the end of my world, for try as I may, I came up short in the fix it dep’t. Weeks turned into months and I could not accept that my baby was beyond repair, no matter what they told me. Eventually I was proved right, but that’s another story.

Over the winter months we have watched a lot of movies on DVD/blue ray. We get them from our library. One was a “Kurt Wallander” mystery video. It was taken from several novels written by Swedish writer Henning Mankell. What proved interesting about that was a second disc which covered an interview with the author. After listening to him and being so enthralled with the movie, I just had to read one of his books. That was it! He has written twelve books in the ‘Kurt Wallender series’. Since then I have read six of them and am part way through number seven! I can’t ever remember being so consumed by a book the way I have with this series. The books are about 400 to 500 pages long but I just seem to devour them. It’s been a long time since I had books that you just cannot put down. I recently went through a two week period where I could not get another book until more came in to the library. Can you believe I went through Wallander withdrawal symptoms!

If you like intrigue that you just sink into and become one of the characters, then this is a read for you.

C'ya

Subtle Things

I sat there waiting, watching and still wondering what to believe. Like millions of others we had followed the aftermath of the Japan disaster. Seeing such devastation left no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the size of the recovery task that lay ahead. Then came the nuclear reactors and radiation tragedy and the whole world reeled in horror at the size of the fallout.

I read a science article of the physical effect on the planet earth, and how the disaster had affected the axis of the world. One report stated that the axis had been changed by as much as eight feet. This revelation is staggering!

It was barely noticeable at first, but this last couple of days something didn’t seem quite right. That’s when it hit me. The sun wasn’t reaching across the room as it usually did, that’s why I was watching. I was up early this morning, for I wanted to test this theory. Slowly the sun crept up to the living room window and started its journey into the room. In the opposite corner we have some tropical plants that are flourishing very well. I watched as the sun rose a little higher, moving along the wall, and ever so slowly across the carpet. Eventually the sun would bathe the whole of the opposite wall, including the plants. They would reach out in all their glory for this daily treat, as short as it would be, then the sun would move on for another day.

I couldn’t believe it! The whole routine was different!

Now when the sun lights up the room, it comes in a little lower and only partially across the wall. It doesn’t even reach the corner with the plants anymore. Instead it travels across the carpet and stops short, roughly eight feet! Can this be possible?

So I ask you, have you noticed any small subtle detail in your life since the Japan disaster? If it wasn’t for the plants, I might have missed it.

C'ya

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is 'Please don't go'. by Barcelona)..

This song was in a trailer for the movie 'Water for Elephants', the book is a wonderful read, by Sara Gruen.

C'ya