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

Christmas

It’s that time of year once again, different people call it varying names but in our house we call it Christmas. When you get to a certain age there are very few surprises left, maybe that’s why the numbers get smaller as well. People come and people go, some move but most pass on and all you are left with are memories.

This morning the wife went to open the door ready to go out and almost stepped on a small package, tucked neatly up against the door so that you could hardly miss it. This is what Christmas is all about.



This is a very special gift,
That you can never see
The reason it's so special is
It's just for you and me.
Whenever you are lonely
Or even feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift
And know I think of you.
You never can unwrap it
Please leave the ribbon tied.
Just hold this package close to you
It's filled with love inside.

Love Madge


A Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

C'ya