Amen, Amen, I say to you This is the day the Lord has made Rejoice and be glad Join us onboard The Intention Express Consider this Yoga Indra A magic carpet ride Come, Come Shanti, Shanti Faith and Doubt Will be your companions The source will be Your guide, this is A sacred mystery An ancient form Of meditation A spiritual guide To become More fully What you are Created to be Don't fall To sleep
On Saturday I wore an old flannel shirt
Bought years ago
Black and Red
Bought probably at WalMart
I didn’t know
Better, underneath
I wore a Red T-shirt
Life is Good
A camera
Mountain range
On the shirt
Two favorite things
These are a few
Of my favorite things
A gift
From Susan
I made her a peach
And raspberry cake
And a bacon, mushroom
Spinach quiche
Life is good
She made bread
Teacher spoke softly saying Breathe in Through your nose Breathe out Through your mouth Breathing in deeply Helps me to center myself Thoughts come and go Like the clouds above The urn, when breathing Breathe, when praying Pray, when looking See, the birds Engraved on the urn There too triangles Circles and straight lines Signs that are read Top to bottom Bottom to top In the distance Out the window Old buildings In need of repair Alludes to the thought The Church can never be completed Always, like us, in need Of breath, of repair We see a peacock We know from our art History classes It can be easy to ignore Birds and peacocks As symbols or art But writing stems From the pictorial The peacock became a symbol of immortality in Christian art The peacock serves as a reminder of the Resurrection and eternal life The peacock is symbolic of re-growth and rejuvenation, Royalty, respect, honor, and integrity The peacock is also a symbol of beauty, love, and passion In Egypt the peacock was linked to the worship of the sun god, Amon-Ra and associated with the all-seeing eye of Horus. To the Hindus, the peacock was associated with Hindra, the god of thunder who became a peacock endowed with one hundred eyes that enabled him to watch out for the demon Ravana Peacocks are also symbolic in the Buddhist religion Symbolic because they display their feathers by opening their tails they are associated with openness and purity, and their feathers are even used in Buddhist purification rituals Breathe in Breathe out Teacher softly speaks This advice from Swami Buaji Be kind Be peaceful Be tolerant Begin the day with Love Spend the day with Love End the day with Love This is the way to Source Breathe
The sunrise Sunday morning shined brightly, the day of Susan’s birthday, January Eight.
On the kitchen table was a birthday card I made for her. One of my photos, sunrise at the park down the street from where we live, and a poem.
“Did you write this,” she asked.
“I did.”
“It’s beautiful.”
This is the day You are sacred This the day You are guided by love This is the day You embrace truth This is the day Truth is beauty Beauty truth You are beauty You are truth This is the day To say Happy Birthday
The day began with bacon, toast, and scrambled eggs. And coffee, of course!
I then made her a birthday cake, based on a recipe from a recently published and fabulous cookbook, a work of art, “Gateau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes,” by Aleksandra Crapanzano, a recipient of the James Beard Foundation M.F.K. Fisher Award for Distinguished Writing. It was a Yogurt Lemon Tarragon Raspberry Cake. And it was delicious!
For our appetizer I made Steamed Shrimp Dumplings in a Bamboo Steamer served with a spicy vinegar dipping sauce. These were based on a recipe from Rasa Malaysia, a great recipe website.
And for our dinner I made a Glazed Spiral Ham, based on a recipe from Michael Symon. The glaze consisted of maple syrup, dark molasses, grain mustard, apple cider, curry paste and garlic. Gosh was it delicious! Served with roasted green beans and mushrooms. And I love the plate, too!
We are blessed. And blessings to you. Cheers!
Most of the day
Tuesday, January 3
I laid in bed
I looked out the window
I meditated
I prayed
I dreamed
I rose from the dead
Twice the phone rang
I did not answer
Then there was a knock on the door
Paul, not the apostle
Paul, the neighbor
“When is your party?”
I went back to bed
Later I kissed my wife
Good night
Here it is Monday, January 2, 2023, another holiday and I have not yet shared with you our Four Days of Christmas.
First things first.
Because the usual federal holiday of New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday, some Americans get the following day, 2 January, as holiday. It wouldn’t make sense to give government workers a day off on a Sunday when few would be working anyway. Generally, institutions like schools, banks, businesses and the US stock market are closed for federal holidays.
Supermarkets and grocery stores are, however, open–as many were on New Year’s Day. Department stores and malls are open–stores filled with merchandise from China and half-empty malls filled with closed stores, massage chairs and eyebrow threading kiosks.
Back to The Four Days of Christmas.
Friday, December 23. The First Day of Christmas. A Christmas family celebration at my ex-wife’s house. She and her husband have been hosting a family get-together for a number of years. In attendance: Betsy and her husband, John; Besty’s sister, Jane; our daughter, Danielle and her husband, Mike and their children, Emily and Matthew; our son, Daryl and his girlfriend, Julia, now his fiancé, home from Colorado for one week; Julia’s parents, Kim and Joe; and me and Susan. Betsy made a Pork Roast. Susan made Blue Cheese and Walnut Crackers, and a Blue Cheese Spread. I made a Pasta and Roasted Pepper dish.
It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Here are a few photos (Clicking on the photos makes them larger.) from this First Day of Christmas (Yes, it snowed.):
Pictured above left to right: Danielle holding a Christmas gift from Susan and I (a soccer mom car ornament); Danielle and Mike; Daryl and Julia; Daryl, Julia, Emily; Emily and Julia; Kim, Susan, Mike; Matthew holding a Christmas gift from Susan and me (a baseball glove ornament); Matthew; my Christmas pasta; star of wonder.
Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve. The Second Day of Christmas. A Christmas family tradition from Susan’s family. For years it was hosted at her mom’s home but as she aged Susan took it over years ago and people came to our home. For years we had a few dozen people over; aunts and uncles and the children but as people have passed on, children getting older, covid, less people have come over. Infact, we were not going to have the celebration this year but Daryl pleaded with us to continue the celebration. And we did.
I made two appetizers: Bang Bang Shrimp and Beef Tenderloin and Blue Cheese Crostini (Susan made the bread); a gift from Daryl, a Billy Cobham album; my famous fruitcake; Julie and Daryl looking at a gift from Susan and me, a picture book of their trip to Italy, where they got engaged; a gift from Daryl, Kacey Musgraves new album; our manger; Susan, me and Freddy; our wine; a Christmas Cake Susan made.
Sunday, December 25. Christmas. The Third Day of Christmas. This celebration was held at Danielle and Mike’s house. Many were in attendance: Mike and Danielle and Emily and Matthew, of course; Mike’s parents, Jim and Robbin, and his sister, Kim; Robbin’s mom, Nancy; Betsy and John; my brother Dennis and his wife, Debbie; Daryl and Julia. It was a wonderful day–great food and company. The pictures say much (I think my favorite is Dennis tuning Emily’s guitar.)
A ballet shoes ornament, a gift Susan and I gave to Emily; Susan made sourdough bread; Danielle’s soccer mom ornament; a beautiful table set and Christmas tree; Debbie and Dennis looking at Daryl and Julia’s Italy picture book; Dennis tuning Emily’s guitar; a doctor’s ornament, a gift from Susan and me; Emily playing the guitar; Matthew’s baseball glove ornament; Susan and Danielle.
Tuesday, December 27. The Fourth Day of Christmas. Daryl and Julia before they head home to Colorado have always come back over to our house from a special dinner. I made Chicken Piccata and Susan made a Cherry Christmas Cake. A few photographs of our time together and our home:
Chicken Piccata; a Christmas tree in the corner of our kitchen; Daryl and Julia; Christmas ornaments and a book of photos from the past year which I gave to Susan; Freddy; cookbooks with Christmas decorations; Daryl and Julia and Freddy; Julia and Freddy; Christmas village; gifts from Susan–two great books (The Sermon on The Mount by Emmet Fox, essays and Pray a Word a Day–so happy to receive these!); Christmas cards; Susan, Julia, Freddy, Daryl; Christmas decorations; a small Christmas tree in our sitting room; wine; Christmas Cherry Cake.
Peace. Love. Light. And Laughter be with You!
In the January/February issue of Poets & Writers the award-winning playwright, poet, and essayist, Sarah Ruhl, shares her reasons to keep writing.
“Sometimes I forget why I should keep writing. I hope you make a list of your own. Here is mine:
Sarah Ruhl teaches at the Yale School of Drama, and her most recent projects are the memoir Smile (Simon & Schuster, 2021), Love Poems in Quarantine (Copper Canyon, 2022); and a production of Becky Nurse of Salem by Lincoln Center Theater.
The featured photo I took this morning, January 1, 2023. Sunrise.
Bruce Barone 