IT'S 1-3-2025, AND WE NEED TO KNOW...

         DID SOMEONE TURN 6 TODAY !!!

                                                               

                                       

Happy Birthday to our 'Jude Bear'

XOX,

Grandma and Grandpa

AS TIME GOES BY (As Well As 'Bye')

                                                               

Oh, Eve of a New Year !

Champagne bottles break;

Resolutions stay spotless

  By sharpened snowflakes...

We greet bright-eyed babies;

Aged men wave goodbye;

Yet, just 12 months prior,

We sailed those same highs!

'Feb' gathers love poems

And scores of red hearts;

The Ides bring March madness,

With winds off the charts.

 April weaves baskets

Of jonquils and bunnies;

May summons bumblebees

Brimming with honey...

Many a bride says 'I Do'

In fair June;

July's blazing skies

Call for flag-bearing tunes...

Sweet August is sunrise;

September, full moon;

October breathes harvests

That cause geese to swoon...

In times of November

Great tables are laden;

But once comes December,

Fine snow slows to 'fade-in'

When that last day arrives:

[December '3' with a '1']

It excitedly bellows,

THIS  YEAR'S  ABOUT  DONE !!! 

poem by L.P.-G. / 12-2024

46 YEARS IS BEATING THE ODDS!!

                                                                       

 

Next year, perhaps somewhere a lot warmer ??

IN NEED OF [BAD] COMPANY ?

                                                                  

Around the time of 1967, the rock group Procol Harum debuted its Conquistador song; the lyrics began, "Conquistador your stallion stands...in need of company" 

Yet, to many, the word 'Conquistador' conjures up horrific imagery, and rightly so. Conquistadors were essentially out to vanquish lands that weren't legitimately theirs; these Spanish and Portuguese soldiers from the 15th-17th century overpowered much of the world, most notably [as is well documented] the Central and Southern Americas.

 

 What's more, Christopher Columbus was a 'conqueror' not a mere innocent explorer. Oh! Shame on Eurocentrism for pretending otherwise.

Not convinced?? Here is one of the statements ascribed to Mr. Columbus, himself: "We shall take you, and your wives and children, and make slaves of them, and [as such] shall sell and dispose of them...We shall take your goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can..."

Wow, this past October 14th I was getting a spinal MRI and didn't even recognize it was Columbus Day. Now, however, I do grasp how inaccurate my grade-school and high school history books were !!

October 28th was NOT a day

 "JUST LIKE ANY OTHER"  eight years ago...

          " In the politics of the United States, an OCTOBER SURPRISE is a news event that may influence the outcome of an upcoming November election (particularly one for the presidency), whether deliberately planned or spontaneously occurring. Because the date for national elections (as well as many state and local elections) is in early November, events that take place in October have greater potential to influence the decisions of prospective voters and allow less time to take remedial action; thus, relatively last-minute news stories could either change the course of an election or reinforce the inevitable".

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That said, I prefer my October surprises as 'spooky', not political !!