SOPHIE AND I KNOW

The second day of the new year has come and is about to be gone - 2 January 2010.

To paraphrase, This is the…[era] the Lord hath made…Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

It was a clear, sunny day today - a sunglasses day – and windy and very cold.

Single digit last night – probably same tonight.

The peanut and corn cob feeders are full for the squirrels; the thistle and seed and suet feeders are full for the birds –

A prayer for the wee beasties who inhabit the landscape would be in order tonight.
Dear Grandma used to say on such a night – The poor little devils!

New Year’s Eve was joyful – was spent with family at our Elks Club. The evening was a gift. The ambience [nice word] and staff and entertainment and fellowship were superb.

We danced and talked and dined and laughed and remembered, at 11:00 and more especially at 12:00 – all those folks who were not, who could not be with us.

We have been around this old world for a while now. It is an old world and we are glad to have been, to be, a part of it.

God grant that we can do something(s) to help it be as good an old world as possible.

Yesterday and today have been days of rest – of splitting more wood; of fires in the fireplace; of writing. Tomorrow is Church and looking ahead to what is to come.
Dear Grandkids have been here all day and are now snugly tucked into bed – 10:00 as I take keyboard to monitor.
A full moon shines down – not a good day to be on the road.

We repeated the four-movie tradition again this year: It’s a Wonderful Life; Bishop’s Wife; Going My Way; and Miracle on 34th Street.

One movie a night for four nights. We’ve been doing this for years now and we usually find something new in several of the movies.
And we usually shed at least a tear or two, here and there.

And we invariably learn something or are reminded of some truth as we watch these old films. Wonderful Life impressed me the most this year - the idea that everyone counts, that everyone has made a mark - that no one leads a meaningless life.

There used to be a TV by the fireplace. Now the fireplace stands alone – just the fire.
The TV that was there is a four hour drive North at Camp. We watch our four movies in the combination library, music room, and now TV room.

The debate recurs: is it better to watch movies in the theater or in our library?
There is nothing like sitting in your own chair, your own dog and beverage at your side, and when you are done you can go up to the computer or to bed.

The rest of the family likes the theater better.

Dear Sophie and I know what we like.