Let me out!

Here is our little Bianca demanding to go out in the cold frosty morning to chase birds...no, I did not let her out just now, wanting our feathered friends to have a bit of cat-free breakfast dining.

Not to mention that Bianca believes it to be warm and welcoming outside....she usually is out for about 15 minutes during the cold and then we see her at a window, begging to be let in.

Duncan

A New Camera...

I have recently purchased a digital camera and after being overwhelmed by the 200 page instruction manual (I kid you not!), I have begun to experiment.
Here is a picture of Mount Baker in the early and very cold January morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year.

More to come...

Duncan

Robert Burns

As Scots and others who love the Bard of Scotland meet tonight to rightly celebrate a man whose poetry and at least one song is known the world round, I would like to share a bit of Rabbie that is dear to me as these writings show Burns to be as equally passionate about the sad state of affairs in the world, as he was passionate about the lasses he admired and pursued with great energy.

I am unable to find where the following passage occurs in his writings or where I once found it many, many years ago, but I think a person could do much worse in life than to let the following be a good guide to a life:

"No doubt I will have much to answer for,
Yet my philosophy is simple enough:
Whatever mitigates the wars or increases
the Happiness of others to whatsoever extent,
that is my criterion of Goodness.
Whatever injures Society as a whole, or
any one Person in it, that is my measure
of Iniquity.
And if I could, I would wipe all tears from all eyes."

And while we know of the songs of Robert Burns that touch upon many subjects from wee mice in the fields to love in hayricks, he also cast a fierce eye upon those in power who failed to strive to protect those under their oversight as the last stanza of his poem "Logan Braes" so eloquently declaims:

O wae be to you, Men o' State,
That brethren rouse to deadly hate!
As ye make mony a fond heart mourn,
Sae may it on your heads return!
How can your flinty hearts enjoy
The widow's tear, the orphan's cry?
But soon may peace bring happy days,
And Willie hame to Logan braes!

One of the best renderings of this wonderful ballad of a woman celebrating being married and then forced to lament for her husband gone to war is sung by the incomparable Jean Redpath, a true treasure of Scotland.

So raise a glass to the poet, warily contemplate the haggis if you have it, and do not forget the man who loved his fellow travelers so dearly.

Aye and Cheers!

Duncan

Another Cold Morning

Temperature is about 25 degrees according to one of the internet weather sites, 30 degrees in the shelter of our front porch. But the frost is thick on the car windows as the sky here turns rosy with the soon to be seen sun painting the Cascade Mountains various shades of pink

Found the following poem on the Farmer's Almanac website and just have to post it:

Keen gleams the wind, and all the ground
Is bare and chapped with bitter cold.
The ruts are iron; the fish are found
Encased in ice as in a mold.

–Charles De Kay (1848–1935)

Charles De Kay was an American poet, U.S. Consul General and art and literary critic of the New York "Times" as it was then note.

Duncan

A Wintery Morn

The day here promises to be again mostly crystal clear with more sun than we have seen for awhile. And as I have been rejoicing in the better weather and also thinking about the anniversary birthday of Robert Burns this coming Sunday, I was reminded of one of my favorite Scottish painters of the last century--Joseph Farquharson (1846 - 1935), who painted wonderful landscapes of Scotland.
Among his most well known are those of Winter landscapes, and his evocations of the chill landscapes are bone chilling.
As I have written earlier, my mum's ancestors were from the Scottish highland's on her dad's side and having walked some of these highland hills during better weather, I can well imagine the strength and dedication required of those who, without modern amenities, had to care for the land and the livestock.

By the way, according to my copy of "The Herbal Almanac" written by Linda Ours Rago, this 21st day of January is St. Agnes Day, patron saint of young girls and 'twas a day for maids to acquire sweethearts by following various customs including fasting and special prayers at night for a true love.

Be warm,

Duncan

By the Way...check out the Virtual Cat!

As a long time admirer of cats and delight in being owned by two of them (well, they do share ownership of my wife Kim and I), I just had to add the Virtual Cat which I first saw on the Heathen Sanctuary blog. Move your mouse (of course!) around the kitty and see and hear what happens.

It is probably true as a good friend of mine (not the most avid cat lover himself) was heard to remark that the main purpose of the internet is to provide cat pictures and now Virtual cats.

Enjoy,

Duncan

Aye, Time again to Wassail the Apple Trees

This being the 17 of January and the day Twelfth Night was celebrated under the old calendar in England, the good pagan/heathen/Celtic custom (among others) of Wassailing the Apple trees was in order. To borrow freely from the great British Life and Culture of the Woodlands Junior School in UK http://projectbritain.com/, "Apple tree wassailing is a ceremony which involves drinking to the health of the apple trees" and to ask the Lord of the Orchard (my conjecture from the GreenMan's perspective) to help with a bountiful harvest.
Not to mention a great excuse to have a wee nip or two to keep warm in the days before central heating!
Go visit the Woodlands Junior School site...there is a great deal of delightful information and a great way to honor our ancestral past.

Cheers!

Duncan