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Thursday, December 31, 2015

Remember When?

(For politics, please scroll down)

New Year's Eve in days gone by:


But now...


Some New Year's Eve music for FreeThinke:



To close this post, please take a look at the following data from 100 years ago (Click directly on the image to enlarge it):

38 comments:

  1. A 30 minute drive to work now takes 2 hours of detours and dodging flooded out and closed roads. Half of my town is under water right now and it's more of the same in all directions. Mother Nature really slapped us here in Missouri.

    I'm dry, and safe on a ever shrinking island... rivers will crest out by Saturday and they are already 14 feet above flood stage.... The worst is yet to come... The cleanup. What a way to ring in the New Year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Into each life some rain must fall."

      No one escapes. It's just your turn.

      Just thank God you're alive.


      The Maharajah of Magador

      Delete
    2. Oh, Beamish!

      I've been through similar experiences (Agnes in 1972, for example) and empathize with you.

      We live at the top of a high hill (for a fall region) and typically don't flood here where we live. But getting here if I'm somewhere else and trying to get home? Misery if "the valleys" are flooded out!

      Do you have a truck?

      Delete
    3. Short prayer for you Beamish.
      May God bring relief and improvement soon.

      Delete
    4. Sorry, Beamish...all the very best. Looking at the video on television, this is a LOT more than "your turn,"..to have your home deluged in water is rough stuff.

      Delete
    5. Sorry, Beamish...all the very best. Looking at the video on television, this is a LOT more than "your turn,"..to have your home deluged in water is rough stuff.

      Delete
    6. I'm okay and fortunate but its heartbreaking that so many people have lost every thing. I just spent $600 at Walmart on baby and toddler clothes and dropped them off at a shelter.

      I'm getting around fine... Just bought a 2015 Toyota RAV4 a few months ago so I can make my own road if I have to ;)

      It's just going to take months for the area to recover from this.

      Delete
    7. Beamish,
      You're a good man for spending that on children's clothes for the shelter.

      Glad that you have that Toyota RAV4!

      Delete
    8. I was blessed this year with a great job making 35% more than I used to and had it to spare. The rivers rose so fast nobody had time to get out with their stuff. The rivers will have to rise another 300 feet to get me but at least the freezer is full of deer meat ;)

      Delete
    9. Beamish, I can't imagine having the whole house full of water to the ceiling..SO much damage....and at such a terrible time of year for that...
      It's wonderful that you were able to help children like that...It bothers me that we sit and watch the terrible video on TV of so many losing so much and can't do much about it. You did something.
      All the best.

      Delete
    10. Beamish,
      Here's to hoping that the power stays on so that your stash of venison can be preserved!

      Delete
    11. I'm good there too... The power station is on the other side of the hill :)

      I survived the summer flood of 1993... This one is worse. Even people not considered in a flood risk area got washed out.

      The whole cleanup is going to be a logistical nightmare, especially if the predicted snow comes...

      Delete
  2. ________ To a Glad New Year ________

    Toot the trumpets! Strike the strings and sing!
    On your feet! Step lively in the dance!
    Age and Youth alike are on the wing
    Going forward: Time moves like a lance
    Let loose by some celestial super strength
    Amidst the muck and mire of our dozing
    Driving us, reminding that life’s length
    Never gives us room for much reposing.
    Esurient? Appease the appetites
    Wholesome and pure. The body, gross and vile,
    Yields but sickly transient delights ~
    Evoking ennui with a knowing smile.
    Awake! A blessed New Year is at hand!
    Resolve to love and give without demand!

    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FT,
      Thanks for adding an acrostic sonnet to this thread.

      Despite all the physical woes we have, may we enjoy a fresh start of sorts in 2016.

      Delete
  3. _____ SOME OTHER TIME _____

    Where has the time all gone to?
    Haven't done half the things we want to
    Oh well, we'll catch up some other time

    This day was just a token ––
    Too many words are still unspoken.
    Oh well, we'll catch up some other time.

    Just when the fun is starting
    Comes the time for parting,
    But let's be glad for what we've had
    And what's to come.

    There's so much more embracing
    Still to be done, but time is racing.
    Oh well, we'll catch up some other time.

    There's some much more embracing
    Still to be done but time is racing
    Oh well, we'll catch up some other time.



    ~ Sammy Cahn, Leonard Bernstein from "On the Town"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Ducky. Like Farrell and Bernstein very late in their careers, these two fantastic artists Evans and Bennett, really "get it," as so few have ever done. This apparently simple song has turned out to be one of the very greatest in American show music literature. It transcends the category and enters the hallowed precincts of serious Art. Always almost unbearably touching.

      As great as Evans and bennett are, I still prefer the Farrell-Bernstein version. I never realized hat the song was really saying until I heard them do it –– as a way of saying good bye to us forever.

      Delete
    2. Such a beautiful ballad and perfect for the last day of the year.

      Thank you, Duck and FT, for reminding me of this tune.

      Delete
    3. I've performed this a few times...it is SO touching to sing...I never thought of it for NYE, but it does fit, FT..thanks for the reminder.

      Delete
  4. As for your 1915 list.
    I knew a woman, the mother of a 98 year old friend, who road in a prairie schooner and saw a man land on the moon.
    That's change you can believe in.

    My prayer is that we each have a blessed and prosperous 2016 culminating in the removal of the current regime.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "road". looked good at the time.... "rode", or "took to the road". :)

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Adrienne,
      I see from your recent blog post that you're having terrible trouble with your home's plumbing. At at near-zero temperatures, too!

      May all be resolved well as you see in 2016.

      Delete
  6. Pray hard, folks...if next year's anything like this one, we'll need it more than ever.
    Happy New Year to you all...AOW, thanks for another year of great posts, wisdom and humor...and good music!
    XXX to you and Mr. AOW.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Z,
      Pray hard, folks...if next year's anything like this one, we'll need it more than ever.

      Important point!

      --------------

      Happy New Year, Z. May 2016 be kind to us.

      Delete
    2. It might be for ME, if I can get SOME OTHER TIME out of my ear soon :-)
      xxx

      Delete
  7. AOW...Swing a little....for you!

    https://youtu.be/Rjf9fZ0AjtQ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Imp,
      WOW!

      That's wonderful!


      Thank you so much.

      And Happy New Year.

      Delete
  8. Best wishes to and Mr AOW. Thanks for a great year of posts and support as we wind down the last year of this fiasco government curtesy of you know who.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, my combatant in arms.

      Let's see how many of us are still standing a year from now.

      Delete
  9. Happy New Year to you AOW...you always do such a great job and a service for all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Imp.

      Many days, my heart isn't into blogging. Nevertheless, I struggle on.

      Delete
  10. so true hun! LOL HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR AOW to u and yourse!! hugz!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, WHT. May 2016 bring you many blessings.

      Delete
  11. I've heard some decent "new music" but is few and far between.

    ReplyDelete

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