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The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I cannot go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree, but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
--Theodore Roethke
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Joy's Updates - Straight from the Horse's Mouth.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2005
I'm Back!
What a wonderful Christmas I had spending time with family and enjoying it all! We have all these wonderful little grandchildren in the family now which makes it even better. Ally (20 months) was here Thanksgiving since Amy and Chris alternate years with those holidays, but Carter (16 months) and Brendan (32 months) were at Mother's for Christmas. I just decided to do that month thing since it was easier than typing more, so of course this explanation is longer than that would have been. I'm a mystery. I'll round off the ages of the Sivlings - Kelsey is 12, Kari 10, and Luke 7. They're growing up so fast! The globe was a big hit, thank goodness! It really is cool.
We watched some of the kids' new movies when I visited Kathy. I've started taking some when I visit, too. Last year I took Spellbound, a documentary about the National Spelling Bee. Kelsey is always in their spelling bees, and I've judged them, so we all enjoyed watching the contestants and their families to see how they prepared and what their lives were like. This year I took March of the Penguins and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Kathy requested that since she hadn't seen it in a long time. The girls were too literal at first, asked questions with the answers "because it's funnier that way," and then got into it really well. I told them they need to learn to appreciate British humor for when I find that Englishman of my very own.
We all decided that if we were animals, we never want to be an Emperor penguin, especially in the Antarctic. Their lives suck big time! The males go 4 months without eating and the females 3 from the time they march many miles to the breeding area where the ice is thicker and away from seals until the egg hatches. After the mother lays the egg, she transfers it to the father's feet where he protects it from harsh conditions in 75 - 128 below zero while she weakly travels around 70 miles back to the sea to feed on fish while surviving leopard seal attacks. If the egg isn't transferred successfully and quickly, it freezes in seconds. When the baby penguin hatches, it has to stay there protected by the father's feet and abdomen or it will freeze to death. Upon the mother's return, she regurgitates to feed the little penguin, and the father treks to the sea to feed himself. They continue to take turns until it's time to go back where they were before this journey. They have the hardest lives! The documentary is filmed beautifully. One of the special features shows how the penguins aren't afraid of humans and let them walk around right with them. The director said they couldn't stay out there more than 3 hours before they had to return to base camp. I don't know how they stood it there for a year and hope they get an Oscar to go along with all the other awards this film has received. Morgan Freeman was a wonderful narrator and added to the film. See it if you get a chance.
Some of my presents were a warm, fuzzy robe, Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, some Pampered Chef things I'm excited about, Eddie Izzard DVDs (love his mind), and this wonderful scrapbook calendar from Kathy. I asked her to make me some kind of scrapbook that showed what happened during the year, and she made that for me. I can put the pages in an album she also gave me. I'd been sort of interested in learning how to do this and went to Scrapbook Heaven where Kathy's sister-in-law Vicki and her best friend Terry were there working on theirs. (the crack house, as they call it) They teach classes there and are really good at it. Terry advised me about what to buy for my initial investment, so now I'm going to have another addictive hobby. That's OK. It could be much worse.
I called Tina while I was driving home (also Earl) and found out she is into scrapbooking big time, so I stopped by her house on my way home to show her my stuff and to see some of her albums. She's right in there with Terry and Vicki. Now I'll have guidance and someone to teach me what to do. We're already planning trips to Franklin, Clarksville, and Michael's. What is so good is to have time now for my hobbies.
How was your Christmas? What did you do? Tell me things!
11:22:00 AM
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