
Happy 23rd Wedding Anniversary to my parents.
Who keeps the balance in suspended skies
Supporting Earth with inward thrust
Let the audience refocus eyes
On all sky flashings in front of us
Who's seen in the midst of unsealing skies
It's revelation that all can see
And yet our hearts remain hushed inside
Mindless of fantasia we enjoy for free.
It takes a miracle, kaleidoscope superior
Spinning vortex, bleeding shades of night to day
Sovereign pictures center stage
Genius of the cosmic craze
Days and nights keep on and on
God abroad in blended song
In our sky flashings
Who can deny this pure design
Emanating views never seen
Revealing art to mortal minds
Entranced in our phantasmic dreams
In my weakness, You protect me.
When my heart strays, You correct me.
and I was reminded of how much God has protected/corrected me and how often I don't really see all that He has done/is doing until I see it in retrospect.
[I was going to insert here, as an example, a long story about this guy I knew in high school and how God kept me from what would have been a messy and impossible relationship, but I felt cheesy and annoying when I was writing it (not that it has really stopped me before) so I decided to spare you. You don't know how grateful you should be. Really. I mean, chocolates and thank-you bouquets might be in order...]
Great exams are never finished...they're abandoned.
Wassailing, wassailing all over the town
Our cup it is white, and our ale it is brown.
Our cup it is made from the fine ashen tree,
and so is our ale of the finest barley.
The VT Nav Christmas party was Saturday. Among other things, I wound up taking some Wassail and it was a hit. While most people had never heard of wassail, or had heard the word (as in "here we go a-wassailing...") but had no clue what wassail was. People were anxious to try the curiosity and the wassail went fast. I should have made at least a double batch.
For those of you who don't know what Wassail is, I refer you here or here, rather than try to explain it myself.
I will, however, share with you my family's recipe (non-alcoholic, of course):
1 Gallon apple cider
6 whole cloves
6 whole allspice
2 tsp ground nutmeg
6 oz frozen orange juice
6 oz frozen lemonade
1 C brown sugar
short cinnamon sticks (a few for the pot, or one for each person's mug)
In covered 6 qt sauce pot, over low heat, simmer 2 C cider, cloves, allspice, nutmeg for 10 min. Add remaining apple cider, undiluted lemonade and orange juice, brown sugar. Heat until hot, no boiling.
For effect: Float baked apples (cored, baked @ 350 for 25 min.) and sprinkle with sugar.
Enjoy.