Merry Christmas 2019

Let's start with a Christmas puzzle! I love these things. It's not as hard as you think but look carefully.

It takes the average person almost 3 minutes to find the little dog hiding among the polar bears in this brainteaser. If it takes you longer don't fret.

Just say yes if you find it or no in the comments. I'll post the answer in my New Years' post. Good luck!

Today is Christmas so better late than never with this post. I'm not riding my bike today because it's windy and raining off and on. Instead, I'm drinking eggnog without dark rum (which I adore) because when I had both knees replaced in August Stanford hospital almost ruined my kidneys. It's a long story but they're recovering so I have to be careful. My knee replacements went much better I'm very happy with the improvements. What counts is I'll be fine for 2020.

These are just delicious if you have them in your area. I've practically made myself sick eating them. The bark has a white chocolate layer, a dark chocolate layer, and smashed up candy canes in it. OMG!

Isn't this guy darling! It's a Quokka, a marsupial, about the size of a domestic cat. They're like squirrels from The Land Down Under. They're always smiling and happy looking like live teddy bears.

You gotta love a bad boy Santa bringing a different kind of Christmas. Lol!

I hope you liked the artwork and jokes. I did a different Christmas post at Bike With Bekkie if you're interested.

Finally Here

Christmas comes but once a year

sharing love with those held dear

festive Christmas trees appear

Jingle Bells is what I hear.

Christmas Eve the skies are clear

Santa’s coming have no fear

in his sleigh with eight reindeer

bringing presents far and near.

Christmas comes but once a year

time for blessings and good cheer

my favorite holiday atmosphere

now, that day is finally here!

© Rebecca Sanchez 2012

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May we all find peace this year.

Christmas Tanka #122415

often misunderstood

the true meaning of Christmas

can’t be bought or sold

yet pets and their owners

proud of those ugly sweaters

© Rebecca Sanchez 2015

I hope your Christmas is full of all good things! After the year we had we could all use a little bit of peace, love, and understanding. Let's spread that kindness around. Not everyone has the means to have a wonderful holiday and the Christmas spirit is all about sharing. Big hug!

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Super Duper Blue

Super Duper Blue

The moon plays tricks

with a lunar eclipse

eyes to the skies

the full moon comes soon

twice this month is nice

number two is blue

tipping and slipping

under the earth’s umbra

invitingly in syzygy

this blood moon makes us swoon.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

Yes, I did rhyme syzygy, look it up. Lol!

A Blue Moon is when two full moons happen in the same calendar month; lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into Earth’s shadow; and supermoons happen when the moon’s perigee — its closest approach to Earth in a single orbit — coincides with a full moon. In this case, the supermoon also happens to be the day of the lunar eclipse.

The second full moon and the lunar eclipse will occur on the night of Jan. 30 or the morning of the 31st. And the supermoon will take place on the night of Jan. 30, which is technically one day before the moon reaches peak fullness, but even NASA is willing to call the event a supermoon nonetheless.

I watched it last night on my patio it was awesome! My picture isn’t great, but it’s the only camera I had (cell phone.) This was when the moon was fully eclipsed and was orange.

This is what it looked like (although this isn't from this year.)

I don't know if you saw it but it was totally worth getting up at 4:30am to see. At the time I had no idea I'd be able to watch it from my patio. Once I figured that out, I got in a chair with a blanket and had a great view. A one of a kind viewing last seen in the 1800's.

I'd love to hear if you saw it or not so leave me some comments. If you want to write a poem of your own in the comments please do.

Have a good hump! Take care!

Happy 2018

A Very Good Year

The month of December has come to a close

the weather has brought a new blanket of snow

Christmas has faded from Rudolph’s red nose

looks like it’s time for the new year.

To the party we go with our friends in tow

faces aglow and dressed in our best

jollification where ever we go

looks like it’s time for the new year.

Champagne is flowing as midnight draws near

resolutions are made as we watch the ball drop

we raise up our glasses to toast to good cheer

that this New Year, be a very good year!

© Rebecca Sanchez 2011

I've posted this poem before but it begged to be repeated. I am happy for the chance for another year. 2017 was unreal! So many famous people died that I cared about and grew up with.

• Jerry Lewis
• Chester Bennington
• Tom Petty
• Jim Nabors
• David Cassidy
• Fats Domino
• Della Rese
• Martin Landau

and many more. Getting older is like this, more and more people dropping off while you inch near the edge....

Happy New Year! Hahahahahaha! (I posted this late because I forgot even though our blogs have a scheduler.)

Walking Through Doors

The doorway arrived in the nick of time
at the stroke of midnight before the first fireworks
wide open, brightly illuminated and full of promise
on the brink, I took my departure.

New doors open to us throughout life
some require keys before opening
some demand a pound or two of flesh
a lesson learned, an entrance earned.

Sometimes we balk at the opening
without realizing we’re on a new threshold
like not recognizing the dawn of a new day
letting that door slam shut in our faces.

Cooling our heals in the vestibule
aware and anxious to make our emergence
an unmarked exit opens to the unknown
that first step can be a real bitch!

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

Wrote this today it's about doorways with New Years hinted in it. Have a nice week, it begins!

Happy Earth Day!

Times are tough with everything that’s going on in the world but I still have a simple belief that we are on this planet for more of a reason then just destroying the planet and each other. I think one of our best hopes for a united Earth effort begins with the astronaut's vision of the Overview Effect. Once the movie “Continuum” comes out the general public will get their first look at an overview, our history and everything they didn’t know about our little blue planet.

“On the outside, in-between all of us and everything else.” Chris Hadfield

I wanted to do something different for Wonderland so I wrote this poem beforehand and now I want to share it with you. It encapsulates my feelings about this day and the Earth. I hope you like it.

Believe

Believe that things can get better
Believe that the earth can be clean
Believe that no person goes hungry
The future remains to be seen.

Believe there's an end to extinction
Believe that the forests stay green
Believe that the garbage gets picked up
The future remains to be seen.

Believe there's a better tomorrow
Believe that the earth is pristine
Believe there's no war in all counties
The future remains to be seen.

The future is ours so let's grab it
Let's clean up this world that we trash
We need to quit wasting resources
The future remains and must last.

© Bekkie Sanchez 2013

Take care and may your view today on Earth Day be an Overview.

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Overview Imagined

Overview Imagined

I wish that I could see the earth from space
free from the trappings of my life and gravity
my imagination might free me from this plight
so I fancy myself an astronaut on my way to the moon.

Acceleration pulls at me as the rockets propel me forward
I feel another stage release and I clench my teeth as I pray
general confusion and dizziness fill my mind as I try not to be sick
then we are in orbit and I’m floating in my seat.

I slowly move to the window with great expectations
searching the bright dots I find the small ball of pale blue
it looks so peaceful and pristine, just hanging there
everything else fades away as I savor the sight.

Earth, without the complications of being there
a gorgeous living and breathing planet covered in life
no borders just land masses divided by blue waters
surely a paradise to those who live on the surface.

I realize I am seeing Earth as a whole for the very first time
and I feel completely different than I ever have before
witnessing the overview effect for the first time in my life
fills me full of hope as I re-enter the atmosphere…

…finding myself earthbound in my living room.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2017

“When we originally went to the moon, our total focus was on the moon. We weren’t thinking about looking back at the Earth. But now that we’ve done it, that may well have been the most important reason we went.”— Overview Institute co-founder David Beaver, retelling what one astronaut has said.

If we imagine the Overview for ourselves, forget our petty differences, self-importance, love of money and understand how fragile our existence is on the earth we may yet have a chance to fulfill our promise to keep it healthy. 

© Rebecca Sanchez

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The Month Of May

This month is my birthday but I like the month of May for many reasons. The big one being that Spring is warming up and everywhere there’s signs of new life. I look at May as a month of renewal and of change. I can’t wait to see what life brings me next as I welcome May back.

Poems About May

May Crown

All early in the morning
I rose to greet the day,
And underneath my window
I saw a Child at play.

The robins were not fearful
Of one so mild and meek;
They lighted on His shoulder
And nested at His cheek.

He picked the clustering roses,
The lily in its sheath,
The long-stemmed purple violets,
And wove them in a wreath.

And then I saw a Lady
Come walking in the dew;
Her robe was white as starshine,
Her mantle was deep blue.

And as the Child approached her,
All sweetly she knelt down
And bent her head, receiving
His fragrant, flowery crown.

© Helen Connolly

May

Hail, sweet month of May!
Hail, bright month of May!
Bring sunshine with thee,
Chasing clouds away.
March has left us sighing
In cold and chilly blast,
April's tears have fallen,
May has come at last!

I will wander in the meadows,
I will search in sunny bowers,
I will cut sweet-scented posies,
I will twine a wreath of flowers.
The lily and the rosebud
With May I will entwine,
And lay them for an offering
Upon Our Lady's shrine.

And there is another offering
Which at Mary's feet I'll lay,
I know that she will prize it more
Than all the flowers of May,
I will pray to her to keep it
And never from it part,
And my Queen will deign to take it -
My poor, yet loving heart.

I will pray to her to guide it,
In truth and wisdom's way,
And make it pure and balmy
As the flowers which spring in May;
I will pray to her to warm it
With the sunshine of her love,
And make it fit to deck a crown
One day in heaven above.

Anonymous

May In Bloom

May is so beautiful:
Orchards are fair;
Branches of fruit trees
Make gardens of air.

Flowers of fragrance
Bloom in the light;
Fall like the snowflakes
Showering white.

Orchards of heaven
Grow with a grace,
And like a blessing
Perfume the place.

Each tree in blossom,
Each lovely spray,
In this month of Our Lady,
Bring glory to May.

© Helen Maring

May Quotes

"Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun."
- Kahlil Gibran

"Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie."
- George Herbert, Virtue

"The world's favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May."
- Edwin Way Teale

More May Poetry

May

"The wind is tossing the lilacs,
The new leaves laugh in the sun,
And the petals fall on the orchard wall,
But for me the spring is done.
Beneath the apple blossoms
I go a wintry way,
For love that smiled in April
Is false to me in May."

© Sara Teasdale

An English Rhyme

"A swarm of bees in May
Is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July
Is not worth a fly."
- Rhyme from England

May Weather Lore

A cold January, a warm May. - Welsh Proverb

Mist in May, heat in June, make the harvest come right soon.

A wet May makes a big load of hay. A cold May is kindly and fills the barn finely.

A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay.

Flowers before May bring bad luck. - Welsh Proverb

Happy May Day!

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The Facts Of Chocolate

A guy found a bottle and a genie granted him three wishes.

"Well," he said: "I'm broke and life sucks.
I'd like to be really stinking rich."
***POOF****
There was a million bucks.

"The best car in the World," he said;
"Is what I'd really adore,
But it costs $1.7 million.”
***POOF****
There was a Bugatti Veyron 16.4.

Finally, he said; "I'm a nerdy geek
I'm not one of those hunky jocks
I'd like to be irresistible to all women.”
***POOF****
He was turned into an automatically, refilling, giant chocolate box.
(Which unfortunately has no need for money and a car but on the other hand, will get slobbered over by all women.)

Jon Bratton 2012

Tee shirt slogan

EMERGENCY ALERT:
If wearer of this shirt is found vacant, listless, or depressed,
ADMINISTER CHOCOLATE IMMEDIATELY.

The 12-step chocoholics program: Never be more than 12 steps from chocolate!

Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete Hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate!

Elaine Sherman
Book of Divine Indulgences

Researchers have discovered that chocolate produced some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two, but can't remember what they are.

Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show, August 22nd

Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: Deliciousness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good.

Mariska Hargitay

Chocolate doesn't make the world go around ... but it certainly makes the ride worthwhile!

Chocolate is the greatest gift to women ever created, next to the likes of Paul Newman and Gene Kelly. It's something that should be had on a daily basis.

Sandra Bullock

It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man.

Miranda Ingram

Giving chocolate to others is an intimate form of communication, a sharing of deep, dark secrets.

Milton Zelman, publisher of "Chocolate News"

I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process.... It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?

After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate.

Mel Gibson

I don't understand why so many "so-called" chocolate lovers complain about the calories in chocolate when all true chocoholics know that it is a vegetable. It comes from the cocoa bean, beans are veggies, 'nuff said.

I take chocolate from strangers.

... the taste of chocolate is a sensual pleasure in itself, existing in the same world as sex... For myself, I can enjoy the wicked pleasure of chocolate... entirely by myself. Furtiveness makes it better.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

I could give up chocolate but I'm not a quitter.

Forget love...I'd rather fall in chocolate.

Chocolate is cheaper than therapy and no appointment is needed.

My mouth is watering after writing this I'm off for some chocolate!!!

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Will The Real Alice Please Stand Up?

Lewis Carroll had many talents besides his famous books. He was a mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, poem writer, a good artist and photographer. Lewis Carroll is the pseudonym of Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. 

Before Lewis Carroll wrote his books about Alice In Wonderland he already had a girl in mind for his character. She was actually a neighborhood girl he was infatuated with and her name was Alice Liddell.

Alice Liddell was not at all like the “Alice” we now are used to seeing with golden locks of hair brushed back from her blue eyed face. When Carroll thought of his Alice he pictured Alice Liddell. And his book was to start with her name.

Even thought Carroll was an artist and did his own drawings for the very first book that he presented to Alice Liddell, when he finished his book to be published he had John Tenniel do the artwork for it.

John Tenniel was a cartoonist and his work was satirical, often radical for doing a book like Carroll’s but he did the drawings for Carroll’s works nonetheless and Carroll was not happy with the results.

Tenniel's pictures of Alice were not pictures of Alice Liddell, who had dark hair cut short with straight bangs across her forehead. Carroll sent Tenniel a photograph of Mary Hilton Babcock, another child-friend, recommending that he use her for a model, but whether Tenniel accepted this advice is a matter of dispute. That he did not is strongly suggested by these lines from a letter Carroll wrote some time after both Alice books had been published. The letter is quoted by Mrs. Lennon in her book on Carroll;

"Mr. Tenniel is the only artist who has drawn for me, who has resolutely refused to use a model, and declared he no more needed one than I should need a multiplication table to work a mathematical problem! I venture to think that he was mistaken and that for want of a model he drew several pictures of "Alice" entirely out of proportion-head decidedly too large and feet decidedly too small."

From The Life Of Lewis Carroll by Florence Becker Lennon

The symbol at the lower right corner, which you see on all of Tenniel's drawings, is a monogram of his initials, J.T.

I must say that I can see what Carroll means about Tenniel’s drawings. It does look like a “caricature” of Alice although I rather liked the strange drawings from the books. When I first read Alice In Wonderland I had no idea that a “real” Alice existed nor that Carroll didn’t like the art in the book.

The comparison with the fictional Alice has been a very controversial one. There are at least three direct links to Liddell in the first two books. First, he set them on May 4th, (Liddell's birthday) and November 4th, (her "half-birthday") and in Through the Looking-Glass the fictional Alice declares that her age is "seven and a half exactly", the same as Liddell on that date. Second, he dedicated them "to Alice Pleasance Liddell". Third, there is an acrostic poem at the end of Through the Looking-Glass. Reading downward, taking the first letter of each line; spells out Liddell's full name. The poem has no title in Through the Looking-Glass, but is usually referred to by its first line, "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky".

A Boat Beneath A Sunny Sky

A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily In an evening of July--
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear--
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantom wise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream--
Lingering in the golden gleam--
Life, what is it but a dream?

In "Alice On Stage," an article cited in the first note on the prefatory poem, Carroll gave the following description of his heroine's personality:

What art thou, dream-Alice, in thy foster-father's eye? How shall he picture thee? Loving, first, loving and gentle: loving as a dog (forgive the prosaic simile, but I know no earthly love so pure and perfect), and gentle as a fawn: then courteous-courteous to all high or low, grand or grotesque, King or Caterpillar, even as though she were herself a King's daughter and her clothing of wrought gold: then trustful, ready to accept the wildest impossibilities with all that utter trust that only dreamers know; and lastly, curious-wildly curious, and with the eager enjoyment of Life that comes only in the happy hours of childhood when all is new and fair, and when Sin and Sorrow are but names-empty words signifying nothing!

Hearing Carroll describe his creation, "Alice" in his own words is such a treat! Through the many years since his writings have been out "Alice" has held the imaginations and fantasies of more people than even he could ever have imagined. Through fan art "Alice" has had many personalities and faces and will continue to be with us forever.

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