Christmas Gift

   Where are you Santa, where have you gone? I think you left me way too soon. You made the days leading to Christmas exciting, and left me beaming on Christmas day.

   When was the last time I saw you Santa, I don’t remember anymore. I have been looking for you for many a year and I thought I would never see you anymore. 

  


 Christmas has always been a special day and baby Jesus always has been part of this wonderful day. It is His birthday and I will never forget, but somehow Santa you had slipped away.

   It took many years but I have finally seen you once again. I have been blessed with four remarkable gifts, they are my grandchildren; Max, Griffin, Morgan, and Isla. They have given me an opportunity to see you Santa once more. 

Winter Coat

    Looking out my patio door and watching the season change  makes me feel like I am helping mother nature turn the page of the calendar to a new seasons delight.

    The trees and bushes have been preparing for a transition for almost a month. They have shed their leaves and are awaiting a new winter cover. The moment has come and I see the first thread of snow start to weave a special winter coat.

The limbs of the trees seem to be reaching to the heavens so they can be dressed first, even though all foliage soon will be covered in bridal white. 

    The earth that lies so calmly below awaits a new cover of silky snow. It's patience is soon rewarded with a new ivory colored cloak that starts to cover the turf below.
                                                                          The shapes that lie on the ground seem to be magnified and have a special glow. 

  
  The squirrels that seemed so quick before, now are only able to hop and create button holes in the cotton like covered ground. 



The furry tailed squirrels seem to be a little confused, but still they find a way to scamper up a friendly trunk and find their camouflaged nest.

  The birds that chirped so loudly                                the other day,

are muffled by the insulation that now covers the tranquil ground.




It is a placid resonance that makes you feel safe and sound.

I am not that easily impressed with winter's magical twist. Every season creates its own tailor-made gift, but winter is the only one that wraps it in white.

Summer Leaves

   There is a tickle in the air and there is a special message that is spelled out as the multicolored leaves tumble to the not so colorful ground. The memo that is left is something that I really dread. I have read this story many times before and the plot always starts out great but it does not take long to dissipate.

   The vibrant colors seem to be splashed everywhere, and the scent of the leaves in the chilled air make you feel alive! Oh, but this does not last long. The colors that were once dancing on the ground now have turned into mucky brown. The air that seemed to bring the essence of a new day now seems to have lost its way.

   All the trees seem to be standing in disbelief and wondering why they had to lose even one leaf. Their hands outstretched with nothing more to give and all they can do is to stand there naked in a confused state. A few remaining nuts plummet to the ground and look like the last tear drops before they hit the ground. The nests that were camouflaged by leaves are now exposed and seem to be dangling as though they were ornaments on a christmas tree. 

   Why does Nature strip the foliage from many trees while others remain fully dressed? It’s not something we can fight, but somehow Nature will make it right. 

   It doesn’t take long to forget what Nature has done, and we look forward to the day when the trees finally transform. The wait seems forever but the reward is great. We are awarded Nature’s greatest gift: the rebirth of what we thought was lost. 

No Sleeping in Heaven

    There is no need for alarm clocks in Aruba. Everything seems to be part of a wonderful dream. The warm breeze is like a blanket that comforts you around the clock. There is no need to wear anything more than comfortable attire. If you do perspire the tropical wind wipes the slate clean and never seems to expire.

    The ocean surrounds you in turquoise and blue. The sands are pearls of white that encompass the land from all the other objects in sight. The relaxing clouds seem to be swimming in a blue sea above, and then gently meets the tranquil ocean at a distant horizon line.

   

The sun glides from one side of the island, and visits the other side. The rays of the sun caress every person until it is time to say good night. Now the sun uses the horizon line as a curtain which it will hide behind, but before the sun disappears it has its final curtain call. 

  That is when the heaven’s explode with colors of happiness for all.

This is when you realize that there is no sleeping in heaven, when you are living a dream on Arubian soil.

Tic-Toc Friendship

    Four guys with fifty plus years of friendship, and retirement has finally reached us all. Although time has somewhat altered our physical appearance, and we all have our not so friendly aches and pains, time has not taken away our personalities which have remained the same. 

    When we get together the clock seems to be turned back. Our laughter isn’t different from when we were in our youth, but our disagreements are now settled much quicker because we get our answer for our queries, by a lady named Siri. 

    We may think we don’t show our age but that came to a quick stop. While attending a hockey game one night we were rudely reminded by a man who bellowed out, “Sit down old timer or I’ll knock your lights out!”



    At first we looked at each other and thought he must not mean one of us. It didn’t matter which one of us he picked out. It was not the fear of getting our lights knocked out that hurt, it was the echoing words “old timer” that gave us a scary chuckle. It made us wonder if his tactless  opinion he shouted out might be right. I don’t know when you crossover and become an older timer, but this might be the night.

    As long as I have friends, time will stand still if I desire. Friends are like having memories in a bank. As time goes by you can withdraw them and share the special moments in your life.

   True friendship never ends, it is only reinforced with time.

It’s Only Time

    How many wrinkles will it take to hide the beauty on your face? There aren’t enough crinkles in the passing years to make that take place. Every line that nature seems to add, removes two wrinkles from the past. Your youthful look is magic to me and I wonder why I have been blessed to live with someone who has been bestowed with such a special gift. 

    Every candle that is added to your birthday cake is only there to illuminate your model face. As your sculptured lips come together, the miniature flames on the candles can’t wait to feel your loving breath. As a wisp of air dances from your lips and extinguishes the birthday light, I can’t believe you are my lovely wife. 

    Even though time keeps moving on, the only change I see are the number of candles on your birthday crown. I know you don’t agree, but that’s because your beauty is only matched by your humility.

        Happy Birthday Day Sweet Sixty……een!

The Vault of Heaven

    Heaven, I have always wanted to go there and a map has been drawn with specific roads to reach my destination. I was told that everything is perfect in paradise and you attain perfect happiness there. Sounds like the only place I want be, but what is perfect happiness?

    When I try to describe perfect happiness it encompass many things on earth: at the top of the list is waking up in the morning, taking a deep breath, and looking forward to what the day will bring. I know everything is not perfect and I don’t expect it to be, but I am still happy. The morning at times greets me with some aches and pains, and sleep is a place that I don’t always find, but I am still happy.

    There are times when the meter of happiness reads higher than others days. Should I share my happiness with others or should I bask in my euphoria for the day? Will the joy in my heart and the tone of my voice be enough to share the happiness that I don’t want to misplace. A smile with a good morning or hello with people you meet will help share in the imperfect happiness but will it be enough. Fortunately sharing love will be enough. You must be willing to give imperfect happiness, to attain perfect happiness.

    Heaven is still such a confusing place to me, but I think I am beginning to understand what heaven might be, and what perfect happiness could be. It’s more than just one souls happiness, it’s about sharing in everyone’s exaltation. 

    Everyone we love will be there and everyone that God loves will be there. We will be individuals and we will be one. We will finally be able to fully share in True Happiness.

A Special Day

     When Saturday morning comes around, I can’t wait for my feet to hit the ground. This is the day that more often than not, I get to see my two boys, and I’m sure we will do a lot.

   My boys are my grandchildren; Max is an effervescent five and his brother a mellow two. Max is a blue eyed, wild ivory stallion who makes my life come alive, and speaks as though he was a very intelligent twenty-five. 

   His brother Griffey, on the other hand has dark eyes, Hawaiian Tropic skin, and is a spitting image of his daddy when he was a tyke. Griff as I call him is like a Sugar Bear, sweet and loving, with a smile that brings joy to anyones heart.

    The waiting is over, I hear a car in the driveway and I’m sure it's my boys because it’s to early for anyone else to arrive. I run to greet them as though I had not seen them for a while, and I realize that without them my driveway would be empty, as well as my life.

    Maxton springs from the car first and we embrace. He tells me he loves me and places a kiss on my face. We have a special bond that I hope will never be erased and Max will always be special because he has won first place.

    I look to the other side and my little Griffey starts to appear. He is holding tight to his daddy because there is still a lot of bonding going on. I try to be patient and wait for Griff to release, before I ask him to hug me and place a kiss.

    Let the day begin but first we need to start with Nona’s special breakfast that the boys like a lot. Some scrambled eggs with a little cheese, spicy Jimmie Dean Sausage and some exotic juice really hits the spot. Max would like some coffee but that’s not on the breakfast menu yet. One of his favorite things to do is open a container of hearty fragrant Italian espresso coffee grounds and take a deep sniff. After a satisfying Ahhh… Max is ready to eat. Griffey on the other hand is happy with some tasty chocolate milk, his espresso days will come.

      Breakfast is finally over and so is the begging to finish more of their meal. Now its time for my boys to extract all the energy that I had stored for them this past week.

   There are so many things they love to do, and every moment I spend with them is so special to me. I couldn’t ask for a better way to end a week and I look forward to start planning our next retreat.

   

    

    

Whither or Not

    Why is it so easy for a weed to prosper and a flower to whither?

    One must nurture a flower to make it bloom, but a weed will flourish no matter what. A weed will squirm into the smallest crack leaving no earth for the water to penetrate, and steal the space from a flower petal that might sprout. 

    I just don’t understand why life makes it so difficult to nurture a flower and a weed needs nothing to propagate. 

  There must be a reason, but only God knows why. Maybe in God's eyes there is no difference between a flower and a weed, only humans can't see beauty in everything.

To Weed or not to Weed

    A flower never losses it’s beauty nor perfume no matter where it grows, as long as there is a nose to sniff it and a set of eyes to see it. Without our senses a flower would be just another weed no matter how sweet the bouquet was or how vibrant the colors were.

    We have the gift to decipher a flower from a weed. There must be a reason why we have been endowed with this perk, but we all don’t use it.

    We sometimes fail to recognize a rose from the thorns on the vine, and let the weeds take over the days of our life. Why do we forget to see or smell the real flowers that encompass the garden of our life?

Time Out

    Hey it’s vacation time, and the mind takes on a different perspective of life. No matter where we go or what we do, we are all searching for a place that helps us refuel. 

    A little sun in the open air that is what I can’t wait to snare, and to feel the warmth as it permeates the vacation air. This helps cleanse the sour pallet of the passed, and allows us to savor vacations’ sweet caress, which leaves us with memories that will always last.

    A walk on the beach is never alone, it’s a place where your thoughts are never over blown. A splash of water, some sand on your feet brings you back quickly to vacation’s retreat. 

    There is no destination as you stroll to the rhythm of the dancing tide, and this is where you realize vacation’s peace has arrived.  

“The Eagle has landed”

    The day was filled with sunny skies and the wind seemed to outline everything in a picture frame. This was our wedding day late April: April 28^th to be exact and a little less than four years after our country landed on the moon. 

         

    Our marriage adventure was about to take off, and the only thing that we had to guide us was our young inexperienced love. This trip we were embarking on was to last a lifetime.

    How do we reach this lifetime goal, will we have enough fuel to reach our port of call, and where do we refuel when the journey begins to drain us from reaching our destination? Thank goodness for your mate which helps you keep going strait, just a simple positive thought helps right the ship and makes you feel not so distraught. 

    The road has been long but the journey seemed to travel at the speed of light. Now our children are where we were and we must share our spark of life.

    These days I look back and I see how everyday we both refuel our love: it is with some family-sized trust, and letting trivial things fall through the cracks of everyday life.

    Finally never forget the one you love, especially on your Anniversary date, this will insure there is enough fuel to continue on your wonderful super 
sonic flight.

    I guess the final destination doesn’t really matter; it’s all the different stops along the way that makes the road of marriage happiness matter. 

No Problem

    A problem is something that gives us different challenges in our life. Some big, some small and those that just come off the wall. Why are problems injected into our life, just when we thought everything was all right? 

    Is an obstacle given to us a punishment or reward?  A reward sounds half witted but we don’t always realize what we’ve got. Does the gravity of a hurdle thrown into our life make us weaker or more perceptive of life?

     Wether we prevail over challenges in our life or not, we must learn from the past, and not be shaken by life’s stumbling blocks.

Summer Sip

    I remember sitting with my younger cousin Dan on my aunt’s erector looking porch, during a scorching late July day. We both were waiting for our favorite cup filled with Kool-Aid that my bubbly aunt was going to bring out.

    Our wait was rewarded and the shinny cups my aunt brought out were sweating, and when I grabbed hold of the metal cup, it felt like it was filled with a winter’s day. I felt refreshed without taking a sip. It was like magic, and taking a swig from the cup took longer than it should. Oh it felt so good! It quenched my thirst in so many ways; from my eyes to my hands and finally to the taste buds in my mouth.

    I never realized that this cup would be my fountain of youth. This frosty, gelid cup would hold the memories from my childhood day and still refresh my thirst to this day.

Shakes Me Right

    There is something that wakes me in the night, which makes no noise but shakes me right, until I am unable to wait for a new days light.

    I am not as young as I used be, and sleep is not as exciting to me.  An informal snooze is what I like, because I don’t miss anything when I am sitting upright. I steal some Z’s whenever I can, but sleeping in bed is not for me.

    When the morning stumbles upon the light, I get up feeling somewhat sedated but all right. I try to stretch out the old cramped muscles that were a confined all night, I brush my teeth, and quaff my hair; thank God most are still there!

    Finally, I step into the kitchen feeling like “The Old Man and the Sea”, but as soon as I get a glimpse of my wife, I know old age cannot be.

   
 She must be the one that shakes me right, and that is why I can’t wait for a new days light.

Rock On

    I wonder if we were in outer space, would problems we carry be as heavy as they are on earth or would they dissipate into the barren air? Does the weight of a hurdle in our life slow us down when we are trying to be first to the finish line? Why do we want to linger in a negative state of mind instead of finding a way out? 

    Let me think, it must be because we are human. Problems, hurdles in our life, and lingering in a negative state of mind is part of our makeup as human beings. I believe it is a gift that we get to taste the bitter so we recognize the sweet.

    If we want to avoid the dilemmas in our life we could exchange our breath with a rock. Although there is a place in our world for a stone, it can never be mistaken for human clone. It has no worries, no pain, and the best it could do in life is become a pet rock. 

Hurry Hurry

    Waiting for spring is never a pleasure, the days are growing longer but I still don't see my treasure, for the air is still tinged with a winter’s snare, and it doesn’t seem that there is a carefree bird in the air.

    I wait and I wait to feel the energy of the morning sun so it may excite the window of my life, but all I feel is the frost that lingers from past glacial nights.

    I hunger to feel the mist of the morning dew, and to gaze at blossoms that nature can do. What’s taking so long for spring to arrive, not just by name but also with the bloom Nature can contrive? 

    Hurry, hurry the hour is short, there won’t be enough time for birds to nest, and blossoms to magically transform into a ripe delight.

    Hurry, hurry I can’t wait, let spring begin and winter finally loose it's frozen bite.

Baby Happiness

    Special days in your life do not come often but when they do, they are embedded in your heart forever. The anticipation and birth of your child cannot be matched. 

    How will our child look, will the baby look like my beautiful wife or me? Will I be a good father, and be able to stay up all night without losing my sanity? So many questions but who really cares. 

    The pregnancy seemed to last forever but the momentous day arrived with a splash. My heart started racing, it was time to make our dash. It really was more like a waltz because we only had to cross the street from her Doc. 

    The hospital was not far away, it took little time and my Honey was rolled into a room, tucked into bed, but the walls seemed to be whispering pull up a chair, it was going to be a while. The clock kept ticking, but our precious child still didn’t realize it was time. All he did was turn his butt to the world that was outside. This became a problem at our special time.

    The birth that was to be normal was no longer to be had. The doctor informed us that an ultra sound was going to be done.  An ultra sound what is that? It was a new way of imaging to see if normal birth was right. The answer was no, and my heart shuck in my chest. The doctor said all will be fine but a C-section would be best.The decision was easy and our sweet baby was born. He was perfect in every way and his mother was smiling as though nothing had been done at all. How do I thank her for what she has given me? Would trying to be a good father be enough?

    Seeing our boy was something I could not believe. Touching his tiny head gave me a feeling of happiness that only comes when complete love comes alive. A kiss on his forehead and they took him away, and I could not believe he was mine.

    The evening had turned into early morn, it was still to early for the sun to rise, but there was a special glow in my wife’s eyes. I kissed her good night even though it was no longer that. I told her I loved her and I would be back.

    The ride home was euphoric and the feeling in my soul was something that I had never felt before. There were no negative thoughts in my mind, no worries from the past nor present, but I knew the future started now. I guess being young and ignorant of life is something I would welcome now.

    After a few winks in the morning I was ready to return to see my wife and our baby whom we discussed was to be called Paul. I entered the hospital room with a plant in my hand and saw my recovering wife. She smiled with a special look as I walked over and gave her a kissy hug. I couldn’t wait to see our little bambino and hold him in my arms. I asked where is our little Paul? Her response was he is in the crib, but he is no longer Paul. I changed his name because I thought he looked more like a Nicky, that’s all. I couldn’t disagree with her at all, he was a Nicky from the beginning, and Paul would not have fit him at all. 

    I walked over to pick up my baby boy, and my little Nicky looked like a miniature toy. He was such a little bundle of joy and the warmth I felt when I held him was like I never felt before. 

    I suddenly realized he was a gift from God that I never had before and how could I ever ask Him for more.

Identical Love

    Two little sisters sit in a doorway of love, they mirror each other like a reflection in a pond. Their smiles echo the love we have for them, their giggles bring a happy rhythm to our life. Their vocab is minimal but the words they use are special in every way, especially when they  utter Nanna or Papa and want to play.

    Every moment we spend with them is a gift to us. I love how they eat and how they sit looking at books when they should be fast asleep. 

    They are little ladies that sometimes don’t want to take off the their dress which they had picked out earlier in the day. Somehow they are persuaded to slip into their Pj’s, but first they must race and flex their muscles just like their daddy taught. It’s a special site to see both of them race up and down the bedroom hall, stop for a moment, and go into a muscle pose. Our Kewpie Dolls begin to tire and a good night book or books are in demand. 



    We plop ourselves on the floor while the girls take turns bringing books that need to be read before we can get a good night kiss and close the door.

    While the girls nestle themselves on one of our laps, we begin to read the books from cover to cover. Finally the girls begin to somewhat tire and they are almost ready to give us a kiss, and say good night. It is time to awaken their woobies, so they can lovingly put them in their mouth. The time has come to say we love you and a kiss both good night. Isla’s crib on the right, and Morgan’s on the left are now ready to caress them for the night. 

    We close the door very slowly and steel one last look, this will warm our heart through any night. 

The Summer Wind

    Winter is over, spring has come and gone, but this summer has definitely gone wrong. I have failed to feel a calming summer breeze. Oh I have felt the rush of the wind, but it is not a summer breeze. A summer breeze caresses the soul and brings back happy memories when I was not so old. 

Even though the 4th celebration is over and all the fireworks has been shot, there is no feeling that it will ever get hot. It’s not that I’m looking for blazing heat, but without a flicker of fire there is no need for a   tantalizing sultry summer breeze. 

    
I’ll keep waiting for that perfect summer day that will give me a summer breeze not just a summer tease.