Holidays are here, white or not, on the path least traveled….

Diary from the path least traveled..

Hello Diary,

Finished chores and a few projects and now popping in briefly to share a few thoughts before getting into the holiday spirit of things.. a quiet holiday planned, some good food, easy listening music…not sure if it will be a white Christmas or not, received near a inch of snow this morning…

Could get up to 4 inches of snow tomorrow, Christmas Eve, will have to see…not a very good weekend for travel…had a small change in plans for Christmas day… if you remember, Diary, I had planned on eating my Christmas dinner on Christmas day…

Have since decided on having it Christmas Eve and then have Christmas Day snack day…

No cooking, no washing dishes, just a stress free holiday…how cool is that?!.. 🙂 listen to some smooth music, perhaps a holiday movie on TV and I have the ole Kindle downloaded with some romantic holiday books….

With that being said, shall leave you with a poem…

Christmas Is Coming, White Or Not…….

Tis rain and fog, not a snowflake in sight
Looks like Christmas in Hawaii, and this I fear,
With the weather forecast in hand
May not be a white Christmas this year!

The tree is trimmed, not as many lights this year
The presents are fewer, but tis the thought that counts,
Maybe not as plentiful, but food being prepared
As Christmas draws near and excitement mounts!

The spirit is in the air, the weather not to matter
And I am caught up in the spirit, I must confess,
So white or no, Merry Christmas to ALL!
And may all your presents be filled…. with love and happiness!!
(penned by Larry “Dutch” Woller, 12-23-2009)

And I shall venture on down the path, make sure that I have milk and cookies for Santa, and enjoy the holidays and life..but I shall return one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…

Staying in by the fire, no place I need to go, sooooooooooooo if it wishes “let it snow, let it snow“!!… 🙂

Presents, poetry and a sentimental journey on the path least traveled…

Diary from the path least traveled..

Hello Diary,

Good Morning, Diary…..thought I would pop in and share a few thoughts before starting the day…a lazy day to be had, some reading (Kindle) to catch up on…the holidays are here, Christmas is right around the corner…believe I am ready for the holiday as there are presents under the tree…

Spent Friday morning cooking as I had 4 pounds of bacon to cook…

Once I have the bacon cooked, drained and cooled, I put in Tupperware containers..

Once that is done, I put in the freezer and I can then take out however many I need, 30-40 seconds in the microwave and ready to eat… 🙂 while I were cooking the bacon, I decided to prepare Christmas day dinner… smoked ham, sweet potato with a dash of brown sugar, dressing (left over from Thanksgiving), broccoli and mashed potatoes with some mild cheddar…

Currently in the freezer, when Xmas day comes, retrieve, put in micro and ready to eat, no cooking or cleaning on Christmas day…clever, eh ?? 🙂 also been working on my nails, improving their condition…

But still using the acrylics.. everytime I change nails, I put some growth formula on and rub in, then top with mineral iron strength to protect the nail and then put on the acrylic nail… I do my own nails and normally stay with the light pastels but with the holidays, decided to brighten things up a bit…. 🙂

Were going to decorate the nails but thought that would be a bit much..so, yes, we are ready for the holidays here on the path least traveled… have plenty of memories to get me through the holidays…

I grew up on a farm ( in the 1940’s, 50’s and early ‘60’s) and the farm house was typical, cold, drafty with little in the way of insulation, one could hear a pin drop anywhere in the house…my brother and I bedroom were directly over Mom and Dad’s bedroom…unlike today, back then Christmas presents were far and few between, no Facebook or YouTube, but there would always be a present under the tree no matter how small… I remember one Christmas, which I included in a poem I wrote…

It’s twelve days till Christmas
And as I look around,
Checked every package under the tree
No toys for me were found.

But I’m not one bit worried
The sadness it won’t last,
Because I have some memories
Of many of Christmas past.

One Christmas eve in particular
And, for the night, my brother and I had retired,
But it wasn’t long into the night
Before the imagination was fired.

We had a train track ,all over the floor
Very much to Mom’s dismay,
And all night long, messages back and forth
Wondering about Christmas day.

But in a blink of an eye
All got quiet real quick,
There was a shadow in our door
And it definitely wasn’t ST. Nick!

It’s Christmas morning….wait there’s a honk
And I looked out the window to see,
It was just my neighbor in his car
Bringing me back to reality.

But that’s ok, I haven’t grown old
And I’m not even gonna start,
I’ll be forever young, don’t you see
With holidays in my heart.

So to all.. and to all
As I get into my sleigh,
WAIT, I can’t say goodnight
It’s the middle of the day!

(Penned by Larry “Dutch” Woller 12/12/2007 )

One should be home, where their heart is, with the holidays, making new memories to add to the memories of holidays past, putting life’s problems and woes aside for a brief time in history, relaxing and enjoying the moment….

And with that I shall sign off, Diary, as I take a leisurely stroll down the path, taking in the moment while eagerly awaiting the next..but I shall return again one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…

I know where I will be the holidays… 🙂

A little of this and a lot of that on the path least traveled…

Diary from the path least traveled..

Hello Diary,

Back again, Diary, taking time out from the days activities and popping in to leave some thoughts before getting on with the day and life…winter has arrived in earnest and presently a cloudy, windy and cold outdoors, a good day to stay in by the fire, putter around the home and contemplate the tomorrows… 🙂

Yesterday with interest I were watching the efforts of a certain red-tailed hawk with its efforts to get a dinner… 🙂 ( photos were taken from the utility room window) The scene is the area dealing with the brush pile by the ground feeder… one attempt ended in failure ( can see the hawk on the brush pile there were about 20-30 sparrows in the brush pile)..

The hawk set there for awhile, then gave it up and upon leaving and the “all clear” given, out popped the sparrows..

The alarm was given again, the sparrows disappeared in the brush pile and the hawk once again appeared (can see him in the brush pile near the fence) this time in a different location…

Once again the hawk failed to get lunch (one can see a squirrel busy having a meal, while the hawk’s talons and beak may be deadly for the sparrow, they are no match for the squirrel as grabbing the squirrel would be like grabbing a “chainsaw” 🙂 ).. the hawk finally left, the all clear was given and the sparrows popped out again to grab a bite to eat…

Went on like that most of the morning before the hawk finally gave up and left for the day… ventured in to town and got some supplies Thursday, spent the day Friday cooking for the freezer…made a big pot of hearty vegetable soup and divided into individual servings (did hearty chicken noodle soup also)…

Purchased a large pork roast and sliced up like thick sliced bacon (did some chicken breast also)…

Sometimes it is referred to as “side meat”…used a large hot plate and cooked the pork ( and chicken), and then put on a cookie sheet and in the deep freeze to individually freeze the pieces of meat (so they will not freeze together)

And then put the frozen pieces in a zip-loc bag and back in the freezer, so then, unlike the hawk, will have food to eat for the future… 🙂

Spent Sunday sipping tea and contemplating tomorrows while watching the rest of the world with a touch of sadness, of mortals, locked on a path well traveled that is shackled to a ideology, a way of thinking, trying to find happiness and love, thinking wealth will buy happiness and love but that is a illusion… I, on the other hand, have chosen the path least traveled, not shackled to any ideology…. using a few lines from Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken”; “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. “ Robert Frost…

And while on that path…
“I begin each day with a open mind, open heart, free spirit and eagerly greet it with open arms, embracing and accepting change in me and the universe, knowing that what I seek is not at the end of the rainbow but at the beginning…” (Larry Woller 12/10.2017)

And also…
“ I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life, and the heart, does go on, and it will be a better day tomorrow”.
“ I learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.”
“I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn”.

Well, I have taken up enough of your time, Diary, and I need to venture on down the path to see what Fate has waiting for me, always chasing that rainbow as poets and lovers do… but I shall return again one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…

I cannot speak about the rest of the world, but on the path least traveled it is..

Leaves, a possum, the holidays and Nat King Cole on the path least traveled…

Diary from the path least traveled..

Hello Diary,

Back again, Diary… been a busy week and Thanksgiving holiday and now thought I would pop in and share a few words and thoughts before moving on and bringing the week to an end…. took advantage of the pleasant weather to work out in the yard and garden, dealing mainly with the leaves.. have the leaves gathered at this time….

While raking leaves, heard the squirrels chattering, upset about something..looked up at the squirrel home and saw that Attlia the possum had decided to sleep in (can see the gray fur inside the box), waiting for nighttime to return…

Spent Thanksgiving weekend and some of the week getting out decorations for the holiday and putting up…decided on no lights this year, will rely on ribbon, ornaments, garland, etc (they managed to celebrate the holidays before Thomas Edison were born, correct??.. 🙂 )… got the tree ready for Santa to put presents under… 🙂

And also decorated some around the house…

While decorating and taking care of business, were experimenting with something to eat that would different and came up with Dutch’s Pork Burger… 😀

Split open and diced up a English muffin, scattered some “browned” ground pork over the muffin, added mild cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard and some ground garlic, fries and asparagus, and as Colonel Sanders were to say, mmmmmmmmmmm it is finger licking good!.. 🙂

So have decorations, outside work taken care of, so now will finish up the year making final preparations for the beginning of new life, or as they say, “moving on”… have spent the last two years bringing the past to a close, getting affairs in order and preparing for the future… and that new life will be determined from within (heart, mind and spirit), not shackled to others ideology or thought process, to have others determine what my path shall be… a some thoughts by others on the subject;

“We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving. And we all have some power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.” Louisa May Alcott

“My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze.. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny”. Elaine Maxwell

“Anyone can achieve their fullest potential, who we are might be predetermined, but the path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can’t be changed but, it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one“. -Martin Heidegger

“Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. it’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.” – Barack Obama

Looking forward to what the future, and Fate, has waiting on down the path least traveled as I sit here looking out the window at clear blue skies, painted by contrails of man’s flying machines in the sky, as mortal man searches for their life, their destiny…

That being said, will close now and start on the holiday cards, making a list and checking it twice… 🙂

But I shall return again one day, to share more thoughts about the adventures and wonders on the path least traveled, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise… watching the leaves falling reminds me of a song by Nat King Cole..