Public Posts Seattle, WA Seattle, WA (zoom)

I remember the time,
many years ago,
in San Diego, California.
I was twenty years old.

I was in the U S Navy,
the first time alone,
during the holidays,
so far from home.

A mass of dark clouds,
hung over his head.
Depression it was,
still alive and not dead.

A vision of loveliness,
trapped in my head.
A beautiful image,
all which will be said.

A sleekness of coat,
topped off with a hat,
beauty personified
and other words like that.

Empty halls,
echoing with
ghostly steps,
as schools
are closed
for a Holiday.
The spirits
of students, past
bring forth
new appreciation
of schools.
Places to learn,
developing new
leaders of
tomorrow.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The star at the center created everything. Known as the Dragon's Egg, this star -- a rare, hot, luminous O-type star some 40 times as massive as the Sun -- created not only the complex nebula (NGC 6164) that immediately surrounds it, but also the encompassing blue halo. Its name is derived, in part, from the region's proximity to the picturesque NGC 6188, known as the fighting Dragons of Ara. In another three to four million years the massive star will likely end its life in a supernova explosion. Spanning around 4 light-years, the nebula itself has a bipolar symmetry making it similar in appearance to more common planetary nebulae - the gaseous shrouds surrounding dying sun-like stars. Also like many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164 has been found to have an extensive, faint halo, revealed in blue in this deep telescopic image of the region. Expanding into the surrounding interstellar medium, the material in the blue halo was likely expelled from an earlier active phase of the O-star. NGC 6164 lies 4,200 light-years away in the southern constellation of the Carpenter's Square (Norma).

Photo by Russell Croman

Saratoga Passage, WA

When I first met you,
my heart was yours to take.
I was a fool in love with you,
knowing not why my heart would ache.

Now, my heart is old,
apart now, a heart break.
You don't remember my name.
It's OK, you love me when awake.

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love"

Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) was an American Reformed theologian, political activist ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor. Niebuhr was one of America's leading public intellectuals of the 20th century and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. A public theologian, he wrote and spoke frequently about the intersection of religion, politics, and public policy, with his most influential books including Moral Man and Immoral Society and The Nature and Destiny of Man. Niebuhr battled with religious liberals over what he called their naïve views of the contradictions of human nature and the optimism of the Social Gospel, and battled with religious conservatives over what he viewed as their naïve view of scripture and their narrow definition of "true religion". More

White the roof,
snowing allowed,
waiting for
the Holiday crowd.

My brain seems to
be running slow.
In the dining room
for breakfast, listening to
Christmas Carols, instrumental
music. "Have yourself a
merry, little Christmas" makes
my heart swell, with hope,
of love for the season
and the New Year.

Good tidings to all of you,
a Happy New Year is blessed,
to bring joyful success to you,
peaceful pursuit to all the rest.

Fir trees topped
with new, fallen snow,
blanketing the foliage
on the ground below.

A landscape of snow,
covered fields, today,
with children playing,
on a beautiful day.

Smoke curling from chimneys
upon many a roof,
it must be Christmas.
See all the proof?

Gather together,
for a Holiday Carol,
of good will toward men
and Joy to the World.