oenophile

Waterbuffalo, You have already mentioned the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's also one of my favorite places, especially in the fall when you are bathed with brilliant warm colors mile after breathtaking mile. Another favorite spot for me is the Outer Banks of North Carolina, especially the Hatteras National Seashore. It is the unspoiled Outer Banks with miles of beautiful, undeveloped, pristine beaches where the descendants of Blackbeard's horses are free to roam the dunes while feeding on the wild seaoats that wave there in profusion.

Carl Sandburg THE FOG comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches 5 and then moves on

Happy Birthday, Hope! Have a Fab Fiftieth! with love, R

Sandburg on his native City and your adopted city Cindy! HOG Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders: 5 They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys. And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again. And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger. And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them: Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. 10 Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities; Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness, Bareheaded, Shoveling, Wrecking, 15 Planning, Building, breaking, rebuilding, Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth, Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs, Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, 20 Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse. and under his ribs the heart of the people, Laughing! Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation

Perhaps my favorite Frost poem Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg are my favorites Frost THE ROAD NOT TAKEN Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

You will never catch me prefacing a request by..."Would it be available?". I don't refer to problems as "opportunities".

Socks, You mentioned that RFR came from money. That very well may be true. I do not know. However, I sat in the back rows as a grad when she first took PFAL in 1973. I remember some of other grads said that she was their high school English teacher. My mom happened to be a high school English teacher. It seems that profession is a odd career choice for someone coming from a position of being independently wealthy, unless one had a passion for teaching, language / literature or...being in control.

I heard once that from the beginning of his ministry, he made it his policy never to be alone in the same room with a woman other than his wife. VP would have been well served to follow Billy's lead if he was truly interested in ministering in a godly way. But alas...

Happy Birthday, Ahat! I hope the day is filled joy and sunshine for you. R

Galen, You should be sure of your facts before you hit the "post now" button. You are woefully wrong when you charge that pedophilia is condoned in Buddhist and Taoist cultures. I happened to have practiced Soto Zen Buddhism for three years and I can tell you that pedophilia is absolutely NOT condoned. At the center of Buddhist teaching is the idea that all suffering arises from greed...i.e. selfishness. To a practicing Buddhist to sexually violate a person is a selfishness because it dishonors both dignity of the victim and of the perpetrator. To violate the innocence of a child is especially marked with Buddhist disdain. Where the hell did you come up with this idea anyway. ASSuming?

Hopefully the Carolina Hurricanes are using the downtime to scout for the best talent in other places in the world that are playing hockey in order to put together a team that will take us back to the Stanley Cup Finals...and this time win.

Happy birthday Susie and congratualations on finally making an honest man out of Oakspear. :)-->

I think the greatest tributes that we can pay to Pope John Paul II are not the homages to the dead we that we offer here (although they are heart warming to read) but rather becoming the people that his legacy inspires in us. Before his papacy one had to typically travel to the Vatican in order to have a audience with the Pope. Even then one had to present the right credentials in order to spend a few moments with the Holy Father. This Pope left the comfortable confines and gilded appointments of the Vatican and took his show on the road to meet human suffering and injustice where it was occurring. He practiced a level of compassion and forgiveness that is only surpassed by that of Jesus when he visited his would be killer in prison to pray for and embrace him as a brother. He openly rejected the infallibilty of his predecessors when he openly acknowleged the Church's complicity in and indifference to the horrors of the holocaust in order to heal the rift between Jews and Catholics. Will we answer God's call to leave our comfort zone to relieve suffering, offer hope, end injustice, practice forgiveness and most of all communicate His love? I can think of no more fitting a tribute that we can offer a great man of faith who lived in our midst.

Congratulations (((((Shellon)))).

Abraham Lincoln Winston Churchill Mohandas Ghandhi Martin Luther King Pope John Paul II Our world is much better off because they lived.

To the Illini fans...there were no losers in this game. Your team covered itself in glory and class. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner...one champion. It just was our night. The game lived up to it's billing...the best 2 teams in the land fighting it out.

George, I take back what I said about the Illini not being able to go undefeated in the ACC. I don't think I have seen a team play with such talent and cohesiveness. Still it would be difficult to for them to secure an unblemished record in the ACC but it could be done by this Illini team...if they brought their A game to each and every conference game. UNC proved how lethally loaded with talent they are against Michigan State. However, they have played inconsistently at times. We brought our A game against Michigan State. We are going to have to bring our A++ game against Illinois in order to prevail.

I'm a Canaan Dog. Bred in Israel, an ancient breed developed through selective breeding of semi-wild pariah dogs. They were used for herding and guarding sheep. They have also been used as messengers, Red Cross helpers and mine detectors during the wars. Their personality is home loving and loyal to family. It distrusts strangers and will guard humans and animals entrusted to it's care. It will hold it's ground as best it can.

(Yes, I ended with a preposition. Beat me.) When criticized for ending a sentence with a preposition in article that he had written, Winston Churchill (who turned the English language into a lethal force against tyranny) responded by saying "...this is something that I cannot up with put."

After reading what chasufarley, watered garden and waterbuffalo have posted after the Pope's passing, I am encouraged that we exway people have progressed on our spiritual journey to the point that we can honor humanity, compassion and desire for justice without subjecting them to a dogmatic acid test. Requiescat in pace, Pater.

Anger... I just had a session with my counselor (yep, I do go to one) this past week and anger was one of the dominant themes. She said that anger is more a physical response than an emotion. When we are angry, we usually feel it somewhere in our body. (I usually feel anger as a hot coal in my chest, tightness in my throat and as pressure and heat in my face.) Moreover, anger is energy. It has been hard wired in our bodies as a part of the fight or flight response. My counselor pointed out that if she came home and found an intruder, she would certainly hope and pray that she would be angry so she would have the energy she needs to defend herself. The critical issue surrounding anger is how we deal with it and how we use it's energy. My counselor asked me how do I want to use that energy. Almost immediately I answered to find work in which I more fully employ the gifts that God has given me and to find the courage to connect with people. How will you use your anger?

He led a nonviolent revolution that helped free millions of people whether they were Catholic, Jewish, Protestant or Muslim in Eastern Europe. I will remember him along side my personal hero Martin Luther King.

Happy Birthday, Doug!!!

Got waders, boots and flyrod...hoping for an opportunity to use them.