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What Did You Get For The Holidays?
southendmd:
--- Quote from: jmmgallagher on December 30, 2008, 01:51:05 am ---http://www.cotswolds.info/arts-crafts-antiques/local-artists.shtml
Maybe we could all save our pennies for next year's Christmas Gift--here's a deserving artist! ::) :P
--- End quote ---
Hmm, I'd save more than pennies for him! All that and houseboat too.
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: southendmd on December 31, 2008, 06:40:53 pm ---Hmm, I'd save more than pennies for him! All that and houseboat too.
--- End quote ---
You are a true patron of the arts, Paul! :laugh:
(Happy New Year!)
southendmd:
--- Quote from: jmmgallagher on December 31, 2008, 07:56:32 pm ---
You are a true patron of the arts, Paul! :laugh:
(Happy New Year!)
--- End quote ---
Like you say, he's a deserving artist.
Happy New Year to you, John!
Meryl:
Well, my Western-loving brother came through again this year. But the gifts are a bit more on the adult side! ;D
I got a copy of "Cactus and Pine," a book of poetry by Sharlot Hall, a turn of the century Arizona ranch woman who celebrated the West in poetry both folksy and grandiose, kind of a literary foremother of Annie Proulx.
http://www.cowboypoetry.com/sharlothall.htm
Here's one of her poems:
Old Cow Men's Parade
The flags are flying, the bands are playing,
And there, down Gurley street
The big parade is coming—
Hark to the trampling feet!
Two hundred cow men riding,
Dressed out for holiday;
Ten-gallon hats and fancy shirts
And 'kerchiefs bright and gay.
Two hundred horses prancing
As the riders whoop and yell;
And jingle of spurs and bridle chains
The noise and music swell.
There's Ruffner on the sorrel,
His silver bridle shines;
And Doc Pardee comes riding
Down from the Munds Park pines.
And there's the Beloat of Buckeye
Who twirls a winning rope;
Loge Morris and his juniors,
All on a swinging lope.
The Champies and Ed Bowman,
And all the medalled train
Come back to lift more honors
At Prescott once again.
They pass with jokes and laughter,
And shouting clear and loud,
Out to the big arena
To face the cheering crowd.
And some will rope for glory
And some will ride for gold;
And some will grappled bull-dogged steers
And win on a strangle-hold.
Down sweep the big sombreros
As the bow to the grandstand's cheer;
But, look, as they ride to their places—
God! Look what's coming here!
A long, long train of horsemen,
Yet never a hoof-beat sounds;
And never a dust-spurt rises
From the trampled sporting grounds.
A-breast, in martial order
They wheel and swing to place;
But their forms are thin and misty
And a shadow dims each face;
A pale and still battalion
In Stetsons, chaps, and spurs;
And they, too, bow to the grandstand—
But the picture swims and blurs.
Here are the men of Texas
Who made the Chisholm Trail,
Pointing their herds of long-horns
To the track of a steel-shod rail,
Heading their leaders northward
By a puff of engine smoke;
Betting their all on a market chance—
Thousands--or down, and broke.
Men who trailed the Long Trail
With steers for Idaho;
Men who drove their beef herds
To feed Geronimo.
Men who could buck a Norther,
Men who could fight a drouth;
Sitting their lean trail-horses,
Keen-eyed, and grim of mouth.
There's Jim O'Neal from Date Creek
With his riders, dark and trim;
And close at this knee Juan Leyvas,
A stripling lithe and slim.
And Stuart Knight comes riding
With his smile and careless grace—
But a whirlwind whips down the beaten track
And a dust-cloud blurs each face.
Gone are the silent riders,
And only the sun beats down
On the trampled, barren arena
And the chute gates weathered brown:
They've ridden back to the Days That Were;
But before a play is made—
Three cheers for the unseen men who passed
In the old cow men's parade.
From Poems of a Ranch Woman, 1953
Another gift was a magnetic picture frame mounted in stone from Ardosia Stonecraft. Looks like it would make a good bookend, too.
Finally, I was happy to get a CD of the Bar-J Wranglers, some singing cowboys we saw years ago at a chuckwagon supper in the Tetons.
http://www.barjchuckwagon.com/BarJRecordings.html
I'll get some more stuff when I meet friends for dinner later. What did y'all get? :)
louisev:
I got a $59 Thai vegetarian dinner courtesy of my brother and his wife. I had not seen him for 11 years. I gave him and his wife a $6 jar of organic green tea. It was all I had money for. Actually I didn't have the money, but I spent grocery money to buy it because it was Christmas after all. Not good to show up empty handed and I was afraid jewelry or a card would be misconstrued.
I got a short of cortisone in my knee and a prescription for hydrocortisone from a complete stranger. Which was probably the greatest gift I have ever gotten from any stranger since I got the gift of health back in 1989 by my best friend. I offered him payment and he refused, citing licensing conflicts. He is a retired orthopedic surgeon who told me it is very unlikely I will escape meniscus surgery on my left medial meniscus because of blood supply issues. And that too, was a gift.
I got a card, a Christmas decoration, a huge sandalwood soap and a purple light (Purple is my favorite) courtesy of Essene Chapter.
I got a horkin huge Navajo-tumbled topaz and a basket of lÓccitane soaps from my friend Denise. I reciprocated with a Rosetta stone puzzle that she absolutely has no hope of finishing. Anyone want a Rosetta Stone puzzle?
I got a room in a safe, heated apartment with excellent internet courtesy of a stranger who is now a fast friend, Haak. And of course her wild and crazy 2-year old son Sol. Not to be confused with the solar orb. I'm saving her apartment, she's saving my health and sanity. It's a good arrangement. I gave her the gift of fixing her HP photosmart printer, getting a new cartridge delivered free of charge after troubleshooting it, and I'm about to fix her flat-panel monitor. I also taught Sol how to say "please", and "banana." "Thank you"will have to wait till tomorrow. "Louise"will have to wait till his hard palate closes.
I got ibuprofen gel from Kelda, ostensibly for my birthday but it's coming in time for New Year's. No complaints!
I got a coffee set and reheatable mug from my former employers who fired me retroactive to November 24 for being injured, but apparently I'm still in their system.
I got other gifts I haven't received but will start getting Monday when my mail gets forwarded.
And I got a ride to the Fairfax solstice ceremony tomorrow. I am truly blessed.
Christmas greetings and virtual gifts from Kelly and Sid and Katy and all those wild and crazy Facebookers.
I got a diagnosis of 11-beta hydroxylase deficiency. Just in time for Christmas!
I got a referral to a reproductive endocrinologist in Westchester, VA who will see me January 4.
I got an appointment for the Mayo Clinic for January 9 if things don't happen as expected on Jan 4.
I got a $700 loan from Misty for a week.
Oh I got a box of rocks from my former publisher who benefited materially from association with me and won't return the fair value of all the books I bought on her Kindle account over the past year, even though I am temporarily penniless.
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