Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/category/the-arts/verse/)
We always bought our Christmas tree a few days before Christmas and brought it in and decorated it on Christmas Eve. My father and I used all blue lights, balls of red, green, silver, blue, and gold, metal icicles, some special glass balls, and silver tinsel.
Thank you Heavenly Father for the bountiful harvest. Thank you for the family and friends who gather around our tables. Thank you for the happy memories of all who once graced this day.Thank you for the newborn babies, for they are our future.Thank you for the elderly who by their wisdom have much to teach us.Thank you for the beauty of the world you have created.Thank you, especially, for the flowers and the songs of birds.We remember in our prayers all who are in need.We welcome the stranger, for in doing so, we welcome you.May this day be one of true thanksgiving for our Blessings. And, may we be always mindful of the concerns of others.Amen. Bernadette Gentry, 2019
Even though Fall’s great Beauty may be touched with poignancy, we must partake of it with fullness of heart.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020, the Farmington Valley Chorale has commissioned a new musical composition by Ellen Gilson Voth. For lyrics, the composer hopes to incorporate an original poem by a local teen with poetry of Connecticut’s past Poet Laureate Rennie McQuilken.
With all the violence and hatred in our world today, how does one find inner peace? I think to myself, how does one find inner peace?
The corn grows in the fields.
Songbirds make their music. Listen—
You can hear their singing.
I think of you especially, today, as I see the red geraniums and small American flags on the graves in the cemetery. Later, there’ll be a parade in your honor and for all who so bravely gave their lives for our country.
The forsythia, reflecting the sun’s warmth, and touched by God’s hand, blossoms in its yellow glory. Fragrant hyacinths of white, pink, and blue, planted many Easters ago, resurrect and bring their Beauty to the world.
There’s a break in the bitter temperatures, snow, and icy rain, and I’m able to keep my doctor’s appointment today. The hospital’s parking garage is almost filled—so many people here today (I think.) One has to be careful just getting out of the car as little pieces of ice have fallen from cars parked here earlier.