Thursday, December 24, 2015

Merry Christmas Eve...

...and God Bless Us, Every One!

Got the above from my son Benjamin, a former Navy Petty Officer...a humorous but stark reminder we live in a world that is ruled by the aggressive use of force.  As much as we all wish there could be Peace On Earth, and Good Will Toward Men, that remains a goal to be achieved rather than a present reality.  In this Christmas season we turn our eyes toward God in heaven and thank Him once again for the gift of His Son as we look forward to the time when Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven.

Until then, we remain ready to cross as many frozen rivers as necessary to protect our God given rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Merry Christmas, y'all....

We were shopping in a department store the other day and they had bunches of these little silver Christmas trees all over the store:
That's the one item I might have bought there, but it was a store decoration, not for sale.

Karen has been busy cooking today, and tonight we'll stick with tradition and watch Scrooge...best movie adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol ever.


Hope whatever your traditions are on Christmas Eve, you take time to give thanks to God in heaven for the gift of His Son.

A Christmas Eve Haiku

Full moon, Christmas Eve,
Heralding the wondrous gift:
Christ our new born King.

Merry Christmas, mcm fans...

Sunday, December 20, 2015

'Twas The Week Before Christmas...


...and every mouse,
had fled frozen fields
for the warmth of my house.

My wife found their droppings
and said “I'm not pleased,
to think that these varmints
are taking their ease


inside my warm dwelling;
this outrage won't stand!
What will you do?”
Then I raised my hand...

These mice, they are finished!
Kaput and kersplatz!
No way they'll survive,
for we have three cats!”

And then we beheld
our fat felines, all three:


Kitty,



and Zoey,




and the useless Smokey.

Disciples of Garfield,
were these pointless creatures,
with sleeping and eating
their most prominent features.

No help would be coming
from those worthless saps,
so I scrounged all around
til I found an old trap.


And later that night,
before mice came a-creeping,
I set the cruel deadfall
then got busy sleeping.

So early next 'morn,
at dawn's early light,
I sprang from my bed
to find what I might.

But what did my wondering
eyes finally see,
but a clean, empty trap
and a note left for me:


"Thanks for the cheese,
but what would be better,
instead of old muenster,
could we have fresh cheddar?"

"And what's with this platter?"
my mousy pals asked.
"We might have been killed
if we hadn't been fast!"

'Twas then that I thought
of the great Robert Burns
and his famous lament
to a mouse that he turned

Out of warm hearth and home
as he plowed in his field.
Did I want to partake
in his life time of guilt?

The best laid plans,
it is easy to see,
Gang aft agley
and I think you'll agree

There was nothing to do
but give them their cheddar.
After all, it was Christmas,
and what could be better

Than showing the love
God has for His swarm,
by letting them stay
inside where it's warm?

So out went the trap
in the cold, winter, night;
we're quite overrun
but I guess it's alright.

So to quoth from St. Nick
on his annual flight,
Merry Christmas to all,
and to all a Good Night!

Later, mcm fans...


Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy...

Mr. Turkey, the inedible kind
...Thanksgiving, 2015...as with every year A) the holiday has rushed upon us like a runaway freight train, and B) we have much for which to be thankful.

re: A...it's mostly a work related thing, as we are in a frenzy trying to prepare for the storm about to descend upon us known as Black Friday / Cyber Monday.  Not sure why I chose an industry that effectively manages to suck all the joy and happiness right out of the holiday season, but I did...it's seven days a week from now until the Big Day, and I'm so happy I could spit.

but re: B...in spite of that little bit of unpleasantness, we do indeed have many blessings...from the freedoms we enjoy living in this once great country, to the God given abundance we experience, to the relationships we are blessed with in our every day lives.  I'm employed, healthy, and living indoors and eating...praise God in heaven for His mercy and grace.

In spite of feeling slow and a step behind, I did make an attempt at decorating early this morning while Karen was working on meal prep:
the welcome banner for the swarm of two people we were expecting...

a seasonally appropriate message
almost ready to eat...
Once the bird was in the oven, I did take Mr. T out for a spin...it was in the 50's today, actually quite agreeable tooling around the neighborhood.  For as daunting as learning to drive a T seemed originally, I'm happily surprised how easy it has become with practice...like almost anything, I suppose.

a repeat pic, I admit...today was grey and overcast, no leaves left on the trees, but I had as much fun driving Mr. T today as I did back when this pic was taken.

And now a shameless, self-serving ad for my new book, TAT:
come on, you know you want to give it a read...

Available from all fine booksellers everywhere, as long as it's Kindle...you can see it here:
TAT by A.D. Liada

Later, mcm fans...

Friday, November 13, 2015

Happy Trails...

sitting around the fire pit for the last time...
...to us...sadly we've arrived at the last day of vacation and we're traveling back to chilly Michigan in a few hours.

But it was a great week here in sunny Palm Springs, and we made the most of our last full day (yesterday).

Since I'm planning a cross country writing trip on Amtrak sometime in the hopefully not too distant future, we checked out the humble station just outside of Palm Springs:
it's just a small structure with no lobby, unattended, but it does have the mid century modern look and feel.
...and it does have a spectacular view of the mountains...
...plus a cool sign...
...and apparently is still in use...this train rumbled by while we were checking it out.
...I have no idea what I was doing at this moment...looks like I was just about to break into a song and dance routine...
On our way back we stopped at the visitor center:
this started life as a gas station back in 1965...very cool structure and lots of useful information about things to do and see in and around Palm Springs...
We also stopped by a vintage car dealership that's preparing for an upcoming auction...
...1957 Bel Air...
...best vehicle on the lot was a 1959 Cadillac...
...beautiful...and only $195,000...maybe for my birthday?
We also trekked over to Palm Desert and visited their version of Rodeo Drive...
...the view of some high priced retail real estate...
...stopping at Tommy Bahamas for lunch.
...beautiful view of the mountains from the restaurant...
The rest of the day was chillin' at the Desert Riviera Hotel...
...really going to miss the palm trees and beautiful landscaping...
...relaxing in the pool...

...and by the fire pit...

...and hanging by the pool at night...
Rick and Martha snapped a couple of pics of us before we left for the airport...
...in front of our room...
...and the pool...
Then it was time to leave...one last shot of sunny Palm Springs...
this is in the airport, right outside the gates where you board, believe it or not...
Looking forward to our next visit...

Later, mcm fans...

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Happy...

Benjamin in Afghanistan
...Veteran's Day, 2015...officially, tomorrow, November 11th...but I shan't be blogging then so I'm highlighting it today...

...and thank you to all who have served and are serving now for protecting our nation.  As the Declaration of Independence correctly affirms, we have God given rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  The men and women of the military have been safeguarding those God given rights for centuries, and today, especially, we remember them and give thanks for their service.  It is an old saying but a true one: Freedom isn't free.  It's bought and paid for with the blood of our soldiers.  Say thank you; you owe your life to them.

Our vacation at the Desert Riviera Hotel continues...
towering palm trees...
...clouds over the San Jacinto mountains this morning...

...beautifully landscaped grounds...
...things to do...
...including relaxing in the jacuzzi...
...or maybe find your new ride...I wish...a 1968 Cadillac DeVille...
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some hedonistic pursuits that are calling me...

Later, mcm fans...

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Happy...

...All Hallows E'en...already come and gone....apparently we're approaching warp drive speed again as we do each year at this time.  A couple of eye blinks and we'll have raced past Thanksgiving and be staring into the maw of another Christmas season.

So this year's October 31 celebration...keeping with recent meteorological tradition, the day before and after Halloween are ok weather-wise...but the day itself, not so much.  Pretty steady rain all day and only in the 40's, so our trick or treater count was low again...between 50 and 60...even so, we gave them a little bit of an old fashioned, spooky thrill...
Mr. Bolts photo-bombed Franky...he's never quite gotten over being a Franky clone instead of the real thing.  Think tall, green, and formerly deceased.

It's kind of funny to watch the trick or treaters when Franky shows up...our routine is the bride of Frankenstein opens the door, looking a little bit like Cher...
the not so evil eye...

...and then Franky steps out of the shadows with the candy bowl in hand...

...it's a gas watching their eyes go wide and seeing them take an involuntary step back...but then they get a treat bag filled with candy and a gospel tract, and all is well.

Earlier in the afternoon most of my grandkids came over for a party...
Marcellus, Quinn, Isaac, Isaiah, Miriam, Tionna, Simeon, and Silas
They weren't the only guests...
the count made an appearance...
...as did the Tall Witch with her bubbling cauldron...
hard to tell, but that's a blues harp playing skeleton...providing background music for It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown...

fortunately, I happened to have a silver bullet in hand when the werewolf attacked...
it was a skeleton crew in the living room when the creature from the black lagoon arrived...

my jack-o-lantern was savaged by the squirrels about 10 minutes after I set him out...

there was plenty of good food...

green franky cake....
...and drinks all around...
I think a good time was had by all...and now to put all that stuff away for another year...heavy sigh.

On the writing front, just waiting on some cover art, hopefully this week, and then I'll make my initial foray into the world of Kindle publishing...joining the thousands of other writers with stories to offer and no sales.  Guess we'll see what kind of marketer I can be.  Bring on the women in string bikinis doing various and sundry physical activities that have nothing to do with my story.  Seems to work for beer and cars.

Later, mcm fans...