Best Wishes for a Happy and Productive New Year in 2026

Best wishes to all, from Karen and I, for a productive, happy, and decent New Year in 2026. 
May you enjoy good health, and enjoyable exercise.
May your family and friends thrive.
May a more peaceful and cooperative world emerge.
May you prosper in your work and communities.
May your gardens thrive.
May you learn about truth and virtue from great books and universities.

"What can be said in New Year rhymes,

That’s not been said a thousand times? 

The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know. 

We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night. 

We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings. 

We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead. 

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of a year."

The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I am very sorry for all the hard-working people
whose jobs are in peril from the crazy, dangerous,
unhinged, failed, and insulting policies of our 
currently failed President Trump.  His crudeness,
and insults have caused massive boycotts of 
travel to America and loss of revenue from
boycotted products.  Impeach that foolish
pervert felon NOW!!

A Blessing for Death

"I pray that you will have the blessing of being consoled and sure about your own death.
May you know in your soul that there is no need to be afraid.
When your time comes, may you be given every blessing and shelter that you need.
May there be a beautiful welcome for you in the home that you are going to.
You are not going somewhere strange.  You are going back to the home that you never left.
May you have a wonderful urgency to life you life to the full.
May you live compassionately and creatively and transfigure everything that is negative within you and about you.
When you come to die may it be after a long life.
May you be peaceful and happy and in the presence of those who really care for you.
May your going be sheltered and your welcome assured.
May your soul smile in the embrace of your anam cara."
-  John O'Donohue (1956-2008)l, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, p. 230. 

Death and Dying: Quotes, Poems, Lore 

What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

“I see trees of green
Red roses too
I see them bloom
For me and for you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying
"I love you" 

I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Oh yeah."

Recorded by Louis Armstrong, Satchmo, 1967 

Cheerfulness

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Funerals

Karen and I attended a funeral service last Friday night. A young woman, Chandes Goodin, was killed in a recent automobile accident. She died on her 24th birthday.

The funeral services were traditional Christian rituals, preaching, and songs. I hope their faith helped them in this hard time of shock and sadness. A somber scene.  Many expressions of the hope that they will all meet again in heaven. A tender, sincere, fit and proper remembrance ceremony for Chandes and her family.

We know the family through Kathy and Davis Goodin. They run the wonderful Goodin Nursery on 99W and Flores - a half mile from our home. Karen and Kathy are good friends.

Someday a death will leave you speechless - including your own. 

Death and Dying - Quotations and Thoughts

"Fear no more the heat o' th' sun
Nor the furious winters' rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages.
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust."
- Shakespeare


"Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thine individual being, shalt thou go
To mix forever with the elements,
To be a brother to the insensible rock
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold."
- William Cullen Bryant, Thanatopsis

Happy New Year

Best wishes to all for a productive, peaceful, healthy, generous, prosperous and memorable New Year!  2014 is Here! 

Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons

"As we consider our goals for a new year, may we temper our optimism with realism, acknowledging that reality will not always align with our aspirations.  Still, knowing that it is up to human beings to build a better world, we must try. And as we pursue knowledge, work for change, and strive to be more compassionate in the new year, let us do so alongside people of all faiths and beliefs—for no single community can solve our shared problems.  May we not only hope for a better world, but work together to make it so."
-  Chris Stedman

"Happy, Happy New Year!
We wish you all the best,
Great work to reach your fondest goals,
And when you’re done, sweet rest.
We hope for your fulfillment,
Contentment, peace and more,
A brighter, better new year than
You’ve ever had before."
-  Joanna Fuchs

 Blaize Reunion in Ashland, Oregon, in 2013