Author Archives: Chronicles of a Blogaholic

Rain Must Fall

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“Thy fate is the common fate of all;
Into each life some rain must fall.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Rain Must Fall

People associate the rain with tears, depression, and sadness. But, I like to associate the rain with a more positive feeling. Sort of like a good cleansing. After the rain, I feel great with the sunshine and rainbows that follow.

All good things usually have to end as well as do the bad things. We can’t avoid a little rain in our life without experiencing the sunshine.

It really comes down to your attitude and that you should always look for the silver lining. Just as there are areas of land with excess rain and droughts, there are also people who experience more or less down times.

That’s why I like Longfellow’s line from his poem, The Rainy Day:

Thy fate is the common fate of all;
Into each life some rain must fall.

Shine On

First Week of November

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“California is a fine place to live – if you happen to be an orange.”
Fred Allen

First Week of November
October came and went
Without a whimper
Still no rain in sight
The temperatures are in the eighties
Everyone east of California
Is either flooded or freezing

Just eight short weeks until
The New Year arrives
Time flies and life goes on
Here in Southern California
We remain with summer weather
On this first week of November

By: J R

Shine On
Copyright ©
November 2, 2015

A Horse of a Lifetime

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“Such an amazing horse.”
American Pharoah’s jockey
Victor Espinoza

Yesterday I watched the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the final big race of the year. When American Pharoah broke from the starting gate, his ears were forward through most of the race. If you’ve ever watched horse racing, normally horses ears are flat back, listening and concentrating on the job they need to get done.

Maybe American Pharoah’s ears were forward because of his ear plugs they use on him to drown out all the noise from the crowd. I like to believe he was running his heart out to the end of that finish line, lookin’ to make history in horse racing.

I watched the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes this year. I watched in awe as American Pharaoh won all these famous races with ease. With this Breeders’ Cup Classic victory, American Pharoah ended his racing life as the winner of 9 of 11 career starts and is the first horse to sweep the “Grand Slam” of racing. American Pharoah, galloping into history as a horse of a lifetime.

Shine On

Happy Halloween

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“Where there is no imagination there is no horror.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Pumkin Carving 6

Pumpkin carving is a time-honored Halloween tradition. Over the years the pumpkins carved by millions of people have transformed from simple jack o’lanterns into beautiful works of art.

Here are just a few that I found on-line that I believe are absolutely amazing.

Pumpkin Carving1

Pumkin Carving 2

Pumpkin Carving 3

Pumkin Carving 5

Pumkin Carving 4

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween.

Shine On

Trick or Treating

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“If ever there was a holiday that deserves
to be commercialized, it’s Halloween.
We haven’t taken it away from kids.
We’ve just expanded it so that
the kid in adults can enjoy it, too.
Cassandra Peterson

Trick or Treaters

I’ve always enjoyed Halloween. I think that it’s one holiday where young and old can enjoy dressing up in their favorite fantasy outfit and not be ridiculed. What day of the year allows you to do that?

One year in particular I remember when I was in the eighth grade. It was the year my brother was shot while on tour in Vietnam. He was shot in the upper thigh and thankfully he returned home and was living with us while he recuperated. Because he was in a cast up to his waist, he volunteered to stay at the house and give out candy. So, all of us left the house just before dark with our friends to trick or treat in the neighborhood.

A few hours later we decided we had enough candy and headed for home. As we came up the street to our house, there was a line of kids to our front door. We walked past the kids to our front door to see what all the commotion was. To our surprise, my brother had dressed up as a very scary mummy, and was scaring all the little kids in the neighborhood.

There were so many trick or treaters that year, my mom had to run out twice to get more candy. We became the talk of the neighborhood that year. Even at school the next day, I remember kids I didn’t know talk about the scary mummy guy they saw the night they were trick or treating.

Shine On