Spilt Wine

CAT FACES

my heart's stopped pumpin
but my blood is still alive.
the rain hits the ground
and the trees they dry it up.
my eyes wake up
but my brain is sleeping fine.
one more thing for you and i to do before we shut our eyes
that you blame me and i'll blame you, and we're both right.
cuttin cat faces in the pines.
they say his teeth are wood
and they want pictures of him.
the rain hits the ground
and the trees they dry it up.
my chain hits the wood
and the wood it turns to dust.
i picture you as if you were a pine.
my heart's stopped pumping
but my blood is still alive.
we're wood screws [all of our lives]
and we're wood screws [all of our lives]
well my heart's stopped pumping
but my blood is still alive.
i lay down with the southern range.
swallows drop in and dash the sky,
tracing lines of cursive on the horizon.
cutting cat faces in the pines.
mark the path back to the point of departure.
two by two and four by four
the pines they lay down,and i lay down with the southern range.

-Ugly Cassanova

This year we made an Advent Wreath at home. I really love the concept of Advent. I think my love for it comes from the song Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel. The song speaks of finding joy during time of heartache and despair, through the anticipation of the coming of Christ. Though Christ has come, I believe the song still appies to us today, not only because there is a second coming of Christ, but more so, because we continually find ourselves in hurt, despair, heartache and loneliness, longing for God to come and bring us renewal.

The candles in the wreath are symbolic. The rose colored candles symbolize Hope, Peace and Love. The red candle symbolizes Joy and the white candle symbolizes Christ. There are 5 Sundays during Advent, and one candle is lit every Sunday all the way up to Christmas.

This year my Christmas blessings, prayers and wishes are centered around this wreath. I pray for Peace, Hope, Love, and Joy for all of my friends and especially for one of my best friends, a brother, Jason, who is fighting and waiting for the day of his physical renewal.

Merry Christmas.

Gracie and her cousin Merrick. Everyone loves to swing!

I think this is a good score...

According to Dr. Chapman, there are five love languages; Words of Affirmation, Gift giving, Quality time, Acts of Services and Physical touch. Each of us communicates love within these five categories. I tend to show and demonstrate my love through Acts of Service and Gift Giving. Anyhow, I have been thinking about Gift Giving as a love language. I never really understood the importance and significance of it until last night.

Last night as I was watching Grace, I realized how beautiful gift giving is. Gift giving can be an everlasting symbol of love. Last Christmas, Jason and Mitra gave Grace a couple of Christmas presents, one of presents being a Christmas tree ornament with her picture on it. The other two being a book and a printed t-shirt, which I miss read out-loud saying “I can read”, when the t-shirt really said I can’t read.

Last night, Grace was standing in front of the Christmas tree and with a big smile and excitement, she pointed to the ornament that Jason and Mitra bought her last year and yelled “Daddy- Gracie!” She was overwhelmed with joy that there was a picture of her on the Christmas tree. At that moment, I was reminded of our friendship with Jason and Mitra and how thankful I am that they are apart of our lives. In this moment through a gift that they gave Grace last year, their love and spirit came alive in our living room. That is the power of Gift Giving.