This is Three Kings Day in Latin America. Most in the US call it the Epiphany. In Latin America children leave out hay and water for the camels on the night of January 5, along with a shoe. In the morning, they get a small gift in the shoe and the hay and water are gone.
Rubén Darío, a poet from Nicaragua, has a poem called Los tres reyes magos, which commemorates when the 3 Magi gave the Christ child gifts. Here is my translation of that poem:
The Three Wise Kings
I am Gaspar. Here I bring incense.
I say: Life is pure and lovely by far.
God exists. Love is immense.
All this I know from the heavenly Star
-My name is Melchior. My myrrh’s scent fills the room.
God is. He is the light of day.
From the clay the white flower has its bloom,
And in pleasure is dismay.
-I am Balthasar. I bring the gift of gold.
I am sure God exists strong and grand.
I know all by the brilliance pure and bold
Which shines upon Death’s garland.
-Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar, silent be.
Love triumphs, and invites you to its feast.
Christ revives, He makes light from calamity.
And He wears the crown of Life!
Husband took the youngsters to work last night. The county road was plowed nearly one lane wide, the five miles. Fifteen enjoyed going past drifts that were above the roof of the truck. Husband was happy to make it home again.
The State highway is still closed. And is expected to remain so for the immediate future. Something about their big plow being up on blocks for the past year. hmmm.
Morning! Such a lovely warm looking photo up there! It is 0 degrees here with an inch of new fallen snow. The depth of our snow is not to the tops of our trucks! 😊
Happy Birthday to you dear Kim…we are certainly thankful for the gift of you!! 🎂
Happy Birthday, Kim!
You’ve grown older but still trim and slim.
If you have too much carrot cake, you’ll be filled to the brim!
Take it easy on your special day!
Let your cares all wash away (out to sea, never to return and bother)♡
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I used to have my students read that poem, and it was a way to present the Gospel in a public school without getting in trouble, since it is art of Spanish culture.
Speaking (belatedly) of ants, we’ve always used a product called Terro. It generates a huge convention of ants around it for a day, then they disappear and die.
We had fire ants in SC and FL. It was recommended to sprinkle borax on top of their mound and they would die. Not certain as to why but it worked. It never failed that one of the kids would find a mound and step on it while playing outside…those things are brutal…
We have fog here this morning which hasn’t appeared in a while with our brisk, colder weather .Kind of peaceful to see its return, hugging all around it, blurring and softening winter’s sharpness.
Another day and another ocean sewer spill follow for me, I’m thinking. All the closed beaches are now reopened.
I shoveled probably another eight inches of snow this morning. And it is snowing heavily still. The neighbor below us tried to get up the road but turned around in our driveway. Another neighbor called to see if we were able to get out. His truck was stuck on his road. On the way to town, husband found a guy with his truck stuck on his road. He was going for his four wheeler and had a plan so they left him to it.
*******
Hubby and I met when I was 24, and he often referred to me as his 24 year old lady, as if I had never aged. When I turned 48, he said that I was worth two 24 year olds. 🙂
*******
We are expecting a snow storm to come in early tomorrow morning and last throughout most of the day. A little while ago, I made sure that the back porch snow shovel was in easy reach from the backdoor for when I have to shovel tomorrow. (The back porch is my duty to shovel. Boy takes care of the front porch.)
That ocean photo seems to be missing something … Oh yeah, some container ships bobbing in the not-too-far distance with all our “stuff” on it waiting to be unloaded.
dj, yes it looks like a blank slate. A walk on a beach like that can be mind clearing for those of us whose streets have more and more areas with tallish structures begining at the the sidewalks so you never see anything but streets and buildings. At least we have yards in my neighborhood, but houses are pretty close together.
Janice, it reminds me that it’s been a while since I’ve walked barefoot in wet sand. I must put that on the to-do list this year, I have a perfect stretch of beach that’s easily accessible within a 5-minute drive from my house.
Good interview with Tim Keller on challenges that now face so many of our churches:
A lot of pastors are struggling, particularly after the various shifts during the pandemic. People are leaving churches over pandemic restrictions, the election, racial injustice, political differences, etc. Many pastors are leaving ministry. Have you ever dealt with something like this during your ministry, or is this something unique to our time today? How did you navigate tricky political/ideological waters?
(Keller) I’d say that the culture is definitely more polarized than it ever has been, and I’ve never seen the kind of conflicts in churches in the past that we see today.
In virtually every church there is a smaller or larger body of Christians who have been radicalized to the Left or to the Right by extremely effective and completely immersive internet and social media loops, newsfeeds, and communities. People are bombarded 12 hours a day with pieces that present a particular political point of view, and the main way it seeks to persuade is not through argument but through outrage. People are being formed by this immersive form of public discourse—far more than they are being formed by the Church.
This is creating a crisis.
No, I haven’t faced anything like this in the past.
However, the way to navigate such waters is still to follow the book of Proverbs’ prescription for your words. They must be honest, few, extremely well-crafted, usually calm, always aimed to edify (even when critical) and they must be accompanied with lots of silent listening. …
(Lee) Looking back, is there anything you wish you had done differently in ministry?
!Keller) Absolutely. I should have prayed more. No question. ~
________________________________
And I’ll make sure to hold off walking on that beach until I’m sure that sewer leak is history. Our oceans are actually cleaner than they used to be, of course, kudos to more environmental protections. But they still are a catch-all of all kinds of “things.”
But we’ve all survived swimming, surfing and walking in the surf for a long time now.
And it’s such a relaxing place to be, the sound of the surf pounding and washing ashore, the feel of wet sand in your toes …
I trimmed rose bushes near to the ground, and sawed a lone main straggly branch left over from a hedge bush this afternoon. I had hoped Wesley would saw that branch, but of course we ran out of time. Immediately after I finished the chore I heard rain sprinkles and now it is gentle rain. I am thankful I was not half way through the sawing when the rain started. My shoulder feels a little sore.
Art is beginning to slowly put to use his new recumbent bike. It really gets to the thigh leg muscles so he has to break every few minutes until he can build up those pushing muscles.
I saw that a new classical Christian school is in the works at a large Baptist church restart near us. I am so happy to see that.
love the picture. I didn’t see waves or sunshine at my beach. Just gray and rain.
Enjoy your birthday, Kim. Do some celebrating.
I will be in teacher meetings all day. Not sure if I can sit for that long. I will sit in the back so I can stand for a while. At least they provide lunch.
A plane is just leaving. Hopefully to pick up folks who are returning. My best friends should be coming today.
oh, wait, I forgot, that is my other friends leaving on furlough. The ones that gave me their vehicle last night. Which is certainly an upgrade from the singles van. Easy to get in and drives these rough roads with ease. Grateful for friends.
I was reading up on the local polar bear plunge, to see if it had been canceled like DJ’s. Sure enough. The lady who has been running it for the past twenty plus years called it just before the plunge. Didn’t stop people though. Several made the leap anyway. It was ten degrees which did not bother her. But the ice was so thick on the river, she thought it too dangerous for a couple hundred people to be thrashing around in there. Somebody goes under the ice, that is all she wrote for them. Anyway, they broke the ice and in they went. She will set up the official plunge in two weeks when the ice is gone. I did not attend.
I just bought more Terro at the hardware store. Sigh. I appreciated Janice’s article yesterday about leaving the bodies where the scavengers can find them.
I had what I used to call “an idiot woman day,” driving around and running errands back to back to back, etc. 9 stops in all. No, 10 with that stop at the hardware store.
I love days like this. I can stay home all day tomorrow!
But, the best part was running into a friend at the grocery store and praying for him, visiting a friend with COVID to present flowers and praying for her, laughing hither and yon, and having a lovely day.
Of course, I also put in 5+ hours at work . . . but I’m almost done. 🙂
Miss Bosley likes to chat in the kitchen by her food bowl. She tells me to give her more food when there is still some left from her last feeding. I tell her, “Eat your crumbles,” which translates to, “Clean your plate.” I may have to say it three times before she reluctantly does just that.
My cat Angel, the older one (she’s 13), only eats wet food these days. I feed them twice a day, and I have to “lock” Angel in the living room to protect her from Heidi or Rudy (when he’s finished with his) eating her food. She’s a slow poke.
She eats for a while and then walks away. I go and pick up her dish to remind her about it, and then she comes back and eats some more. Sometimes I have to do that a few times. When I pick it up and she doesn’t come back to it, then I know that she has had enough.
Yep, that’s Annie. She nibbles, goes away (and I have to put the food back in the refrigerator or Tess will raid it); then she returns, wanting more, So out the dish comes again.
DJ’s sewage story reminds me of the time I was reading the news on radio about a conflict between the city and county over sewage in a certain area. the UPI wire story used the word “effluence”. A guy sitting in the studio thought I said “affluence” and started snickering, which got me snickering. I cut the report short and signed off. Fortunately it was the 1 AM news just before sign-off, so the only person listening was the wife of the other guy.
Wandering Views 
Good morning, Wanderers.
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Good morning Chas!
Nice to “see” you this morning.
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¡Feliz cumpleaños, Kim!
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This is Three Kings Day in Latin America. Most in the US call it the Epiphany. In Latin America children leave out hay and water for the camels on the night of January 5, along with a shoe. In the morning, they get a small gift in the shoe and the hay and water are gone.
Rubén Darío, a poet from Nicaragua, has a poem called Los tres reyes magos, which commemorates when the 3 Magi gave the Christ child gifts. Here is my translation of that poem:
LikeLiked by 3 people
Happy birthday, Kim!
Good morning, all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Husband took the youngsters to work last night. The county road was plowed nearly one lane wide, the five miles. Fifteen enjoyed going past drifts that were above the roof of the truck. Husband was happy to make it home again.
The State highway is still closed. And is expected to remain so for the immediate future. Something about their big plow being up on blocks for the past year. hmmm.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love the poem Peter.
Thank you for the birthday wishes
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Happy Birthday Kim!
i thiink I said thaht before, but can’t find it.
So? Kim turns 24 again”
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Happy birthday, Kim. If you celebrate for every happy birthday you are give, you have a whole lot of celebrating to do. ;0
I love the header picture. Looks so fun to be there.
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Morning! Such a lovely warm looking photo up there! It is 0 degrees here with an inch of new fallen snow. The depth of our snow is not to the tops of our trucks! 😊
Happy Birthday to you dear Kim…we are certainly thankful for the gift of you!! 🎂
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Kim hasn’t turned 24 in a long time.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Happy Birthday, Kim!
You’ve grown older but still trim and slim.
If you have too much carrot cake, you’ll be filled to the brim!
Take it easy on your special day!
Let your cares all wash away (out to sea, never to return and bother)♡
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The header is of Wesley wading in the warm water. It is quite a contrast to what we have here only five-six hours away.
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I really appreciate the poem you posted, Peter. Thank you for translating it for us.
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I used to have my students read that poem, and it was a way to present the Gospel in a public school without getting in trouble, since it is art of Spanish culture.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Speaking (belatedly) of ants, we’ve always used a product called Terro. It generates a huge convention of ants around it for a day, then they disappear and die.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy birthday, Kim!
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We had fire ants in SC and FL. It was recommended to sprinkle borax on top of their mound and they would die. Not certain as to why but it worked. It never failed that one of the kids would find a mound and step on it while playing outside…those things are brutal…
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Terro has borax in it with sweetener to draw them to it. They pack it home to the nest and kill everybody with the borax.
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Loved the poem, Peter.
Happy Birthday Kim!
Ah, the ocean.
We have fog here this morning which hasn’t appeared in a while with our brisk, colder weather .Kind of peaceful to see its return, hugging all around it, blurring and softening winter’s sharpness.
Another day and another ocean sewer spill follow for me, I’m thinking. All the closed beaches are now reopened.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I shoveled probably another eight inches of snow this morning. And it is snowing heavily still. The neighbor below us tried to get up the road but turned around in our driveway. Another neighbor called to see if we were able to get out. His truck was stuck on his road. On the way to town, husband found a guy with his truck stuck on his road. He was going for his four wheeler and had a plan so they left him to it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Happy Birthday, Kim!
*******
Hubby and I met when I was 24, and he often referred to me as his 24 year old lady, as if I had never aged. When I turned 48, he said that I was worth two 24 year olds. 🙂
*******
We are expecting a snow storm to come in early tomorrow morning and last throughout most of the day. A little while ago, I made sure that the back porch snow shovel was in easy reach from the backdoor for when I have to shovel tomorrow. (The back porch is my duty to shovel. Boy takes care of the front porch.)
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‘two 24 year olds,’ I like that. 🙂
I am grateful that fog requires no shoveling.
Stay safe, upright and warm “back there.”
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That ocean photo seems to be missing something … Oh yeah, some container ships bobbing in the not-too-far distance with all our “stuff” on it waiting to be unloaded.
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dj, yes it looks like a blank slate. A walk on a beach like that can be mind clearing for those of us whose streets have more and more areas with tallish structures begining at the the sidewalks so you never see anything but streets and buildings. At least we have yards in my neighborhood, but houses are pretty close together.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Janice, it reminds me that it’s been a while since I’ve walked barefoot in wet sand. I must put that on the to-do list this year, I have a perfect stretch of beach that’s easily accessible within a 5-minute drive from my house.
Good interview with Tim Keller on challenges that now face so many of our churches:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/tim-keller-on-the-church-crisis-that-he-never-had-to-face-as-a-pastor-but-you-do
____________________________________
~ Sophia Lee of World Magazine:
A lot of pastors are struggling, particularly after the various shifts during the pandemic. People are leaving churches over pandemic restrictions, the election, racial injustice, political differences, etc. Many pastors are leaving ministry. Have you ever dealt with something like this during your ministry, or is this something unique to our time today? How did you navigate tricky political/ideological waters?
(Keller) I’d say that the culture is definitely more polarized than it ever has been, and I’ve never seen the kind of conflicts in churches in the past that we see today.
In virtually every church there is a smaller or larger body of Christians who have been radicalized to the Left or to the Right by extremely effective and completely immersive internet and social media loops, newsfeeds, and communities. People are bombarded 12 hours a day with pieces that present a particular political point of view, and the main way it seeks to persuade is not through argument but through outrage. People are being formed by this immersive form of public discourse—far more than they are being formed by the Church.
This is creating a crisis.
No, I haven’t faced anything like this in the past.
However, the way to navigate such waters is still to follow the book of Proverbs’ prescription for your words. They must be honest, few, extremely well-crafted, usually calm, always aimed to edify (even when critical) and they must be accompanied with lots of silent listening. …
(Lee) Looking back, is there anything you wish you had done differently in ministry?
!Keller) Absolutely. I should have prayed more. No question. ~
________________________________
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Happy birthday, Kim!!
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And I’ll make sure to hold off walking on that beach until I’m sure that sewer leak is history. Our oceans are actually cleaner than they used to be, of course, kudos to more environmental protections. But they still are a catch-all of all kinds of “things.”
But we’ve all survived swimming, surfing and walking in the surf for a long time now.
And it’s such a relaxing place to be, the sound of the surf pounding and washing ashore, the feel of wet sand in your toes …
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I love beaches.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I trimmed rose bushes near to the ground, and sawed a lone main straggly branch left over from a hedge bush this afternoon. I had hoped Wesley would saw that branch, but of course we ran out of time. Immediately after I finished the chore I heard rain sprinkles and now it is gentle rain. I am thankful I was not half way through the sawing when the rain started. My shoulder feels a little sore.
Art is beginning to slowly put to use his new recumbent bike. It really gets to the thigh leg muscles so he has to break every few minutes until he can build up those pushing muscles.
I saw that a new classical Christian school is in the works at a large Baptist church restart near us. I am so happy to see that.
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Posted by Roscuro or Phos on Facebook, an Arabic Christmas Carol for Epiphany:
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Daughter is already winding up.
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I love the beach. I have to be near water. I guess I’m two 24 year olds and some change.
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love the picture. I didn’t see waves or sunshine at my beach. Just gray and rain.
Enjoy your birthday, Kim. Do some celebrating.
I will be in teacher meetings all day. Not sure if I can sit for that long. I will sit in the back so I can stand for a while. At least they provide lunch.
A plane is just leaving. Hopefully to pick up folks who are returning. My best friends should be coming today.
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oh, wait, I forgot, that is my other friends leaving on furlough. The ones that gave me their vehicle last night. Which is certainly an upgrade from the singles van. Easy to get in and drives these rough roads with ease. Grateful for friends.
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“worth two 24 year olds”
I guess that means my sister is worth 3, since her 72nd birthday was yesterday.
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I was reading up on the local polar bear plunge, to see if it had been canceled like DJ’s. Sure enough. The lady who has been running it for the past twenty plus years called it just before the plunge. Didn’t stop people though. Several made the leap anyway. It was ten degrees which did not bother her. But the ice was so thick on the river, she thought it too dangerous for a couple hundred people to be thrashing around in there. Somebody goes under the ice, that is all she wrote for them. Anyway, they broke the ice and in they went. She will set up the official plunge in two weeks when the ice is gone. I did not attend.
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You have ice, we have raw sewage.
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I’d argue that raw sewage takes more courage.
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My arm has a slight constant ache from all that sawing earlier. It’s time to locate the aspirin.
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It has already been decided that tomorrow is a snow day.
And it is also Nightingale’s day off, so we will all be here.
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Janice – With your aching arm, I guess you won’t be helping us shovel the snow. 🙂
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And the fact that you live in Georgia and we live in Connecticut. 😀
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jJanice. I just hope rest can fix it.
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Thank you, Chas.
You are right, Kizzie. No shoveling snow for me. Glad you all can enjoy a day together!
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I just bought more Terro at the hardware store. Sigh. I appreciated Janice’s article yesterday about leaving the bodies where the scavengers can find them.
I had what I used to call “an idiot woman day,” driving around and running errands back to back to back, etc. 9 stops in all. No, 10 with that stop at the hardware store.
I love days like this. I can stay home all day tomorrow!
But, the best part was running into a friend at the grocery store and praying for him, visiting a friend with COVID to present flowers and praying for her, laughing hither and yon, and having a lovely day.
Of course, I also put in 5+ hours at work . . . but I’m almost done. 🙂
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I stayed home. And read Michael O’Halloran and The Two Towers and Kingsblood Royal to two people.
And twenty has decided she does not like to make my face turn red from blood pressure issues so she is being nice this evening.
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And now they have fevers.
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Miss Bosley likes to chat in the kitchen by her food bowl. She tells me to give her more food when there is still some left from her last feeding. I tell her, “Eat your crumbles,” which translates to, “Clean your plate.” I may have to say it three times before she reluctantly does just that.
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I wrote a sewer story and interviewed someone for my story I’m writing tomorrow for the weekend.
And took the trash out.
And fed the cat, multiple times.
And did some laundry.
And picked up dog poop.
And watered Charlie Brown 2.
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Maybe it’s Flurona.
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I think I need a nap after reading Michelle’s 8:34 comment.
Oh, wait! It is getting to my bedtime, so that’ll do.
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And DJ piled on.
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My cat Angel, the older one (she’s 13), only eats wet food these days. I feed them twice a day, and I have to “lock” Angel in the living room to protect her from Heidi or Rudy (when he’s finished with his) eating her food. She’s a slow poke.
She eats for a while and then walks away. I go and pick up her dish to remind her about it, and then she comes back and eats some more. Sometimes I have to do that a few times. When I pick it up and she doesn’t come back to it, then I know that she has had enough.
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Yep, that’s Annie. She nibbles, goes away (and I have to put the food back in the refrigerator or Tess will raid it); then she returns, wanting more, So out the dish comes again.
She nibbles, goes away.
I refrigerate the food.
In 5-10 minutes she wants more.
I feed her again.
She nibbles, goes away. I put the food away. …
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DJ’s sewage story reminds me of the time I was reading the news on radio about a conflict between the city and county over sewage in a certain area. the UPI wire story used the word “effluence”. A guy sitting in the studio thought I said “affluence” and started snickering, which got me snickering. I cut the report short and signed off. Fortunately it was the 1 AM news just before sign-off, so the only person listening was the wife of the other guy.
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So I left it open and no one took it.
57!
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It is just another number.
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