Tag: Christmas

Sometimes the meaning escapes us.

Much more than a house move.

Today, the 4th January, we have been at our new home in Oregon for exactly 72 days.  We knew there would be many differences between Payson, Arizona and Merlin, Oregon all of which could be described as objective, factual differences.   However, what was unexpected were the deep, complex emotions associated with moving to this rural part of Josephine County, Oregon.  We were utterly unprepared for that.

In fact, I have been staring at this screen for some time unable to put any structure or meaning to this post.  So I’m not going to try anymore, just offer some photographs and my reflections in the hope that you can sense where I am coming from.

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The Winter storm that came in on the 20th December was, according to locals, unprecedented.  We lost our power from the 20th until just before Christmas Eve.  It caught us unawares in terms of being ready for this type of winter event.  But then the sun came out one afternoon and I took this picture.

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It shows the flank of Mt. Sexton, the picture being taken from our deck in front of the house.  I found it impossible to describe the effect that this natural beauty had on me; being in awe just scratches the surface of my feelings.

Moving on.

We have been working hard preparing stables in readiness for two miniature horses that we have purchased from our neighbours, Margo and Clarence.  Last Tuesday, we were busy at this when I saw another breathtakingly beautiful sight.

Just some growth on the top of an old fence post.  But the words utterly fail the image.  Here it is.

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Then about an hour ago (yesterday), while struggling to write this post, I heard the dogs barking in the bedroom next door.  Went into the room and they were ‘speaking’ to some wild deer grazing our pasture land.

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Wish I could wrap this all up with some profound view, some wise observations about life and the meaning of the universe!

But I can’t!  Can’t make any sense of it at all. How did we get here?  How did I meet Jeannie, this most precious woman, back in Christmas 2007? How did I sell up and walk away from Devon, England, with just Pharaoh by my side, to start this unbelievable new life with Jean and all the dogs?

Anyone know the answers?

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“The silly old sod does mutter on at times!”

 

Happy Christmas!

To all you readers of Learning from Dogs – have a peaceful and wonderful Christmas Day.

Just going to offer you two wonderful images.

The first is a cartoon from the hands of Neil Kelly, a friend from my previous days in South Hams, Devon.

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The second came as an attachment to a Christmas greeting email from my son, Alex, and his partner Lisa.  Don’t know the background to the picture but what a reminder of the beauty of all the animals in the world.

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Enjoy your day wherever you are in the world.

Happy Christmas to you!

Enjoy!

The following video was sent to me a week ago by Cynthia S.

The Carlson School of Management received a surprise visit from a saxophonist…and nearly 300 of his friends from the University of Minnesota’s School of Music this November.

“Deck the Halls” arr. Francisco J. Núñez and Jim Papoulis from “Coolside of Yuletide”

Special Thanks To: Greg Wrenn (saxophone), Campus Singers Maroon, Gold, and Mosaic; Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, University Singers, Kathy S. Romey (coordinator), Judy Sagen and Kelley Sundin (choreography), Phillip O’Toole (audio), Boosey & Hawkes, Northern Lights Video, Michael Teachout, Bryan Koop (director of photography), Steve Rudolph (producer)

And my second contribution for this Christmas day was sent to me by local roofing contractor here in Payson, Bill Shreeve (greatly recommended, by the way!).  Here’s what Bill sent,

The Amazing Grace Christmas House. Designed and programmed by Richard Holdman in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

FAQ
The display uses about $130 of electricity per season.
It has raised over $40,000 for the Make-a-wish foundation.
There are about 60,000 lights and located in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Traffic at one time was backed up over a mile for people waiting to see it.
It takes about 4 people to manage the traffic.
Music is transmitted over the radio while people view it.

Wherever you are in the world, have a wonderful, loving and peaceful day.

Teamwork with a capital ‘T’!

A fascinating talk by Luis von Ahn about new and powerful ways of collaborating.

Before moving on to this Post, just a quick word about the next seven days.  I’m going to take a small break over Christmas, not by ceasing to publish Posts but by offering you a number of light-hearted items that have come my way.  Hope you enjoy them and a very big thanks for the support of Learning from Dogs that you have shown over the year; it means a great deal.  Have a wonderful Christmas vacation.

This particular Post focusses on a talk given (as below) by Luis von Ahn that is on TED Talks.  The TED website is a fabulous resource.  The interview was brought to my attention by Lee Crampton of Softdev.  Lee and I go back a number of years, to the time when he and I were part of a small group that started up a company that offered online flight briefing services to the airline industry; still running today as it happens.  So very happy to recommend Lee, more details of the services he can offer are here.

After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately — all for free.

Watching this video made me muse about the potential for this level of transformation in other areas.  Fascinating!

Before we forget …

that Christmas for young children is a wondrous place.

Here we are on the verge of the first full week of the New Year and soon busy lives will engage with all that 2010 is bringing.  So I wanted to share with you something truly magical that happened early on Christmas morning in the Derham house.

Our little four year old woke us at 4 o’clock Christmas morning crying.

“Father Christmas hasn’t come”, he struggled to tell us through his tears.

Then he saw his stocking.

“Oh He Did Come “

“I have been a good boy after all!”

And with that he settled back to sleep.

Joy ……

By Bob Derham

Our Christmas Tree is a Fake ….

From “The Guardian”, a photo of the the fake Xmas tree in Poole, England that is making people go mild.

Oh Dear! Not even XMAS is safe from the dreaded H&SE, the British Health and Safety Executive and the mentality that we must be protected from every eventuality, but how on earth can you get any Christmas spirit from a giant plastic H&SE tree?

Apparently, the authorities think it is safer than a real tree which “might fall on someone”. But has anyone ever heard of death by XMAS tree? It would make a good title for an Agatha Christie of course ….

But REAL Christmas trees are “good for us”, aren’t they? They grow and are cut down (providing jobs), but then of course new ones are planted, all good for the environment …. But above all, they are REAL. Will everything eventually be replaced by digits and images? How long will it be before we get just a giant wall poster of a Christmas tree? Surely that would be even safer for the plebs?