January's Wonderful Stats

So far I have had a fantastic month from 12/29/2011-01/27/2012 with 2, 241 views of my blog from 26 different countries.  You can see some of them on the flags listed on the blog which I just put up on Wednesday night.


Here is a list in the order is which they appear on my stats USA, Germany, UK, Russia, France, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Israel, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Brazil, Georgia, Philippines, Qatar, Latvia, S. Korea, Colombia, Moldova, Belgium, Greece, Hungary, India, and Australia.


I would like to take this time to thank you all.  I sure wish you would start leaving a comment.  Well, if you don't wish to, that is alright too.  I am just thrilled that so many people from so many other countries are interested in what I have to share.


I was thinking that this Internet platform is such a valuable tool to reach out and share our feelings and ideas with so many different cultures.  Just think in his own time Shakespeare didn't touch so many different people in so many different countries.  I am not saying that I write like him, just sharing that thought of the way my blog post reaches around the world, and touches so many, and in seconds!  How remarkable is that?   Hoping that all of you feel as blessed as I do for being able to share my thoughts, stories, recipes, and travels with you.  Thanks again for stopping by to read my posts, and I hope you continue and spread the word.  

And if you are interested in purchasing my book, My Ominous Adventures At True Blue Farm it is sold  on many online book stores: 

http://ksiazki.okazje.info.pl/ksiazka/k/my-ominous-adventures-at-true-blue-farm-the-secret-behind-the-mirror.html


http://www.jacotei.com.br/impressaos/index/1141704


http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/id/My_Ominous_Adventures_at_True_Blue_Farm/9781413797701


http://www.alibris.co.uk/search/books/isbn/9781413797701


Wow, even in Hong Kong: http://www.paddyfield.com/mainstore2/details.php?prod=9781413797701&PHPSESSID=j65jpb03hp5oltb56r15kcaed3

India:  http://www.nbcindia.com/books/1-my-ominous-adventures-true-blue-farm-secret-behind-mirror-diane-dunwell-hoffman/1413797709


Australia: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/My-Ominous-Adventures-True-Blue-Farm-NEW-/270697183672


http://www.amazonka.pl/my-ominous-adventures-at-true-blue-farm_diane-dunwell-hoffman,99901132992.bhtml


S.Korea: http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/search/SearchEngbookMain.jsp?vPstrCategory=ENG&vPejkGB=BNT&vPsKeywordInfo=Hoffman,%20Diane&vPoutSearch=1&vPauthor=Hoffman,%20Diane&vPorderClick=LAV




http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1413797709/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

As Our Society Declines

I find it rather depressing to read some of the comments on newspaper articles, online videos, and social networking websites.  I have witnessed a huge decline in civility.  Paranoia, anger, hatred, and gossip have run amuck! 

It may be assumed or for a better word discerned that there is something deep rooted in the psyche of a huge segment of society, and one can only wonder how it got there.  I sometimes think that perhaps the generation of "Baby Boomers" and their off spring either grew up as latch key kids who made their own rules based on media programming or are just spoiled brats creating their own uncivilized decorum.  Whatever the reason it seems to be getting worse, and has even spilled into the behavior of our politicians and government. 

It is obvious that for centuries throughout the entire world when a civilization experiences an economic down turn there has always been an abuse of mind altering substances whether it is alcohol or drugs.  It is a well-known fact that both over long periods of abuse inhibit and destroy the rational thought process of the brain. 

When a society experiences a lack of meaningful work and low or no income, it is expected that there will be depression and desperation in an attempt to survive.  The fight or flight syndrome kicks in and some fight back others choose to flee and self-medicate.   Very often the fight syndrome is counterproductive because when there are no jobs some choose to break the law.  Just peruse the police log of the local news, thefts, and scams abound.

Just recently there was an article in the local news of my former hometown region on the growing number of homeless men.  In the comments there were many references to them being drunks.  This isn't the first time our country has experienced this dilemma.  During the Great Depression that is estimated to have begun in 1929 many husbands/fathers left home searching for work across the country and when no work could be found they became drunks in the Bowery, never to return to their home and family, buried in pauper's graves.  Also during the Great Depression because of lack of funding mental institutions could no longer stay open, and many of the mentally ill were forced to live on the streets.

This utter lack of employment, dependence on mind altering substances, and lack of proper coping skills, moral education, and proper medical attention lead to many of our society's dilemmas.  Crime, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, child abuse, parental abuse, suicide, etc. can be traced back to a society that has fallen onto very hard financial times. 

If a tooth is decayed at the root, and a dentist just fills the top to make it look good the tooth will continue to decay.  Thus any society that does not work at repairing the root of its declination will continue to decline.  It is not just our government that needs to be diligent at fixing our problems, but each and every one of us must begin with ourselves, and the children that God gave to us to raise properly with a decent set of values, and proper coping skills.  I too have made my own mistakes in the past, and work on rectifying those mistakes each day by trying my very best to be a positive role model for those who God entrusted in my care.  Life is a learning process, and we all must work hard at making this very short life something worthwhile, instead of wasting it away.

For Gabby, A Beautiful Day

On July 14, 2011 my daughter Jennifer and I had the pleasure of joining my cousin Kathy in attending the U2 360 Concert in the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium, Philadelphia, PA. For me the highlight of this truly amazing concert was when we the audience were beamed up to Major Mark Kelly aboard the International Space Station where he recited lyrics to their song Beautiful Day which was a song requested by his wife U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as their wake up call while on the Space Station. Listen to the very end of the song as Bono sings David's Bowie Space Oddity lyrics, "Tell my wife I love her very much she knows".

Because of the unfortunate almost fatal injuries that have changed the course of this dedicated public servant's life and career this past week as she stepped down from her position in Congress, I posted this video again. I find this message from a very loving husband to be a defining moment in a truly loving relationship. It sends the message to us all that love and family are most important, and surely a major stepping stone in healing and recovery. I wish them both many blessings and a full recovery for Gabby. My thoughts and prayers are with them. Wishing many Beautiful Days for them both!

A Wise Man, Mr. Goethe

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Goethe

I stumbled upon the above quote of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe  many years ago. I believe the year may have been 1989. I taped it to my refrigerator, as I wanted to be reminded daily of it's profound message. I then started taking courses to better myself. I bought books, and workbooks on overcoming obstacles, and creating a more fulfilling life for myself and my daughters.

In one class, Taking It To The Limit, taught by Dr. Gwen Roquemore we were instructed to write three goals on a post card, and on the opposite side write our address. One year after that date Dr. Gwen sent them to us. I had achieved every goal.

She taught us some of the principles of creative visualization laid down by the author Shakti Gawain in her book Creative Visualization. We created image books out of photo albums. We were instructed to cut pictures from magazines of people we admired, looks we wanted for ourselves, things we wanted to accomplish, etc. and place them in the book. We were to keep it near by and look through it often. I kept mine on the coffee table for years.

By the year of 1999, I had accomplished nearly all of what I had visualized in that book. I still have a few to go, and have added them to what I now call my bucket list. Such as carve a decoy, learn how to play golf, go on a family sleigh ride through the snow, and look gorgeous in a pair of jeans. The last being less important now than it was in 1986, when I was thirty-five years old and single.

I had written in a journal that I wanted to become a published writer, but I didn't put it in my image book. Writing our goals down is the first step to committing ourselves to accomplish them, and just as Goethe quoted providence does take over and opens up all sorts of unforeseen assistance in accomplishing that goal.


“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Goggle Works Center For The Arts, Reading PA

My granddaughter Emily and I visited Goggle Works in Reading, PA and the above slide is from that day.  Since that day my daughters, son-in-law, grandchildren and I have visited Goggle Works together and had a really enjoyable time.  There is no admission fee, and definitely a great find for any lover of the arts!

The following information is from their website:


The GoggleWorks is  located at:
201 Washington Street
Reading, PA 19601
Phone:  610.374.4600

Email: info@goggleworks.org
Hours of  Operation:
M-S: 9:00  am - 9:00 pm
Sunday
11:00  am - 7:00 pm
There is no admission fee for the GoggleWorks.  Park in our FREE  parking lot  located at 2nd and Walnut Streets.


The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a prime example of adaptive reuse in architecture, and derives its name from the original structure from which it evolved. Where there is now a hub of community activity bringing people together in the arts and culture, there once stood a leader in the safety industry whose groundbreaking innovations spanned over a century.
In 1871, during a time when the United States depended solely on Europe for optical lenses, Thomas A. Willson & Co. erected the first factory for the manufacturing of optical glass for lenses and reading glasses at the corner of Washington and 2nd Streets in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded by Gile J. Willson and his son Dr. Thomas A. Willson, the company made innovative strides in addressing the occupational hazards faced by so many working in factories throughout the industrial revolution and is credited with launching the safety protection industry. Their first innovation, among many that would follow, was a protective lens that blocked dangerous and blinding rays produced by metal processing equipment.
During the 1890s the company expanded the reach of the safety industry to address not only vision, but also hearing, respiratory and head protection. Dr. Frederick Willson, the son of Dr. Thomas A. Willson, had joined the family company and became the president under a new name, T.A. Willson Co. Inc. as the company incorporated in 1910.
The National Safety Council was created in 1913, and T.A. Willson & Co. Inc. helped to set the bar for the establishment of uniform safety standards in industry. Through the 1920s, they continued expanding their line of safety equipment for the protection of coal miners, military personnel, and the evolving field of aviation. In 1929 the company changed its name to Willson Goggles, Inc., with Thomas A. Willson Jr. as the company’s president, and by World War II, Willson Goggles was helping the war effort by making aviator goggles and high altitude oxygen masks for pilots in the military.
In 1936 the company again changed its name to reflect the ever-expanding range of safety protection equipment they had come to represent. The new name, which would take the company through the next forty-five years, was Willson Products, Inc. They went on to produce fashionable sunglasses, as modeled by the contestants of the 1938 Miss America Pageant, and swim goggles, as worn by Florence Chadwick, the first woman to swim both directions of the English Channel in 1950.
Eventually the company changed hands first to Ray-O-Vac Corp. in 1956, and the following year to Electric Storage Battery (ESB) Co., but maintained the Willson Products name through the atomic age and space age, still leading the safety industry in research and development of equipment to meet the needs of a technologically advancing society. By 1981 the company was manufacturing more than 3,000 separate items in protective gear, and at that time became Willson Safety Products.
Willson shifted its focus to the development of new varieties of respirators, gloves and other protective equipment in the 1980s. They stopped manufacturing safety eyewear and began to purchase those products offshore. The company teamed up with Christian Dalloz, a French-based company to create protective eyewear, and Willson became Dalloz’s largest customer. Dalloz bought Willson Products in 1989, and changed the company name to Dalloz Safety in 1997.
Between 200 and 300 people were employed at the Dalloz plant in Reading, but due to outdated equipment and manufacturing processes, layoffs began. By 2001 fifty employees remained, and in May, 2002 the Dalloz Safety plant in Reading closed.
A 130-year history of safety industry innovation and leadership came to an end, and the future of the buildings that had been erected to accommodate the Willson family’s enterprising manufacturing was uncertain. In the midst of hopes and plans for the revitalization of the greater Reading area, the City of Reading recognized the value and the character of these buildings, and their potential to serve the community in a whole new way. Plans to develop a community arts and cultural resource center began, fueled by the proven success of similar adaptive reuse arts center projects. By converting abandoned factories, these community arts centers have revitalized their areas, maintaining local historical and architectural integrity while inspiring a cultural and economic resurgence as the community and visitors come together to create, appreciate, and celebrate the arts.

Raven's Child

When I see John talk in this video, it makes me cry to think of what he would be saying right now at what has happened to this world, our country, and the environment since his death in 1997.

Last Night's NJ Highland's Counsel Meeting

Granddaughter Lily hiking through Stokes State Forest in NJ Highlands

 The New Jersey Highlands Counsel Vote tabled for thirty days the plan to allow the gas pipeline to go through New Jersey State Forest Land and the Highlands.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/nj_highlands_council_tables_ac.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/highlands_council_expected_to.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/vote_coming_on_nj_highlands_ga.html

Please sign this petition to stop this from going through and destroying the pristine environment of New Jersey State Forest, supposedly protected land!

Petition to stop the gas pipe line from destroying New Jersey forest land as well as Appalachian Trail: https://secure3.convio.net/scnj/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1031

Granddaughter Emily contemplating the serene beauty of Stokes State Forest. Will it be there for her grandchildren?

Here is the email address of the NJ DEP: portalcomments@dep.state.nj.us   Copy and paste it to your email compose feature in the To: section.   Send them an email, tell them what you feel about this issue. 


 Forest Stewardship Program

The Forest Stewardship Program (FSP) is a federally funded forest management program designed by the US Forest Service and National Association of State Foresters. The program is intended to encourage management of private forestland for non-commodity benefits, such as wildlife, recreation, aesthetics and water quality as well as traditional commodities like timber and wood products. Forest Stewardship promotes long-term active management while emphasizing consideration of all the forest resources and benefits.
 New Jersey Forest Service: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/forest/stw_inc_prog.html


What is the New Jersey Highland Counsel:  http://www.highlands.state.nj.us/njhighlands/master/highlands_plan_conformance_guidelines.pdf

The Civilian Conservation Corps:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps

What Does Mining Do To A Community?

http://www.ilovemountains.org/category/memorial/c455/

Lest We Forget, The Tocks Island Dam Project On The Delaware River

Please go to this link, explore, and learn: http://www.ghostwaters.com/thefilm.html






 Petition to stop the gas pipe line from destroying the Delaware River, New Jersey forest land as well as Appalachian Trail: https://secure3.convio.net/scnj/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1031

Please Help Stop The Keystone Pipeline Project

Granddaughters at Kittle Field, Stokes State Forest, NJ

  I have so many fond memories of Stokes State Forest. My Dad always told us stories about his time spent there when he was in the C.C.C. camp. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that this gas pipeline which has much more consequences on the environment than destroying the environment of Stokes and High Point State Parks, but also will affect the environment of the Delaware River. It all starts with the Marcellus Shale F racking in Pennsylvania. They keep talking Job$ to impre$$ the public. However, there can be job$ created in clean, green alternative energy $ource$.

The pipeline crosses underneath the Delaware River and Monksville Reservoir, potentially impacting drinking water supplies for millions of people.  In New Jersey, about 50% of the project is located on public lands including the Appalachian Trail, Stokes State Forest, High Point State Park, and Ramapo County Reservation.   If pushed through, this pipeline will destroy critical animal habitats, threaten our water supply, and clear cut forests on state land. 

Stokes State Forest, New Jersey

Please read this article, and see how important it is for you to sign the petition in the link below and/or attend the meeting on January 19, 2012 The Highlands Council is scheduled to vote on the pipeline plan at 4 p.m. Thursday at its headquar­ters, 100 North Road, Chester.NJ and voice your concerns.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/passaic_morris/137402228_Highlands_Council_set_to_approve_plan_for_gas_pipeline.html

Sunrise Mountain Look Out, Stokes State Forest

Petition to stop the gas pipe line from destroying New Jersey forest land as well as Appalachian Trail: https://secure3.convio.net/scnj/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1031

Stokes State Forest, New Jersey

 Tell our government that we want them to explore Renewable Green Energy Sources and stop this senseless destroying of our natural resources for financial gain!  http://www.energysavers.gov/renewable_energy/

More About This: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/

http://thinkprogress.org/green/issue/?mobile=nc

The future of the lovely Endless Mountains in Pennsylvania.

Wow, isn't it uncanny how Billionaire Foster Friess has donated millions to the Super Pac supporting Pennsylvania's  former senator Rick Santorum's run for the GOP nomination for the Presidency in 2012.  Uncanny you ask, yes uncanny, as Foster Friess calls the E.P.A. the Employment Prevention Agency, because he is all for promoting Fracking for Natural Gas for the profit, no responsibility to protecting our environment.  Read more about this man, this member of the 1% who are buying our politicians their seats in governing the other 99% :http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/08/1052449/-Meet-Foster-Friess,-Billionaire-who-Bought-Iowa-for-Santorum

John Denver Sings About How Greed Is Destroying This World:

"America, Free, White, and Christian" Apalling book

A pastor from a website known as "God Save America Again" has been e-mailing me because of my blog, The Soul Felt It's Worth. He kept mentioning that God is the Word. I believe that God's Word has been tainted by man's interpretation throughout the ages.

I decided to peruse this preacher's website and found them promoting a book called, "America, Free, White, and Christian".

The following is an e-mail I sent to him:

"America, Free, White, and Christian" This is a book on your website.

I find this appalling. What would Christ do?

First of all the bible as we know it has been translated, revised, and although originally was the word of God it is fallible. The oldest surviving manuscripts must be the most reliable????Therefore, when determining what manuscripts to depend on, the Vaticanus (350 AD) and the Sinaiticus (about 350 AD) should be accepted as correct (even if 998 other manuscripts disagree with them).

The Sinaiticus is extremely unreliable, proven by examining the manuscript itself. John Burgeon spent years examining every available manuscript of the New Testament. He writes about the Sinaiticus: "On many occasions 10, 20, 30, 40 words are dropped through very carelessness.

Letters, words or even whole sentences are frequently written twice over, or begun and immediately canceled; while that gross blunder, whereby a clause is omitted because it happens to end in the same words as the clause preceding, occurs no less that 115 times in the New Testament."


You may say, this is Burgeon's interpretation, and my point exactly, was he inspired by God?


So to follow every word literally, and not pray for other guidance is irresponsible in spreading the good news Christ came to convey.


Secondly, When King James sent the Puritans to America it was because there were religious tensions in Great Britain between Protestants, Catholics, and Puritans. He did it to get rid of them, and compete with the Spanish to conquer the New World. He was known as having visions of grandeur anointed by God.


The only true American is not white.


What happened to the people that GOD put on the land, now known as America is a terrible sin. What would Jesus do? Was this spreading His message of LOVE, pure unconditional LOVE?


Read the following and let it sink in...


http://www. unitednativeamerica. com/bureau/index. html



   "White" Our forefathers brought to America, unwilling slaves, that they bought, and used as one would use a tractor,      the same forefathers who are idolized by many.


Own a slave, What would Jesus do?


It is absolutely nauseating to see how so many truly good people can lead so many astray in the name of Christ.


Do you truly believe you are Saving people, by judging others? If you are following the commandment made by Christ, "Love God your father with all your heart and soul, and your neighbor as yourself." there is no room for self righteousness, excluding any race, religion, belief, or nation.          We are to love them despite our  differences, and GOD will do the rest. Love, and Let go, and let God do His work. HE can, HE really can.

 He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

IllumiNations, Epcot Reflections Of Earth

This is one of my favorite things to see while visiting Epcot!  It is an amazing live pyrotechnic/fireworks  with laser light, video display images, and a moving musical score; creating an inspirational feeling of deep joy and peace.  I find it quite an emotional experience.  If you do decide to stay after dark, you want to get to the World Showcase Lagoon by at the very least 8:45 PM in order to get that front row position.  Be sure to wear warm clothing if you go during the late fall to winter months.  It can go as low as 40 degrees  by 9PM when the show begins.  

As per Disney this is a three act show:

• Act 1: Chaos — Bear witness to the explosion at the dawn of time that brings about the creation of Earth, where you are invited to observe the Inferno Barge, a liquid-propane mechanism launching balls of fire 60 feet into the air.
• Act 2: Order — Behold the glowing Earth Globe as it glides peacefully to the center of the lagoon, illuminated with—and celebrating—the famous faces and achievements of our time.
• Act 3: Meaning — During this final act, the Earth Globe blossoms to reveal a torch and the glow of a thousand fireworks and laser lights that fill the night sky in a shimmering kaleidoscope of color and sound, propelling us into the future. 

 Each time I had seen it, it was featured at 9PM, however you may want to check this out when arriving at the main gate. 

Reflections of Earth is an outdoor show and subject to cancellation due to inclement weather.

Then Providence Moves Too!

GOD is the Potter We are the Clay

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

I have seen this part of that statement show up so many times in my life and exactly right at the moment I needed it:

"then Providence moves too" Providence when capitalized means: God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.

One of my dearest old friends posted this to her Facebook page today:

[ A well-known speaker started off his seminar holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it...?" Still the hands were up in the air. 

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. 

"My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. 

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. 

But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, YOU are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special-Don't EVER forget it."  ]

My friend Steve Maraboli who is a renowned motivational speaker and talk radio show host out of NYC always seems to know exactly what I am going through on any given day.    I joke with him as though he is clairvoyant. His post today was this:  "My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me." - Steve Maraboli

Another of Steve's quotes that I love is: 

"Stop letting others define you! Stop letting others dilute you! You weren't created to live their life; you were created to live yours - so LIVE it! You can reignite that fire within and bring the passion back into your goals, dreams, ambitions, careers, and relationships by reclaiming control of your own life. Be unapologetically YOU!" - Steve Maraboli

Psalm 118: 24  This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

 

Christmas Again - January 7th!

One of my favorite memories of Christmas as a child growing up in the small town of Alpha, New Jersey was that we got to celebrate Christmas twice.  Yes, twice with some of our friends who were members of the Saint John The Baptist Orthodox Church that is situated on the corner of Second and East Central Avenue. 

In our neighborhood this church was known as the onion church because of its onion shaped steeple dome.  This is a predominate feature on most Russian churches. Article on Onion Dome Steeples

Each year the Russian Orthodox Religion celebrate Christmas thirteen days after the traditional Western Christmas.  Therefore we convinced our parents that we should leave our tree up until after the Russian Orthodox Christmas and New Year.   Our parents loved Christmas just as much as we did, and I do expect it was for this reason that we still had a tree on Russian Orthodox Christmas.

One of our dear family friends Anna Anky Penyak Moyer often told us stories of their Russian Orthodox Christmas celebrations.  She said her parents threw straw on the floors and hid oranges and apples amongst the straw.  When they awoke on Russian Orthodox Christmas they would search for these treats, and were thrilled to get them.  Can you imagine the children of today being satisfied with this on Christmas morning?   The last time I had been in St. Johns of Alpha was for Anky's funeral in July of 1993. 

Wishing my nephew's wife Luda, and her family a very Merry Christmas this coming Saturday!  They have a very special reason to celebrate with the birth of their fist baby on December 23, 2011. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate an Orthodox Christmas!