A Thankful Good-bye to 2020!
Pandemic Series 8 - January, 2021
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Mission: To provide poetical and thoughtful comments on life
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PLEASE! Supporting the efforts of the Poetical Journal is greatly appreciated!
Any amount of donation is appreciated. To support, click on the link and scroll down. click here.
All my books are available on Amazon. Reviews appear at the end of the newsletter.
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Demographics: No states or countries were added this month. If your resident area is not listed, please let me know.
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VOLUME XIX – Issue 12: Sunday, January 31, 2021 (233rd Issue)
Opening Comments from Bob
This Issue: For the last six years, the January Issue contains some of my favorite sections from the newsletters of the previous year, this one being Year 19. Click here to go to the list of previous PJs for the last year.
Subscriber Residences: PLEASE let me know if your state, providence, or country is not listed in the demographic section at the end. There currently are subscribers in 27 states, 3 provinces, and 13 countries. See complete list near at the newsletter.
Next Month: The next issue comes out on February 28, 2021. It will start Year 20.
My Facebook account is again open for a time.
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PLEASE! Supporting the efforts of the Poetical Journal is greatly appreciated! Any amount of donation is appreciated. To support, click here.
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Gorgeous view taken at the Maui Plantation near Wailuku, Maui. (February Issue)
Baldwin Beach, Maui (February Issue)
New Desk Calendar
366 pages there–
witty saying and even a poem or two.
What events will they see–
wars, suffering, tribulations
but also smiles, celebrations, and jubilations.
Those days lay ahead
many containing uncertainty
and yes, some worries.
Only the prophetic sense
what might be.
Alas, for now
we have the precious moment,
and all it can be.
Comment: As we leave 2020, let's hope 2021 is better. (February Issue)
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The Magnificent Mystery
We breathe in and out
... sometimes wondering about existence.
Many seldom question
... assuming they have the answers.
But some ask
... while marveling at this majestic gift
... called “Life,”
“Why is I, me?”
“Why do I tear
... when my heart is touched?”
“How do you explain love?”
Or, perhaps should we just live it?
“Where do thoughts start
... and end?”
“What does eternity
... and infinity really mean?”
Surely, there must be an end.
Many questions
... yet to be answered.
For now,
... I simply breathe in and out.
Comments: You interpret. (March Issue) |
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Goes with the poem, New Desk Calendar
Quiet moment on the small beach (March Issue)
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Maui coastline on our way to the Big Island (March Issue)
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Grazing land of the Parker Ranch, one of the largest in the U.S. A favorite place of ours! (March Issue)
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| 808 Uke Jams: Anyone who visits me on Maui are introduced to this fantastic experience. Over a hundred individuals from all over the world attend every Thursday to celebrate the Hawaiian heritage. Jarret Delos Santos is the primary creator of this wonderful experience. Though I don't play well, this is my annual uke time. For the website: http://808ukejams.com/ For a short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIKqXy6uVyU |
The snow in the valley has finally disappeared. We are having a late spring. (April Issue)
(May Issue)
Bow Lake, Alberta, Canada (July Issue)
Vignette this Month: Annual Return
Some ask me, especially my family, why I return to Hawaii regularly, especially Maui year after year. There are the obvious answers including warmth during the winter months and of course great beauty. For me, these two though important, only touch upon my desires to come here at least once yearly. When I first step on the island, I immediately feel a sense of calm. Even if the airport is busy, the warm breezes and scent of the flowers enwrap me in peace. Life slows down with only the honking horns coming mainly from tourists who haven't yet adjusted to "Island Time." I have been here often enough to spot quickly the tourists who rush around thinking they are still on the mainland. One example is the Road to Hana which has become less beautiful and more crowded over time as mainly tourists in their white jeeps ignore the yield signs at the one-lane bridges fouling up the flow of traffic on a winding, narrow road. (I have issued a few choice words at their rudeness and ignorance.) A friend who recently visited became impatient with the slowness of service in a restaurant. I mentioned to him "relax and savor" the food will be here when it arrives. Another attraction is my Thursday ukulele sessions with 808 Uke Jams which attracts uke enthusiasts from around the world to celebrate musically Hawaiian history and its traditions. Even the church services filled with music are different on the Islands. Basically, I always feel "I have come home." (March Issue)
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Along Lake Lucerne, Switzerland (August Issue)
The Mosel River flows through France, Luxembourg, and Germany, vineyards for miles. (September Issue)
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Ongoing Recommendation
Be safe; be healthy
.........Please take a look at the gift page.
The red roofs of Prague, the Czech Republic (October Issue)
Some of My Favorite Quotes from Year 19
"I do not seek. I find." - Pablo Picasso
"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the even nobler art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." - Lin Yutang
"The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination, but the combination is locked up in the safe.” - Peter De Vries
"Each moment presents what happens.” - John Cage
"This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists and that it is built entirely of attentiveness." - Mary Oliver
Aspens on Empire Pass (November Issue)
A Bit of Humor
A bit of laughter is healthy for the soul
I thought we needed an extra laugh.
The lawyer was defending a man accused of housebreaking, and said to the court: "Your Honor, I submit that my client did not break into the house at all. He found the parlor window open and merely inserted his right arm and removed a few trifling articles. Now my clients arm is not himself, and I fail to see how you can punish an individual committed by one of his limbs."
The Judge considered this argument for several minutes then declared: "That argument is very well put. Following it logically, I sentence the defendant's arm to one years imprisonment. He can accompany it or not, as he chooses.
The defendant smiled, stood up and his lawyer helped him unscrew his clients cork arm, and, leaving it with the judge and walked out.
Compliments of Joke a Day
Silver Lake, Utah (November Issue)
Tai Chi Corner
Pictured on the computer screen during a ZOOM lesson is Dr. Paul Lam teaching
a move in Yang 24..Due to the pandemic, group in person lessons have ceased.
We discovered a new tool called ZOOM. We have been teaching Yang 24 using
Dr. Lam's online lessons along with my personal instructions. We have also made
use of YouTube.
