Thursday, January 01, 2015

Poem for the New Year and Seneca Lights

In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
   For those that here we see no more;
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
   And ancient forms of party strife;
   Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
   The faithless coldness of the times;
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
   The civic slander and the spite;
   Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
   Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
   Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the love that is to be.

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Happy New Year! Since Daniel and I both have colds, we did not do anything too wild on the last day of 2014. We all slept late, then we went out for a late lunch at the Silver Diner (I still had a birthday coupon for a free meal and dessert) and stopped at Trader Joe's and Petco for hummus and kitty litter. Adam had plans with his girlfriend Christine in the afternoon; the rest of us watched bowl games, though after Maryland's miserable performance on Tuesday night, we were not all that excited!

In more important news, Adam's friend's surgery went well -- I even got a reply to a Facebook message wishing him well, which I am taking as a great sign, if he can concentrate enough to write back to his friends' parents. Adam went out to dinner with Christine, then they both went to a New Year party. The rest of us stayed in rather than exposing anyone else to our germs, and to make sure we'd have energy for our plans for New Years' Day. Some more Seneca Creek State Park holiday lights:














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