Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Nothing is permanent.  Mates and relatives die.  Friends move away or drift away from you.  Or even die.  The complexion of neighborhoods may change.  Some people move away, others move in.  Nothing is forever.

I remember once visiting my old neighborhood, where I grew up in and realized the community had changed drastically.

There was nothing no more to keep me there. My parents and friends had moved away.  I could not go back to my old haunts.  They were not there any longer.

I had to start all over somewhere else.  And I did in Morristown.  For fifteen years I lived there.  Then my life took me somewhere else.  Pennsylvania.

Of course, at some point you realize you have so much time and have to decide where you are going to spend the remainder of your life.

There is something to be said for roots.  When you spend a lifetime in one area and invested time and energy in reaching out to others, you have roots and who else will want to help you but these very people you have spent a lifetime with.

Moving far away from your roots, the friends you cultivated for years and close relatives may leave you stranded.  There may come a time you need their help.  You will not be young forever.

Of course, there is an assumption you care about your roots and friends.  There is so many times you can move and develop roots in another area.  That usually take years.  Sometimes a lifetime.  All that needs to be considered in a major move.

Tags: friends, New Jersey, not young forever, nothing is forever, nothing is permanent, parents, Pennsylvania, people die, people move away, reaching out to others, relatives, your roots
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You can’t hide your faith.  Everything you do, say reflects some kind of value.  You may not be able to state directly your deepest feeling and thoughts.  Nevertheless, your actions always reflect your faith.  It may sound elementary but everybody has a mindset and it is reflected by what you say, do.  You can’t hide your faith.

Tags: actions reflect your faith, deepest feeling, faith, God, your actions, your faith, your thoughts, your values
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It was a small Christmas gift to my wife–the wind chimes.  I liked the way it sounded.  She placed it to the left of the open door of our office.  Many times during the day I brush it and immediately think of my wife.  I never would have placed it there but it was a perfect spot for it.  I love its high pitched tinkle and it usually “speaks” to me when I least expect it to:  it takes me right back to my wife.  Almost every time.

Tags: Christmas, my wife, office, tinkling wind chimes, wind chimes
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It was a small discovery but it gave me some joy:  my rubber tree in the office started sprouting new leaves.  It responded to my giving it more water.  It is a warm room and I was tickled pink to see the new growth.  Each day now I check it and can see the discernible growth.  Life is composed of many small pleasures.  This was just one.

Tags: joy, life, new growth, new leaves, office, plants, rubber tree, small discovery, small pleasures, watering plants
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We have the same fight over and over:  it is about things.  I want less to enter the house.  She is, again, active on “Free Cycle”, a web site where people give things away.  The theory is for less to end up in land fills.

Yesterday, she came home with a scanner and some other things we did not need.  It does me no good to tell her I do not want that item.  She gets seduced by things.  She even admits that.

I have been after her to gather documentation for her deceased husband’s pension. (She is the beneficiary.)  The documents she needs are probably in our “junk room.”

I could not believe it among some books piled in one corner of the house falls out her first marriage certificate–over thirty years old the document was.  It was in tatters to give you some idea of the disorder in this house.

A friend months ago came over and made some order out of our “junk” room.  Unfortunately after that she kept putting more stuff in there.

Actually it was me. She kept getting more things and I did not want to “junk” up the living room.  I had to put the stuff somewhere.

And it is true as she said the junk room is no longer neat and it is hard again to walk in that room.  There is so much stuff in there.  She does not want to search for her documents until the room is neater and she could walk around in it.

All this despite the fact the new stuff (since the room was straightened out) was obtained by her.  There is old computers (even ones that run on DOS), extra printers, broken down stereo equipment, books etc.

And it is true I am not as neat as her but she is the pack rat and stuff keeps entering our house whether or not we need them and all I want to do is tear out my hair.  And we periodically keep having these fights.  About things.

Tags: books, broken stereo equipment, clutter, DOS, fight about things, Freecycle, junk room, old computers, pack rat, printers, scanner, stuff, the same fight, too many things
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“501 Must Visit Natural Wonders Of The World,” is a book I have that has extraordinary accompanying photos on glossy paper.  I think this book was a Christmas present to my wife.  I am sure I bought it in the discount bin of a big book store.

Every once in a while I open it up and view one amazingly beautiful photo after another.  Travelling is not an option for me.  It is not that I would not mind.

If you can’t view the beauty right in front of you, a trip to one of these spots would be a waste of time and money.  I do not feel impoverished.  I am still thrilled every spring when life awakens.

For that matter, winter has its own beauty.  The Susquehanna River viewed from the top of the valley still takes my breath away.  Snowfalls isolate the street I live on and all the trees that are covered with white.  This only happens a few times a year.

I still love watching the birds come to and fro my feeders I view out side our large living room window.  It was not that long ago that the slate covered juncos came back.  I have a friend that calls them ‘snow birds’.

I have no need to go far to see beauty.  You first have to see what is in front of you before you travel at great expense to see the foreign and the exotic.  I will leaf through this book but I will not lust after these places depicted in glossy photographs.

I know there is much to see in my own backyard so I don’t have to go far to see beauty.  I just have to open my eyes and pay closer attention.  Wonders are all around.

Tags: beautiful photo, beauty right in front of you, bird feeding, bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, Christmas present, foreign and exotic places, life awakens, my own backyard, my wife, natural wonders of the world, open my eyes, pay attention, see beauty, see what is in front of you, slate covered juncos, snow birds, snowfalls, spring, Susquehanna River, travelling, trees covered with white, winter, wonders are all around
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