Poem for New Year

Owl Vision by Nigel A  JAMES

listen to ‘The Owl and the Pussy-Cat’ on Audioboo

 The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

by Edward Lear

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea

In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,

And sang to a small guitar,

“O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,

What a beautiful Pussy you are,

You are,

You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!”

Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!

How charmingly sweet you sing!

O let us be married! too long we have tarried:

But what shall we do for a ring?”

They sailed away for a year and a day,

To the land where the Bong-tree grows,

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,

With a ring at the end of his nose,

His nose,

His nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”

So they took it away, and were married next day

By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon,

The moon,

The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

Marianna Holzinger

Marianna Holzinger by Nigel A. JAMES

Destined Discussions

It was just the other day, and I was having a chat with Marianna Holzinger, and, whilst we were talking she told me of something  quite interesting. And, she told me all about her annual “girls' get-togethers”, and, to no great surprise, they have never encountered a shortage of suitable chatting material!

But, there have been surprises! And plenty! And the surprises have always been the fact that everyone has always known what everyone else was going to talk about without actually knowing what they were going to say! Everything was always a surprise, and one that had started a full year before!

At the end of each party, everyone retires to a corner and secretly writes a list of all that they hope to achieve within the coming 12 months. These lists are then sealed in envelopes and given to Marianna to keep for the following year. And then the ripples of reactions are those of delight when the time comes around for their opening! And so each party takes off.

And, each party then becomes an celebration of past, present and future. Of who has done this and who has done that and who has been here and who has been there, and so-on, and so-on. And, more often than not, the things that are told are truly amazing, and the talking and laughing and comparing of stories goes on until late in the night!

And now, with 15 parties behind them, Marianna and her friends have discovered that future plans are not the same as new years' resolutions. They have a different dynamic. Plans, not only turn into facts, they also become reasons for raising a glass. And, what could be better - A toast for not only times past, but also the present, and, of course, the future as well?

Groups are more than good fun, they encourage as well!

Good Health Marianna and friends!

Katalin Rath

Katalin Rath - photo by Nigel A  JAMES

The Keeping of the Pure!

We are at our strongest when we are young, and, the visions which we follow are pure. But, with the passing of years and the running of minutes, our dreams tend to slide and give way to the demands and realities of everyday life!

But life, as Katalin Rath knows, can include all possible spectrums. And, she never let go of her childhood fantasies. And, she is living them now!

Growing up in Budapest, art was always part of her life, and, living just two blocks away from the city's museum of modern art, Katalin spent much of her free time in the company of truly great works. And, so it was that she took art to her heart and learned it and studied it and practiced it as much as she could. And then, with only 14, she was awarded first prize in the then famous Budapest Pavement Art Competition. Art was her passion, but, life, too, had to be won!

After finishing medical school, Katalin moved to Vienna, and, it was there that she not only specialized in dental surgery, but founded a family as well. And family life and working takes time, and, so it was that Katalin's art, for the time being, was tied up and moored away from the stream. But, still waters run deep!

And, deep below the surface the future was forming, and pieces were getting ready to appear, and, when Katalin floated her art back into view, a brand new acrylic style was ready and waiting!

And, it's waiting no more. Katalin is now regularly exhibiting her colorful large canvas dreams. And the interest is quietly and steadily growing; not only in Austria and Hungary, but elsewhere as well, and, all because she never let go of her dreams!

Dreams that come true and change with the light!

More about Katalin – www.traum-bilder.at

Ida Leo

On Your Marks – photo by Nigel A. JAMES

Ida Leo

Leaving Her Mark

Finding something to do whilst whiling away long hours of retirement wasn't a problem for Mrs. Ida Leo of Canada. And, what she came up with has certainly added an element of familiar colour to long winter evenings of intensive indulgence in the books of one's choice!

Reading is enjoyed by very many people, and, bookmarks are as essential to readers as are brushes to painters, and, bookmarks, until Aida reinvented them, were nothing other than functional strips to indicate one's place in a book! But, that was then!

Now things are different. Aida's bookmarks have not only made history, they have become history - and all in a personalized manor! It all started in 2001. Ida was reading War and Peace for the third time, and, instead of using an old shopping list as a bookmark as she usually did, she, without thinking, saved her place with a photo of her daughter. And so, the next time when she picked up this unputtable-down book, the first thing that she saw was the smile of her daughter! And it was good so!

And, very, very soon, the rest of her family were catching up on their personal pasts with bookmarks by Ida, and it didn't stop there. Word spread, and within a short space of time, Ida was receiving pictures through the post to convert into bookmarks.

And now, reading and remembering has become something more liquid, This lady of humor and two cycles of forty has expanded her range with personalized coasters. And what could be better? Old family snaps in dusty forgotten boxes in attics, or, where they have prominence of place? Thanks to Ida, the second choice, for very many people has become the obvious option. And, Ida's long evenings of winter are no longer long. They have become short, too short, with plenty to do! Everyone, it seems, just can't wait for a book mark by Ida.