What is Old Can Be Remembered and Critters Too

Welcome to 

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

 and I'm also posting to City Daily Photo

On our search for the "Secret Garden" on Mackinac Island my granddaughter Karina and I discovered this incredible horse purely by accident. 

I'm sharing a few photos from a vacation trip to Michigan and ever since that trip I've been trying to get back to my birthplace again. Maybe this year. 

"Someday is not a day of the week."

"When we procrastinate, we also put a hold on happiness." 

Charles F. Glassman

Okay then this photo is more up to date and from the U of M Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen, Minnesota!

I heard artists are already carving snow sculptures in Stillwater making it time to check it out again.

Now about the many celebrations and various traditions this month and I have a special tribute to honor something old that is filled with humanness and so much spirit of goodwill. 

On December 24th, 1914, a Christmas Truce occurred during WWI as soldiers from both sides along the Western Front laid down their arms and sang Christmas carols together and even exchanged gifts. 

Maybe it's another reason why we gather around our Christmas trees rejoicing in singing our own carols together in remembrance and sharing stories with youngsters today. The truce was an unofficial cease fire, spontaneous and not sanctioned by commanders but driven by the human spirit of those caught in the middle of conflict and locked in the horrors of trench warfare. Doesn't it bring to mind what we can do every single day? Read more about the Christmas Truce here.

 Serving our country is important and reaches far back in my family and continues today with my son-in-law and two of my grandsons. 

My oldest son's children.

My grandson Ethan an Airman in the U.S. Air Force, and Jackson a "Red Bull" in The Minnesota Army National Guard. 

On the idea of what is old can be remembered or even new again brings so much to mind.

Jesse A. Currey statue by artist Bill Bane

Portland, Oregon

We can learn a lot from the phrase "A rose is a rose is a rose." 

Who doesn't enjoy a rose garden? 

Wait, how did you get in here? LOL

Hold on now you're not a rose.

"A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms."

Zenkei Shibayama

"The phrase suggests that beauty exists in its own right, independent of context."

"The phrase also implies that the true nature of something remains unchanged despite superficial differences."

Portland, Oregon

"This aligns with the idea that a rose, regardless of its name or price, retains its essence."

"Additionally, it reflects the law of identity, asserting that A is A."

Find us on the remote McKenzie Highway town of Blue River, Oregon

Reenactments are a source of such knowledge of something old remembered.

"Overall, the phrase conveys a simple truth about the nature of things, affirming their identity. 

My airman grandson Ethan on a visit home is a nature boy at heart, and I had to share the experience waiting for all at the Old Cedar Avenue bridge (I posted about this place before)

This is Sparkle (one of my daughter's kitties) and she's enjoying her Christmas present from Me)

"Strength is measured by the trials you survive, not the victories you lost.

and

"When fear knocks answer with preparation." 

Bill Bane

Outside the Largest Christmas Store, Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, in Frankenmuth, Michigan at The Silent Night Memorial Chapel.

"Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you. Thinking of you this holiday season."

 T. A. Barron

and also

"In chess, as in life, your choice will make all the difference."

 Thank you for spending time here, 

and take good care of you.

Your visits here are gifts to me.