Why Is It Thus We Are Here And So Soon We Are Gone

 Walter W. Dunwell 1941-2004

Why is it thus we are here
And so soon we are gone.

Remembering our full moon crabbing adventure on Barnegat Bay August 1985

Today would have been my brother Buddy's 71 birthday. I miss his physical presence but his personality and kindness while here was so huge that he truly has been with us all along. So many times in any given day something he said or did will just pop into my train of thought. He is so in our hearts, he could never be gone! Here is a picture of us when we were kids. He has his arm around my sister Ruth Ann and I am the one with my mom, Irene in the background, dad is taking the photograph, and David wasn't born yet. 

  For my older brother (Grand Pop) Buddy on what would have been his 71st birthday and the first one as a grandfather.

 On The Wings Of A Dream

Yesterday I had a dream about dying
About laying to rest and then flying
How the moment at hand
Is the only thing we really own
And I lay in my bed and I wonder
After all has been said and is done for
Why is it thus we are here
And so soon we are gone

Is this life just a path
To the place that we all have come from
Does the heart know the way
And if not can it ever be found
In a smile or a tear
Or a prayer or a sigh or a song

And if so I sing for my father
And in truth you must know I would rather
He were here by my side
We could fly on the wings of a dream
To a place where the spirit could find us
And joy and surrender would bind us
We are one anyway
Anyway we are more than we seem

There are those who will lead us
Protect us each step of the way
From beginning to end
For each moment forever each day
Such a gift has been given
It can never be taken away

Though the body in passing must leave us
There is one who remains to receive us
There are those in this life
Who are friends from our heavenly home
So I listen to the voices inside me
For I know they are there just to guide me
And my faith will proclaim it is so
We are never alone

From the life to the light
From the dark of the night to the dawn
He is so in my heart
He is here he could never be gone
Though the singer is silent
There still is the truth of the song

Yesterday I had a dream about dying
About laying to rest and then flying
How the moment at hand
Is the only thing we really own

And I lay in my bed and I wonder
After all has been said and is done for
Why is it thus we are here
And so soon we are gone
Why is it thus we are here
And so soon we are gone
Words and music by John Denver

2012 Taste Of Hamburg-er /festival....Not just hambugers!

http://hamburgpa.org/events/9th-annual-taste-of-hamburg-er-festival/

Have you EVER seen trophies like this? Didn't think so. We think they are all too appropriate for our burger eating champions! The NATIONAL hamburger eating contest takes place at 4pm, and the amateur contest begins at 3pm. Don't miss it!

 http://www.facebook.com/tasteofhamburger

The First Day Of The 2012-2013 School Semester~My Grandchildren

My oldest daughter Jen's children:

Waiting for the bus

Starting 2nd and 3rd Grade, they are 11 mos. apart in age.

The oldest of my grandchildren starting 8th Grade, so gorgeous!

Where does the time go? Look how they have grown:

The Daniel Boone Homestead

My youngest daughter Jamiann's children:

The private school welcomes the students

My youngest granddaughter entering school for the very first time to kindergarten

Waiting for Mommy and Daddy to take them to school for the first time. Left to right 4th grade, Kindergarten, 2nd grade ( He is actually two years younger than the oldest, he is tall and she is short.

How fast they grow, here they are in Grammy's car on 4th of July watching fireworks. This was the summer before the oldest started kindergarten.

Happy Birthday To My Granddaughter Lilyanna!

Happy Birthday Lilyanna!

Lilyanna's video of the hummingbird on my back porch.

I used one bundt pan

 

Zucchini Bread

 Preheat oven 350 degrees

• 2 cups shredded raw zucchini
• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

In a large bowl, beat eggs well. Add oil, brown sugar, zucchini, and vanilla; stir well. Blend in flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for approx. 1 hour. test to see pick comes out clean Cool. I dust it with powdered sugar also

The Wedding, Part Three Of NY Vacation

On Saturday August 11, 2012 I had the honor of attending the wedding of my lifelong friend Robert's oldest son and his lovely fiance.  I went with Robert's sister Cindy who had been my friend since sixth grade.  The entire family of seven siblings grew up in our neighborhood known as the Vulcanite side of Alpha, NJ. 

Joey, Cindy,Robert, Brenda, and Michael (Celia and Irma are missing from picture)

Robert is the same age as my younger brother.  He slept over night at our house very often, and quickly became a much loved unofficial family member.  Robert and I had a wonderful time catching up on our lives since we had last seen each other,  and reminiscing about our past.

Robert has become what I would say a self made success! He owns his own paving company RAM Pavers in the Lake George area of New York State.  He owns several acres of land on the mountain, and a dockside area of the Great Sacandaga Lake.  He cleared some of his land and built an adorable ranch home and huge garage with an apartment on the second floor.  He even made his own lumber from the trees he cleared.  He told me that he learned much about building when he helped my dad and Uncle Dick build our family home on Seventh Avenue in Alpha,NJ.  

Adam, Robert, their friend, and Robert Jr. the groom

While we were talking a young man came up to us to tell me that Robert was the father he never had, as he was raised by a terrific mother but no father.  He said Robert kept him on the straight and narrow as a teen and transported he and Robert's youngest son Adam to wrestling matches.  He then added that Robert is a truly wonderful man and I agreed. Robert then contributed this to the conversation, "Diane I am the man I am today because of your mother!" He then said, "I remember that every single night that I slept over she kissed everyone good night including me telling us that she loved us."  He remarked about how my mom was always cooking/baking, and that everything was great!

Robert Jr. is a Lumber Jack and his fiance Stephanie is a Nurse.  They decided that they wanted a down to earth no frills wedding.  Then they decided to add a back woods feel to it since many of the guests were going to be Lumber Jacks and their families.  The ceremony and the celebration was riddled with redneck humor. Here are the photographs that I had taken that day.  I had a really wonderful and fun time! 

Lake George, NY Part Two Of NY Vacation

Whispering Pines Cottages On The Hudson River, Part One Of NY Vacation

Whispering Pines Cottages are also in the Lake Luzerne vicinity:

Tapestry

There was an actual tapestry. Inside the original double album cover is an image of the needlepoint I worked on when I wasn't playing or singing. You can see where I stitched the words "thank you" before I gave it to Lou. Carole King
P. 224 From "A Natural Woman"
Photo by Jim McCrary

Tapestry by Carole King & Gerry Goffin

My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the ever changing view
A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold

Once amid the soft silver sadness in the sky
There came a man of fortune, a drifter passing by
He wore a torn and tattered cloth around his leather hide
And a coat of many colors, yellow-green on either side

He moved with some uncertainty, as if he didn't know
Just what he was there for, or where he ought to go
Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree
And his hand came down empty

Soon within my tapestry along the rutted road
He sat down on a river rock and turned into a toad
It seemed that he had fallen into someone's wicked spell
And I wept to see him suffer, though I didn't know him well

As I watched in sorrow, there suddenly appeared
A figure gray and ghostly beneath a flowing beard
In times of deepest darkness, I've seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry's unraveling, he's come to take me back
He's come to take me back.

Adding "Pizzazz" To A Fruit Platter!

I am so going to make one of these for my next gathering! Stay tuned for my own pics of it! Now this is what I call "Pizzazz"! Why have an ordinary fruit platter if you can make an extraordinary one?