Late Ripeness
“Not soon, as late as the approach of my ninetieth year,
I felt a door opening in me and I entered
the clarity of early morning.
One after another my former lives were departing,
like ships, together with their sorrow.
And the countries, cities, gardens, the bays of seas
assigned to my brush came closer,
ready now to be described better than they were before.
I was not separated from people,
grief and pity joined us.
We forget - I kept saying - that we are all children of the King.
For where we come from there is no division
into Yes and No, into is, was, and will be.
We were miserable, we used no more than a hundredth part
of the gift we received for our long journey.
Moments from yesterday and from centuries ago -
a sword blow, the painting of eyelashes before a mirror
of polished metal, a lethal musket shot, a caravel
staving its hull against a reef - they dwell in us,
waiting for a fulfillment.
I knew, always, that I would be a worker in the vineyard,
as are all men and women living at the same time,
whether they are aware of it or not.”
~ Czeslaw Milosz ~
My name is Cristina Jill Mosqueda Cooper. I pause looking at my name, and think about how much there is to explain with those words alone. My mother gave me a name to use in each of my worlds, Cristina for my Cuban life, and Jill for the American life. I suppose it is there were the paradoxes of my life began.
I have been many things in my life, from a housekeeper to a high school history teacher; but no matter what else I did, I was always a writer. I love words and the power and passion which they can be used to create. I love reading words, writing words, speaking words, and listening to words – especially words from people that I love and respect.
It is my desire to live life on my own terms, and willingly or not, I have paid the price demanded, by the world, to be myself. I share my life with Kate, with whom I have lived for the last 23 years, and Miss Merry Margaret, our little mutt who really is the world’s most perfect dog. I also travel, cook, garden, sculpt, and make large messes doing all of the above. Welcome to my world, that is all for now.
Web Site: http://thatisallfornow.com
Happy Hanukkah! This year Hanukkah beings at sunset, on the twenty-fifth of Kislev of the Jewish lunar calendar, or December first, and ends at sunset on the ninth. We would like to take this moment, to wish joy and hope to all those marking the Festival of Lights, which observes the rededication of...
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To love a painting is to feel that this presence is… not an object but a voice. ~ Andre Malraux ~ Norman Rockwell, How To Diet, from the Saturday Evening Post, January 3, 1953 It my was neighbor Phil, who first gave me an appreciation of Norman Rockwell, I must confess, that before listening...
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A Street View of a City Garden Walking through Boston, we came across this garden view of a brownstone, and longed to live on the streets we were walking.
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With the official start of the holiday season, now only days away, Consumer Reports has complied a Naught and Nice list of companies with whom you may be doing business. At the link below you can see which companies they recommend, and why; as well which one to avoid. http://blogs.consumerreports.org/money/2010/11/naughty-and-nice-companies-holiday-list.html?EXTKEY=AAOLWP05
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A Symphony of Color As we begin our yearly drive north, to celebrate Thanksgiving in New England, the palm trees begin to fade away, and evergreens start to dominate the landscape, along the highway. The first changes actually comes in northern Florida, where an occasional Maple or Oak, has become nestled along road –...
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The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England By Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835) The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast, And the woods against a stormy sky Their giant branches tossed; And the heavy night hung dark, The hills and waters o’er, When a band of exiles moored their...
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To love a painting is to feel that this presence is… not an object but a voice. ~ Andre Malraux ~ Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed. ~William Blake ~ Women with a Pearl, painted by Jean-Baptiste Camille Carot. She is lovely, and hangs appropriately at the Louvre, in Paris.
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Veterans Day and the American Battle Monuments Commission “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, of 1918, the Allies and Germany agreed to put down their weapons, bringing an end to...
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Headlines and History The first bulletin board, which I created for my high school history students, was covered in dark red paper, and outlined with a black and white check boarder. Dispersed throughout the board, I tacked up various front pages, from newspapers which I had been collecting for years. My desire, besides attempting...
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In Flanders Fields By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived,...
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