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 LIVING HAPPY     
UPLIFTING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING NEWS FOR OUR MIND, BODY,AND SPIRIT   

From Carole Kane


  Vol. 2  No. 29                                              December 30, 2012

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www.livinghappycenter.com  

 

in this issue
Our Wish to You For The New Year - contributed by Maryann Hall
Another Realm: Stars, Sky Grass, Deer - Who We Really Are - by Carole Kane
A Half-Century on Manhasset Bay - by Bob Hogan
Letters to my Daughter: Meant to Be - by Debbie Sanchez:
From A Universe That Will One Day Go Dark - by Dr. Arthur Lewin
Think a little, laugh a little

Dear Friends,

 

carole 72
Carole Kane, MA, NCC
 

 

Welcome to Living Happy,  a nice way to feel and be our best!  

 

This week we bring you lots of interesting things!  First, our wishes for a wonderful new year.  Next, in "Stars, Sky, Grass, Deer" I share a poem that was given to me in a pretty unusual way.  As such, I've put it into our "Another Realm" Department.     

  

Next, Bob Hogan tells us the story of Charles B. Cochrane,  who has spent the last fifty years working and watching over Manhasset Bay in Port Washington, Long Island, New York.    

Then, we bring you the first in a series of "Letters to my Daughter" by Debbie Sanchez, who learned 16 years ago that her unborn baby would have a physical disability.  Debbie offers her wonderful letters in the hope they will help others who may be dealing with a similar situation.   

 

Next is a little greeting "From A Universe That Will One Day Go Dark" by Arthur Lewin.  Arthur's prose is so beautiful, it always seems like poetry to me.

 

Happy reading!

 

Love, Carole XXX OOO

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Our Wish to You For The New Year  
Author Unknown
 Happy New Year fireworks
          May the year ahead bring you
New beginnings  and dreams come true;

Hope  to lift the heart; peace to soothe the spirit 
Joy, family and friends to fill your year;    

Couple that with good health
 and little to  worry you,
Happy New Year Dog
 
May you have the best  year ever!!
   
contributed by Maryann Hall
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Another Realm                                    

Stars, Sky, Grass, Deer - Who We Really Are

by Carole Kane

 

I am a great believer in the idea that there is much more to life than we can pick up with our five senses. And I also believe that if we relax, sit back, quiet our thoughts, and just wait in peace for a while, we will start to sense something beyond what we usually consider "normal". This has actually occurred for me several times.

 

One evening as I was practicing this type of quiet waiting, I felt the urge to pick up a pen and to write something - what? I didn't know. Below are the words that I wrote - a simple, beautiful little poem. The words came through me, but I did not compose them. Further peaceful waiting brought me more "thoughts" from the true author, who identified himself as NAHO (always capitalized!).

 

As I was writing this lovely poem, I kept hearing in my head the tune of "Amazing Grace" - no words, only the music. When I read the poem, I realized it could be set to the same music as "Amazing Grace", becoming an exquisite, spiritual song. So I sang it out loud, to no one. Try it yourself - and see how good you feel afterwards!

 

djolphins swimming with  

 

 lion and man hugging

NAHO's Song of Harmony

 

I am the stars, I am the sky,

The Earth, the Grass, and the Tree.

 

I am the Deer, I am the Lamb,

I'm the World, and the World is Me.

  cat and jparrot sleeping

   

 

 

 

 

 

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A Half-Century on Manhasset Bay                     by Bob Hogan

 

Perhaps Port Washington's greatest asset is the spectacularly beautiful Manhasset Bay. The history of the Bay goes back centuries. But in the last century probably no one could offer more insight than Mr. Charles B. Cochrane who has spent the last fifty years working and watching over the Bay and its surroundings.

 

Chuck Cochrane, as he is known, was born in the Prospect Avenue section of Port Washington. At the early age of four, he and his family moved to Nova Scotia, where Cochrane acquired a fondness for water as he lived and played by the Avon River. In 1952, he returned to his Port Washington birthplace and began working as a sailboat rigger at Purdy Boat Company. After twenty years at Purdy's, he brought his rigging skills to Seaman's Boat Yard on Main Street, where he logged another twenty years.

 

With more than forty years on the Bay, Cochrane was appointed senior launch operator and dock master at the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, one of the largest yacht clubs on the Bay. From the command post of the dock house, he supervises the work of two year-round dock attendants, plus four additional attendants in the summer. From early morning to late evening, Cochrane and his crew ply the Bay's waters, bringing boaters to and from their vessels.

 

manhasset Bay Long Island NY
Manhassset Bay,
 Port Washington, New York.

Over the years, Cochrane has observed a marked decline in the boating characteristics of the Bay. In addition, he noted that boaters have tended to shift from sail to power boats as they get older.

 

He remembers Manhasset Bay freezing over in winter when he was a young man, and through twenty-five winters he saw an often-frozen Bay used by walkers, ice boaters and skaters.

 

In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald described the Port peninsula's pseudonym, East Egg, as the 'old island that flowered once for Dutch sailor's eyes.' That classic observation of the Port peninsula and Manhasset Bay is reflected in its modern counterpart of over five decades, the alert and watchful gaze of Chuck Cochrane.

 

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Letters to my Daughter                        by Debbie Sanchez
 

When I found out that my daughter was going to be born with a disability, it took me some time to come to terms with it. Someone sent me an essay from Chicken Soup for the Soul about a woman with a hand like my daughter's (missing fingers on one hand), and how it had affected her life. That was a turning point for me. Perhaps someone who needs to will read these letters and it will make a difference and help them the way a stranger once helped me.

 

Meant to Be... 

My Dearest Lani,

 

Yesterday we saw a doctor about your hand. It's the third doctor we've seen about it, and he gave us some heavy stuff to think about. Your father suggested that I write you a letter telling you about the decisions we have to make, and everything that is in my heart. I think this is such a good idea that I've decided to write you one of these from time to time so that I can give them to you when you are older; not just stuff concerning your hand, but what it's meant to me to have you in my life and to watch you grow.

 

I guess I should start by saying that I was never sure that I wanted to have children, which is why I waited until I was 41 to get pregnant with you. I thought that my life was fine as it was and I was scared and unsure about how having a baby was going to change it. Just before my 41st birthday, on New Year's Day, I was leaving your aunt Joanie's house and your cousins were waving goodbye to me, and I suddenly became very, very sad that I was going to miss out on having children of my own. As the car was pulling out of the driveway, I swear I could hear you calling out to me, telling me that you wanted me to be your mommy.

 

You're not going to believe this, but the very same week your dad asked me if I'd given any thought to having a baby! There is no doubt about it, Lani, you wanted to be here and you chose us. Two months later, I was pregnant with you.

 

...to be continued

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From a Universe That Will One Day Go Dark          By Dr. Arthur Lewin 

From a universe that will one day go dark,
 from a whirling galaxy whose vortex will eventually halt,
 from a solar system whose sun will sooner or later flame out,
from a world that will at some point stop spinning,
in a country that will fall, in a city that will be no more

 I, whose days are surely numbered, write this
 while there is still time to think and breathe
 and love the earth that has born me
 through the black infinity
 that shall not last forever.


I can see it all,
 the sum total of all that has ever been and can be.
 I am the universe. The universe is me.
 Our fate is one.
  Our fate is won.


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Think a Little, Laugh a Little
cartoon snowman funeral
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Presents in the past

Grandfather:  When I was your age, all I've got for Christmas was an apple and a blackberry.

Boy:  "WHAT! A LAPTOP AND A MOBILE?!"

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A professional juggler, driving to his next performance, is stopped by the police.   

"What are you doing with these matches and lighter fluid in your car?" asks the police officer.

"I'm a juggler and I juggle flaming torches in my act."

"Oh yeah? Let's see you do it," says the officer.

So the juggler gets out and starts juggling the blazing torches masterfully.

  

A couple driving by slows down to watch.  

"Wow," says the driver to his wife. "I'm glad I quit drinking.  Look at the test they're giving now!"

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Your Space - For Guest Writers, Ghost Writers, and Commentators

 

THANK YOU! to Maryann Hall, Bob Hogan, Debbie Sanchez, and Arthur Lewin for their wonderful contributions this week.   Great work, all! 

 

Would you like to submit an article, around 250 to 300 words?   

     

This Could  be YOU!

Remember, every writer in the Living Happy Writers Group started out by offering a story or article.  You are invited to join this eminent group.  Just submit a story or poem - click here to send it:  Submit an article or poem or story here  I look forward to  reading your work!   

  - - Carole - - 

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