My Second decade as a "BLOGGER" !

Obviously, I am not a very diligent blogger so far! From here, I can only do better, right? My first attempt/effort was in November 09.....so a brief recap of time since that time...! In the two Autumns previous to this one, Robyn (that is my beautiful wife!) and I have gone out to Yakima, Washington to visit on the Yakama Reservation (yes, both times I did spell the "Y" word correctly..the town name first and the Native American Tribal name second..and as I spelled them. Our reason for this particular destination is that my oldest son Chris..(short for, you guessed it, Christopher, which is what his mother and I named him) lives on the Yakama "Rez" with his wife Mary Murphy Granberry (or Mary of Maryland, as I sometimes say, for she was reared there mostly). Chris and Mary have produced and are parenting 4 lovely, lively children. I usually list them in birth order but will depart from that on this account so that David, the only boy may for once be listed first! David is eleven, but will be TWELVE by the time May has gone, on May 8th to be exact, the same day that Elizabeth, Beth, Bit, his middle sister is 14 this year of 2010, then there is Morgan Joy, who became a teenager on Dec. 4th last, and who manages to have several birthday parties most years...some in Birmingham, Alabama and some on the Rez. Then my first grandchild, who is now as of last Sept. 12th (she was born on Grandparent's Day back in '93) ...is now, sweet 16, and I often call her "Sweet Re" (not to rhyme with sweet tea!)..because her beautiful name has been drastically shortened from Ann Marie (in honour of her Grandmother Ann, see foot note) down to just "Re", or as it began ReRe...or "Re Re"...one is never sure how to spell "nicknames" or for that matter why they are called ...NICK names. ( Who was this Nick anyway, not St. Nick , again?). We love them all dearly, does my wonderful wife, Robyn Glass Granberry and I!

As I was saying, this year we did not go out so we are anticipating a good trip out to WA in the Springtime!

Year's End 2009

I don't know who it was who first said: "A journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step!" or "The Doing a really difficult or dreaded task gets easier after you at last make a beginning!" It could even be that the last one has never been said just so before, but what I intend is something along that line, anyway! The point is that I have at times thought of writing this way...even before "blogging" was a term; so it is without much forethought and with little understanding that I begin this. I rather feel as if I am beginning in the middle of something...but isn't that the way life is?

My title about Years End comes from the way the last several years have ended. My older son, Chris and wife, Mary and their four children Ann Marie, Beth, Morgan, and David have made their once a year trip back to Alabama ever since they moved to Washington State some 7 years ago (I think that is right...). So every year right around this time everything gets exciting as efforts are made to "plan" ahead (which planning usually means). They come in Mid-November and return to the West just as we hit December.

Christopher (for that is what his mother and I named him!) has only one brother. Mary has four siblings. Collectively, they (ChrisandMary) have 8 or so nieces/nephews. There are also many friends and other relatives to be visited or received as visitors. And so their roughly 2 weeks go by rather quickly. Their time is split in likely a hundred directions. Chris' brother, Jonathan, really wants time with his older brother and wants Chris to be around his 3 sons, Riley 6, Ethan 5, and Joshua almost 3. One the other end of the state and the age scale, Chris and Jonathan have grandparents and other relatives in Dothan. There is a mutual love and desire between these relations and there just isn't enough time.

So........what we have is a feeling of flying into December...and the other family and sharing opportunities and church family opportunities and before we can say Lickety Split, a very strange sounding year will have arrived! Can you say Twenty Ten..or hear it said, without a pause of a second or so and a puzzled look?

So with this effort, my first blog is done and I register my first step....this feels like the bottom and I can only learn and go up, right!?
(i kdid just decide that i will be an "e e cummings" sort and not use the convential capitalization rules..frankly, not to be a rebel , though that i may be....but because of the arthritic pain in my right shoulder with all the typing so i think this way will be a little more comfortable and allow me to think and be creative and not be concerned with more pain....i have enough of that upon that which i sit..
my very favourite sign off phrase will be the one i use most often,
because He lives, I can face tomorrow , indeed all my tomorrows!
I hope you are in agreement! I will endeavor to include a favourite Scripture verse most days and perhaps comment there upon some of those. I am an informal student of theology...more on that next time.

P.S. My wonderful wife, Robyn, just came in from an all day outing with her sister. I realized that I quite possibly may not have mentioned her above...as I was thinking of the year end..and the dynamics there of. Of course, she is the one in charge of all my planning etc. She, my Robyn, my Dearling will be much in my blog going forward.