AULD LANG SYNE

Auld Lang Syne - three four letter words to ring in the new year.

I may take a drink for old times sake... but would very much rather look forward. Best wishes to everyone for happiness and health in the new year.

PLOW

Plow is a four letter word.

With this winter, there should be no surprise that my four letter thoughts tend to focus on the weather.

OPEN

Open is a four letter word

And what does one do with a wrapped gift from the mall?

Open it of course!

WRAP

Wrap is a four letter word.

You know all that stuff that I got from the mall yesterday? Well... its time to wrap them!

MALL

Mall is a four letter word.

(Hey... at least I didn't wait till Christmas Eve to go to the mall!)

HIDE

Hide is a four letter word.

So much for photographs of the lunar eclipse. Clouds rolled in just as the partial eclipse started. Perhaps next time... um... when will that be again?

MOON

Moon is a four letter word.

There will be a lunar eclipse this evening, visible to most of the continental United States. I can't remember the last time I was able to watch one, but I'm hopeful to get some halfway decent pictures of it this evening.

SHUT

Shut is a four letter word.

Most of the rooms in my house have doors, and I use them on occasion, but mostly the doors remain open. There is little around here that require blocking out from everyone else - more often I really want people to be there... to be available to me and for me to be available to them.

DRIP

Drip is a four letter word.

It is one of the things I enjoy about watching icicles - how they've been formed by water both melting and freezing at the same time, warmed by the sun that then reflects it.

FORK

Fork is a four letter word.

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." -- Yogi Berra

LEFT TURN

Left turn are two four letter words.

I've never really liked making left hand turns while driving. If there is oncoming traffic, one has to wait, which mostly bothers me because it means I'm holding up traffic that is behind me. There is a subtle pressure to make that turn, even if it might be a little bit risky because of a truck barreling down on you. But you make it across... and wonder why you were worried and didn't turn seconds earlier.

SNOW

Snow is a four letter word.

Friends from various regions around the country expressed jealousy that I was getting snow and they weren't. I replied the same to all of them - they're welcome to come and take as much as they wanted from my driveway.

OUST

Oust is a four letter word

CAKE

Cake is a four letter word.

No lie! I love cake.

MARK

Mark is a four letter word.

It has always vexed me that Mark is both a name and a noun (and the verb about making the noun). It gets even more vexing when you think about how "a mark" is sometimes talking about a symbol made to represent someone's signature. Mark's mark?

LAST

Last is a four letter word.

Tonight is the eighth and final night of Chanukah.

BURN

Burn is a four letter word.

Tonight is the seventh night of Chanukah.

Returning back to the candles - there are a lot more of them lit now than when we began! We light one candle on the first night, two on the second, and so forth. As a child, I would watch the candles burn and melt into all sorts of strange and colorful patterns.

SPUD

Spud is a four letter word.

Tonight is the sixth night of Chanukah.

The holiday celebrates a victory in battle, focusing around the miracle of oil used in the Temple. Since oil is part of the Chanukah story, frying foods in oil are a tradition during the holiday. One of the most common in the United States are fried potato pancakes, called latkes, served with sour cream or applesauce.

GELT

Gelt is a four letter word.

Tonight is the fifth night of Chanukah.

The modern tradition of gift giving actually comes from an older tradition of giving gelt, or money, as part of the holiday. More recently, these actual coins became chocolate coins, and one would gamble with them during the dreidel game.

GIFT

Gift is a four letter word.

Tonight is the fourth night of Chanukah.

The concept of gift-giving is a relatively recent addition to the holiday. Coming as close to some other gift-giving holidays. Always bothered me a little... but mostly because I'm so bad at giving gifts and would rather not be bound by a specific time to do so.

SPIN

Spin is a four letter word.

Tonight is the third night of Chanukah.

One tradition is to spin a small top, called a dreidel, and using the symbols on the dreidel to tell the story of Chanukah.

WICK

Wick is a four letter word.

Tonight is the second night of Chanukah.

I always look at candles, fascinated by the wick. The wick is not what causes the light in a candle - but it is necessary for the candle to work. To hold the light in place.

GLOW

Glow is a four letter word.

It is the first night of Chanukah, Judaism's celebration of light in the midst of winter darkness. Each night, another candle is lit, bathing the room in a soft glow of candles, casting light through the windows into the outdoors, glowing like local stars.

DEER

Deer is a four letter word.

One of the interesting things about living in an area that is sorta urban and sorta rural is that you get wildlife wandering through areas that you don't expect them to. I was driving past a series of houses and a nearby golfcourse... when a few deer wandered across the road. One of these days I'll be able to get my camera out in time for a picture of something like this.