Merry Christmas Eve

"All Is Calm, All Is Bright" by photographer, Stephanie Laird

Christmas Eve wishes to all the Blue Ghost viewers- all 17,000+ from all over the world. Peace, Love, and Happiness to each and every one.

Norman Maclean, Haunted By Waters

The beautiful Chattooga River: if this river doesn't speak to you, then none probably will.

Norman Maclean (1902-1990) was born on this day in Iowa in 1902. He was the firefighter, fly fisher and storyteller who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel, A River Runs Through It. Whenever I visit the Chattooga River and look under a rock, I think of this quote from the book:

"Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

I've had my mind on fishing again. When talking to a friend about fly-fishing recently, he explained to me..."it's not the fish, it's the water." I too, feel haunted by waters, Norman.

Fascinating Ambiguity: Christmas Still Life From Walter Tandy Murch

Urn (& Lights), 1945 by Walter Tandy Murch. Our family had this type of Christmas lights on our tree when I was young. I think this still life would make a good Christmas card...as the Christmas season is sometimes a little ambiguous.

I love this still life by Canadian born painter, Walter Tandy Murch (1907-1967). Murch combined realism with abstraction, as his subjects ranged from machinery, bricks, clocks and broken dolls. It is his mysterious and eccentric juxtapositions that create his fascinating ambiguity and I agree with the art critic, Clement Greenburg, that "ambiguity is precisely one of the largest sources of pleasure in art."

Self Portrait With Glasses, 1960.

Clear Sailing, Little Chibley

Chibley, the polydactyl sea cat, shows off her extra toes while taking a bath on board the Picton Castle.


I had the pleasure of discovering the story of Chibley after having a discussion about cats who go to sea and why so many of them are polydactyl, which means they have a genetic condition which blesses them with extra toes. Many people are familiar with polydactyl cats as "Hemingway Cats". Hemingway loved these big footed felines and the story goes that he obtained his first polydactyl cat as a gift from a sea captain in Key West. There is still an abundance of these cats in Key West and along the east coast...supposedly because they were brought to shore on ships from England and Wales. They have always been popular and considered lucky as ship's cats and a discussion with a sea captain as to why this is so disclosed the following two reasons: he said 1) they are excellent mousers because of the extra dexterity of their paws and 2) they have better balance on ship because their larger feet give them a bigger platform to stand on at sea.

Well Chibley is a polydactyl cat with quite a story. She was the ship's cat for the tall ship, Picton Castle for almost 15 years. Miss Chibley Bits (her full name) was a member of the Picton's crew from the beginning, embarking on its first world voyage in 1997 after she adopted the ship's Captain, Dan Moreland. She logged over 250,000 sea miles and sailed around the world five times.

The Picton Castle was built in 1928 and was named after a real castle in Pembrokeshire Wales. It was built as a fishing trawler, then used in WWII by the Royal Navy as a minesweeper. It was brought back to life in 1997 under Captain Moreland and now travels around the world as a working tall ship, conducting sail training voyages. It is based in Lunenburg, Novia Scotia. You can sign up to become part of the crew for 4 or 6 months, or as little as two weeks. They will be starting a new Atlantic voyage next year and will be stopping in Charleston, SC...probably for Harborfest.


Chibley would be given free range to go ashore when the ship would come into port and then almost magically show up to get back on board ship shortly before sailing. But last November on a dark stormy evening in Lunenburg, Chibley was stuck and killed by a car while she and the Captain were trying to cross the street in front of the Captain's house in order to board ship. A funeral and elegy was held for Miss Chibley

Chibley resting with Robert on board the Picton Castle not long before her death. What a great life she had and what a great pleasure she was to many others.

and Captain Moreland wrote in his log: "It is also easy for us to attribute too many human qualities to a cat and suggest that she was more human than cat but I think the reverse is more likely the truth-she was pure cat and her influence on her shipmates was that she turned them into more cat-like souls" He added "people say we could have been more careful, but then they didn't know Chibley. Chibley did as she wished-and so did you." I find these words to be some of the wisest ever spoken on why cats are so special. At Chibley's funeral, Captain Moreland summed it up..."Well she lived as she chose and she sailed a course on the track of her own making. Would that we could say the same." A picture of another polydactyl cat (not Miss Chibley) that really shows some extra toes.

Robert Frost's Road: The Not So Simple Truth

Usually, I am just so glad to see poetry referenced or read that it matters very little what the reader finds in a poem. But enough is enough with this one and I feel we owe it to Robert Frost to at least try to get readers with the program here; after all, he was a man who worked hard at articulating big truths at a time when we were more concerned with perfecting the big lie. Also, Frost's message is so much better than the interpretation by those with an undiscerning eye who mistakenly use this poem to represent the encouragement of self-reliance and not following where others have led. His message is actually close to the opposite. Frost said himself "you have to be careful of that one; it's tricky-very tricky." But it is not so very tricky if you read it-really read it as poetry deserves to be read. There is no road less traveled and he tells us this plainly as he examines his paths saying they were really worn about the same...it will only become the less traveled road "somewhere ages and ages hence" when he tells his story with a "sigh." In other words, he knows right now that some time in the future he will give credit to the path he took as making all the difference, when actually it will probably make no difference at all. As an old man he will look back, decide to place importance on this particular decision in his life. He will try to explain and give a sense of order to his life-implying that his decisions made all the difference, when in fact, a lot has to be credited to chance and luck. Look at the title: the poem is about a man taking a path that he would describe later as the "one less traveled" yet the title of the poem is "The Road Not Taken" telling us that there was actually no less traveled road to take. If this explanation is not accepted, then one must bring forth Frost's actual words about this poem spoken at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in 1953: "I wasn't thinking about myself there, but about a friend who had gone off to war, a person who, whichever road he went, would be sorry he didn't go the other. He was hard on himself that way." This friend was Edward Thomas whom Frost walked with in the woods near London. Frost explained that when they would walk, they would come to different paths and after choosing one, Thomas would always fret, wondering what they missed by not taking the other path. Thomas' evidently also suffered from an undiscerning eye and was unable to see that it really made no difference.

So suggest that undiscerning eyes "take the road less traveled" and see the real meaning of this poem. This well loved poet has a message for us-don't let it go misinterpreted-for that is where the message is usually needed the most.

Snoop Santa Picks

Shopping with Snoop who knows how to pick those gifts that make it happen... I like to wear this one when I watch Toddlers and Tiaras. If it's fly, then buy.

WeGlow International Light Up Fuzzy Pink Cowgirl Hat....Amazon $12.99.

Cria: My Huaca

Cria, the Huaca. Huaca cames from the word "huacan" meaning to howl. Ancient Native South American worship often took the form of a howl or wail.


A huaca is a Quechua (native american language of South America) word for an object or place that represents something revered. Most early civilizations of Peru considered all of the world to be sacred and alive. The Peruvians would chose objects to carry with them to remind them of sacred places or things. They often took the form of a rock from a designated sacred area, an ear of maize, or a llama. I was given the little fellow above as a Christmas gift from a dear friend and I have designated him as a Huaca..to remind me of good friends and how revered they are. His name is Cria which is what a baby llama is called-he is only about 3 inches tall and is covered in real llama wool.