Wailing

Song - Amazing Grace by Carlos Reyes

In 2011 I heard this man Carlos Reyes for the very first time at Doobie Brothers concert

H e    b l e w    m y    m i n d

And if you listen to the song above "Amazing Grace" you will understand why 

He can wail on that violin...

And a fun fact is that he lives in my home town of Walnut Creek!

"One of the most popular performers to grace the Sierra Nevada Big room stage, Carlos Reyes, returns Tuesday.

Paraguay-born harp and violin artist, Reyes will be backed by his hot band, Electric Symphony, as he plays sweet Latin American ballads to lowdown blues and jazz.

“Chico’s been just wonderful to me,” Reyes said in a recent interview. “It’s great that Sierra Nevada keeps putting on such nice concerts. I’m very happy they do such a great job of bringing such a variety of people.”

Known as a recording artist, producer, engineer, harpist and violinist, Reyes has been breaking musical education at the age of 3 on the violin. He was declared a child prodigy at an early age when his father, a musical and national hero in Paraguay, urged him to learn the complicated 36-strings native Paraguayan harp."

--Enterprise-Record

Grace

Song - Amazing Grace by Andrea Bocelli

 Founded in May 1131 Tintern Abbey sits on the Welsh bank of the River Wye. The abbey fell into ruin after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century.

It is breathtaking.....

Wonder

Song - Amazing Grace by the Czestochowa Pipes & Drums

It all began with the "Cookie Elves" arriving early one morning in December....

 

 The cookies have been baked and decorated...

 Mr. B may have gotten a little overly zealous in his plane & bomb decorations...

...and a few may have been eaten already.....

The tree was delivered and set up for me which was a true treat as I have been sick for the last few months and it just hung on forever....so this tree was a true Christmas miracle (thank you Henry and Andy).  It was hung with lights and then I noticed on Instagram that it's the new holiday look - a green fir with little white lights and NO decorations - and I was in total agreement (except for the silver star that will go on top) - not sure my family has bought into this new concept but I am in love!

The table is set......

...and the stockings are hung.....

Henry (9 months now) dropped in to help Grandma put the lights on the tree.....

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight!

Grace

Song - Amazing Grace by Jeff Campbell

Each year I choose One Little Word on which to focus for the upcoming new year.  It is more relevant for me to have a word to focus on than to have a New Year's resolution which I usually blow within the first month and then I feel bad about myself.

In December my word came to me for 2016 and it was Grace.

Not the kind of Grace where I have to walk and act "graceful"......nope, that wouldn't be me!  But the kind of grace that you don't see but you feel.

Looking back on the month of January, my dad was the perfect example of Grace.  He was a quite man who loved his family and home.  Dad worked hard and loved the simple things in life - his garden, going for a ride with mom, fishing, and good friends.

Calvin Kenneth Crawford

1927 - 2016

"I do not understand the mystery of grace - 
only that it meets us where we are
 and does not leave us where it found us." 
-- Anne Lamott