Happy Anniversary, Jim & Dee Dee!

Mom & Dad celebrate 52 years together today. Happy days to my wonderful parents.

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2nd Lt. Jacob Kazar! Huzzah!

(left to right:  Jacob K, me and Joseph K. 2007)

Dear Jacob,

Congratulations on your recent graduation from the Air Force Academy!

I remember when you made your decision to attend the academy.

I remember how difficult it was adjusting to the regimen that is the AFA and how over the last four years you rose to the challenges that were presented to you.

I remember when you were a baby, a young boy and a teen and I remember hearing all the stories of you growing up and seeing the gleam in your parents' eyes whenever they mentioned their children. How fortunate I have been to be able to peek into your family's life, watching the four of you grow together.

I remember thinking many times, "What great kids those Kazar boys are."

2nd Lt. Jacob Kazar – I am proud of what you've accomplished and excited for you to begin this new journey. I'm fortunate to know a few academy graduates from other branches of the military…what you've accomplished is quite the feat. Moments in life are fleeting – it really is all about "the journey". Enjoy this journey. I do not share this sentiment lightly – but, you know, if I had had a son, I would be perfectly content if he were just like you. I wish you God's speed while in the service of our country.

Most of all though, remember…that I wish you love.

"Aim High" — "Fly-Fight-Win."
Love,
Uncle Irc

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"Ashes of Soldiers".

"Sweet are the blooming cheeks of the living!
sweet are the musical voices sounding!
But sweet, ah sweet, are the dead with their silent eyes."

- excerpt from Walt Whitman's "Ashes of Soldiers"

To those who served and died - on this Memorial Day.

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Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I was at mom & dad's today but this was from last year. The beard is no more.

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Earth Day 2015

" A thing is right when it tends to preserve the
integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

- Aldo Leopold, author, scientist, forester, ecologist, conservationist and environmentalist. Born in Iowa, he spend most of his life in Wisconsin.

recycle. conserve. don't litter, take a walk or

hike. swim in the ocean. enjoy the outdoors. turn

the lights off. plant a tree. or a vegetable garden.

or a flower garden. carpool. start a compost pile.

buy local. go "green". tell the kids to get off the

internet/stop watching so much TV and get off their

asses. reduce water consumption. check your tire

pressure. drive slower. go camping and sleep out

under the stars. go with compact fluorescent bulbs.

stop taking up space. do something.

Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson, Wisconsin senator and governor. This video was shot in Avoca, WI 2015.

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"Auld Lang Syne".

I'm not a New Year's guy. I celebrated more when I was younger but now it's just another eve before a day off. However, I do love this rendition of "Auld Lang Syne". I first heard it when Mairi Campbell serenaded Sean Connery during the Kennedy Center Honors.


So - to 2015! May it bring you health, joy & happiness - and peace. Remember - most of us are just tryin' to crack ye old nut. There's much good in the world. Seek it out!

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Christmas Day @ the Ircink's in Waterford!

Merry Christmas! From Dee, Jim, me, Brother Jason, Molly & Zol (in picture).

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Christmas Eve @ the Ircink's of Waterford!

The family that drinks brandy old fashioned sweets together stays together - for over 50 years. Jim, Dee Dee, Jeff, Jason & Molly the American water spaniel. 'Twas a wonderful evening. Oh - Molly didn't drink any old fashioneds.

 She sipped port.

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My favorite line(s) from "A Christmas Carol"...

"Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world...and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"

- from Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL

(pic from A CHRISTMAS CAROL - 1951, starring Alastair Sim)

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"A Christmas Carol" (1971)

I post this every holiday season on my blog and FB. The BEST animated CAROL of them all. And it won an Oscar. It's 24 minutes. If you're a Scrooge fan, it's worth it. The detail for that time is superb.

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A compendium of Santa Claus(es).

Sinterklaas. Father Christmas. Père Noël. Saint Nicholas. Grandfather Frost. Kris Kringle. So many names. So many cultures. Here are a few visions of Santa Claus that I like.

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"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (2010)

Probably my favorite Christmas carol. And probably my favorite rendition.
Celtic meets Renaissance Faire! Excellent!

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Jammin' @ Christmas time!

I usually make my black raspberry jam in September but never got around to it. Ircink family pierogi gathering this evening and I wanted to get some jam to my aunts and uncle. 23, 8-ounce jars. 32 last year. I swear I had the same amount of quart bags of raspberries. I did have the same amount.

Odd.

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Christmas Tree. Glen Mar. 2014.

 

"Now, the tree is decorated with bright merriment, and song, and dance, and cheerfulness. And they are welcome. Innocent and welcome be they ever held, beneath the branches of the Christmas Tree, which cast no gloomy shadow! But, as it sinks into the ground, I hear a whisper... going through the leaves. "This, in commemoration of the law of love and kindness, mercy and compassion. This, in remembrance of Me!"

- excerpt from Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Tree" (1850) 

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Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Seasons Greetings!

(and anything else I missed)

"Now trees their leafy hats do bare,
To reverence Winter's silver hair;
A handsome hostess, merry host,
A pot of ale now and a toast,
Tobacco and a good coal fire,
Are things this season doth require."

 

- Poor Robin's Almanack, 1684

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Ferguson looter list.

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First snow.

November 15, 2014. First snow in Greendale. Two views. Adjusted contrast/midtone (top) and normal (bottom). I try and record the first snow of each year. Sometimes it isn't the first snowfall (may amount to nothing) so then I record the first big snowfall.

12/19/09 (big snowfall).
Skipped 2011.
12/14/10 (first snowfall).
12/18/12 (first snow).
12/8/13 (can't remember - first snow or big snowfall)

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Kahuna Rendezvous 2014!

Just Brother Jas and I this year or our annual bow hunting/camping trip in honor of our departed friend and hunting mentor, Kenny "Kahuna" Koepsel. Buckhorn State Park in Necedah, WI - on the shores of Castle Rock Lake. That bow hunting time of the year. No - no pics of deer. Alas, the WI DNR in their infinite wisdom designated this park (as well as much of the state) as "bucks only" with a bow. First time I've ever hunted when I couldn't shoot a doe. Ohhh I probably wouldn't have hit anything anyway. But this trip is never about just deer hunting - it's about being in Nature. Ate like we were at a 5-star restaurant and survived a low of 13 degrees one night. And yeah - we're in a tent. Warm in the tent (really). It's getting out from under the covers that's the tricky part.

And for those of our brethren who were missed during our rendezvous, a poem...

"To Those Who Have Come and Gone"

by Jeffrey James Ircink

 

That well-worn path you trod,

amongst the smells of cedar and pine, of breakfast and coffee, of leather and canvas,

Earth and Fire – your presence still lingers.

The cool air rings of your gestures and musings – your essence.

We tipped our glasses to men – those who have conversed like we – about past sojourns and of Nature – all that which binds them.

This – is our solace.

The wind and water, the flutter and hoot – all the sounds of the forest do not break

your deafening silence.

Someday we too will be talked about.

To those who have come and gone,

We would rather you did not leave.

 

 

 



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