If you've ever loved a horse (or any animal, really) then you'll appreciate this story.

I got this in an email fwd. Enjoy.

Because of Love  

(Please read all the way to the end)

A brother and sister had made their usual hurried, obligatory pre-
 Christmas visit to the little farm where dwelt their elderly
 parents with their small herd of horses. The farm was where they
 had grown up and had been named Lone Pine Farm because of the huge
 pine, which topped the hill behind the farm. Through the years the
 tree had become a talisman to the old man and his wife, and a
 landmark in the countryside. The young siblings had fond memories
 of their childhood here, but the city hustle and bustle added more
 excitement to their lives, and called them away to a different life.

 The old folks no longer showed their horses, for the years had
 taken their toll, and getting out to the barn on those frosty
 mornings was getting harder, but it gave them a reason to get up in
 the mornings and a reason to live. They sold a few foals each
 year, and the horses were their reason for joy in the morning and
 contentment at day's end.
 Angry, as they prepared to leave, the young couple confronted the
 old folks "Why do you not at least dispose of  The Old One." She
 is no longer of use to you. It's been years since you've had foals
 from her. You should cut corners and save so you can have more for
 yourselves. How can this old worn out horse bring you anything but
 expense and work? Why do you keep her anyway?"
 The old man looked down at his worn boots, holes in the toes,
 scuffed at the barn floor and replied, " Yes, I could use a pair of
 new boots. His arm slid defensively about the Old One's neck as he
 drew her near with gentle caressing he rubbed her softly behind her
 ears. He replied softly, "We keep her because of love. Nothing
 else, just love."

 Baffled and irritated, the young folks wished the old man and his
 wife a Merry Christmas and headed back toward the city as darkness
 stole through the valley. The old couple shook their heads in
 sorrow that it had not been a happy visit. A tear fell upon their
 cheeks. How is it that these young folks do not understand the
 peace of the love that filled their hearts?

 So it was, that because of the unhappy leave-taking, no one noticed
 the insulation smoldering on the frayed wires in the old barn.
 None saw the first spark fall. None but the "Old One".

 In a matter of minutes, the whole barn was ablaze and the hungry
 flames were licking at the loft full of hay. With a cry of horror
 and despair, the old man shouted to his wife to call for help as he
 raced to the barn to save their beloved horses. But the flames were
 roaring now, and the blazing heat drove him back. He sank sobbing
 to the ground, helpless before the fire's fury. His wife back from
 calling for help cradled him in her arms, clinging to each other,
 they wept at their loss.

 By the time the fire department arrived, only smoking, glowing
 ruins were left, and the old man and his wife, exhausted from their
 grief, huddled together before the barn. They were speechless as
 they rose from the cold snow covered ground. They nodded thanks to
 the firemen as there was nothing anyone could do now. The old man
 turned to his wife, resting her white head upon his shoulders as
 his shaking old hands clumsily dried her tears with a frayed red
 bandana. Brokenly he whispered, "We have lost much, but God has
 spared our home on this eve of Christmas. Let us gather strength
 and climb the hill to the old pine where we have sought comfort in
 times of despair. We will look down upon our home and give thanks
 to God that it has been spared and pray for our beloved most
 precious gifts that have been taken from us.

 And so, he took her by the hand and slowly helped her up the snowy
 hill as he brushed aside his own tears with the back of his old and
 withered hand.

 The journey up the hill was hard for their old bodies in the steep
 snow. As they stepped over the little knoll at the crest of the
 hill, they paused to rest, looking up to the top of the hill the
 old couple gasped and fell to their knees in amazement at the
 incredible beauty before them.

 Seemingly, every glorious, brilliant star in the heavens was caught
 up in the glittering, snow-frosted branches of their beloved pine,
 and it was aglow with heavenly candles. And poised on its top most
 bough, a crystal crescent moon glistened like spun glass. Never had
 a mere mortal created a Christmas tree such as this. They were
 breathless as the old man held his wife tighter in his arms.

 Suddenly, the old man gave a cry of wonder and incredible joy.
 Amazed and mystified, he took his wife by the hand and pulled her
 forward. There, beneath the tree, in resplendent glory, a mist
 hovering over and glowing in the darkness was their Christmas
 gift. Shadows glistening in the night light.

 Bedded down about the "Old One" close to the trunk of the tree, was
 the entire herd, safe.

 At the first hint of smoke, she had pushed the door ajar with her
 muzzle and had led the horses through it. Slowly and with great
 dignity, never looking back, she had led them up the hill, stepping
 cautiously through the snow. The foals were frightened and dashed
 about. The skittish yearlings looked back at the crackling, hungry
 flames, and tucked their tails under them as they licked their lips
 and hopped like rabbits. The mares that were in foal with a new
 years crop of babies, pressed uneasily against the "Old One" as she
 moved calmly up the hill and to safety beneath the pine. And now,
 she lay among them and gazed at the faces of the old man and his
 wife. Those she loved she had not disappointed. Her body was
 brittle with years, tired from the climb, but the golden eyes were
 filled with devotion as she offered her gift---

 Because of love. Only Because of love.
 Tears flowed as the old couple shouted their praise and joy... And
 again the peace of love filled their hearts.

 This is a true story.

 Willy Eagle
This is an Inspirational message sent to a small group of people.
My hope is that it will make your day just a little bit better.

On the Road Again: The Weekly Photo Challenge

This week's topic was suggested by LeanneNanette. If you want to see other entries or join in the fun, just go here.

Below: a cobblestone road in Bruges, Belgium inSeptember.

Below: A cross-country trip is "on the road" in pilot-speak. So here's my husband last time he was on the road.

Yesterday, Steve and I and our friend Jane took two hiking tours in our area to see prehistoric rock art. It's as significant as the famous cave art in France that we all study in Social Studies, but not quite as old.

Below: On the way there, we got stuck in some road construction. We had to wait a good 10-15min for our turn to drive, and then we had to follow this guy:

Below: On our first hike, we could see the road we took to get there. See the bridge? That's the road over the Pecos River. Beyond the bridge, the Pecos joins the Rio Grande. You can see Mexico from the road.

Here's the most significant of all the rock art we saw. It's between 3 and 7 thousand years old, most likely about 4,000. It's a narrative that goes from right to left and shows a spiritual pilgrimage where the people go hunt for peyote. Do you see the squiggle that goes across it all? It's more pale than the rest of the stuff and looks a bit hilly. Well, that's the "road" on the hunt for peyote. It connects the entire narrative.

Here's a shot of Steve and me at that same bit of rock art. You may see the squiggle road better here because one of the humps frames my head.

Thanks, Leanne, for the topic!

Everyone, tag me if you play!

Anyone out there enjoy the occasional Facebook quiz?

I do.

Occasionally.

A few months ago, FB told me that I'm Black. My husband thought that was cool. So did I, though it was perplexing as to how my answers landed me in that category.

Soon thereafter, FB told me that my true culture was Italian. My husband thought that was funny and took to calling me his sweet Black Italian. Again, I was perplexed...but it was funny.

So this weekend I took another FB quiz and was told that I am a guy. And the quiz wasn't even about gender...it's just that FB assumed that my first name was a male's name.

Me. A Dude.

Steve isn't going to be very happy about this one. FB is telling him he married a man?! He's going to come home to this new news of FB analysis and right into his own Crying Game, lol. [NOT...Eeew!]

Moral of the story: Don't get your answers or your self-esteem from cockamamy quizzes!

Thank God I get the real answers to who I am in light of Christ!

I love how Jaynebug has a santa hat on the Dalai Lama in her Christmas decorations.

I mentioned to her how my husband collects Shi-Sa's...the Okinawan lion-dog which was once sort of a spiritual protector in their native animist religion, but is now more of a mascot. Well, we have one shi-sa that's dressed up in a traditional Japanese Tyco Drummer's outfit.

Every year at Christmas (except this one since we're showing the house for sale) I take away his drumstick and give him a candy cane. Then I cover his usual head band with a glitzy Christmas one.

Here's Tyco Shi-Sa last year:

Here are what human tyco drummers look like:

And here are some typical shi-sa...these outside the Okinawan Peace Prayer Park's museum:

Merry Christmas, Jaynebug!

Special Christmas Photo Challenge

Instead of the usual Weekly Photo Challenge, this one lasts through the holidays. Click here to participate and see other entries.

It's good to be back on Xanga. I've missed quite a few people. I couldn't figure out how to put the past month into a comeback blog, but now I have a start with the Christmas theme of the Photo Challenge. Thank you to Photographics for the theme.

I spent Thanksgiving in San Antonio. My husband took this photo at a San Antonio mall shortly after taking me to the airport before dawn the day after Thanksgiving:

During my Xanga hiatus, I spent 6 wonderful days in Manhattan. I arrived the day after Thanksgiving and saw some spectacular Christmas decorations.

I went to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on the Sunday during my visit. As Mass let out, I saw this wonderful view out the doors, complete with wreaths on either side of this statue of Atlas:

I enjoyed the light snowflakes dancing on the side of the Sachs Fifth Avenue store:

Sachs has a traditional series of Christmas windows each year. This year, the display depicts parts of a children's book. Here's one window and some spectators who lined up to see it:

Here is Rockefeller Plaza, a few days before the Christmas tree lighting:

I stayed in a friend's apartment one block from Washington Square. I took a nice walk around the square just as they were decorating the park for a Christmas concert. Talk about a huge tree!

I shot this one from a cab on my way to spend the afternoon at the MET. I think it's a bank:

I took a train from Grand Central Station to see my aunt and cousin in Connecticut. My aunt took me to the Dutch store because it was nearly Sinterklaas (St. Nickolas' Birthday) and I wanted to do something for my husband for the Dutch holiday. Here are some decorations in the deli section of the store:

And here are our klompen (wooden shoes, aka clogs) after I got home form my trip, with the goodies I bought in the store above. They're on the mantle instead of in front of the fireplace so that our dogs wouldn't eat our goodies. Inside our orange-ish red wrapping paper are "chocoladeletters"...our initials in chocolate. There's also a little Sinterklaas ornament that I picked up in Connecticut. He's in his bishop's hat and carrying his bishop's shepherd crook.

When my husband picked me up from the airport, I came home to this bouquet of flowers and a Christmas card telling me just how much my husband loves me. It brought tears to my eyes. Every girl should be this loved.

In the card were gift certificates for the resort/spa where we went for our first anniversary. I was hoping to go back before we moved, but assumed we were out of time. My husband decided that we didn't need any more "stuff" since we were moving, so he got me a 2-hr spa treatment and got us a room so that we could stay overnight. That's where we were this past weekend. We had a lovely lunch before my spa appointment, then took a nap and then went out to see Invictus. Oh, and had ice cream for dinner before the movie. It is an awesome movie. The best of 2009. And then we went to sushi for a midnight snack, and then took our last Christmas photo in front of the Alamo. I'll have to post those photos at a later date; they're on my husband's camera and the files aren't sorted and named yet.

Here's my husband just coming out of our room. We were conveniently located directly above the spa!

Here you can see some of the Christmas decorations at the resort. It was a foggy morning on our way to church. The resort sits on a high spot above a historic German town. You can barely see it through the fog here.

The church in the little historic town was beautiful. I enjoyed the wreaths with the long red ribbons down the pillars:

Our own Christmas decorations are rather sparse this year because we're selling our house and it needs to have minimal things up to show well. I don't think I have even 1/4 of what I usually put out to celebrate Jesus' birth. Only one of our 4 trees is up, and only 1 of my many nativity scenes is up. It's my new one. I bought it in Delft on our vacation to the Netherlands:

Notice in the photo below that the manger, or crib, is empty. I read a short article by Pope Benedict recently that mentioned how important it can be to have an empty crib in your home during the Advent Season. It can help build the anticipation we have as we wait for Jesus to arrive. The article really struck home with me, both in my desire to be a mom and my desire to know Jesus better and better. So I purposely hid the baby and will put him in his crib after Christmas. (I'd put him in ON Christmas, but we'll be traveling to see family.)

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I love Christmas cheer, so be sure to tag me if you post some decorations!