Luther Ray in the Navy at Camp Elliot, Calif with Joseph Andrews and Howard Harding during WW2. Luther, a medic, in a paperwork glitch, missed being assigned to Pearl Harbor, instead was stationed in New York.
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
The long ride
The long ride
Johnclarestokes
And the boy and the old man
Made ready for the long journey
The boy looked ahead
The old man behind
The boy didn’t know the way
The old man did and so they went.
The new order
The new order
Johnclarestokes
We plant the trees in ordered rows
we make a place for the fledglings to sing,
in time to come. How shall we know?
By those who are yet singing here
By the vane that drinks from the springs
By the moon the ever guarding
It has to be the guarantee
that singing will forever be.
After Wendell Berry
Nabbuco
Libretto
Nabbuco
chorus of the Hebrew slaves
Verdi
With composite by Salvador Dali of Nebuchadnezzar and me.
Fly, thought,
On the golden wings
Go settle upon the
Slopes and the hills,
Where, soft and mild
The sweet airs of our
Native land
Smell fragrant!
Greet the banks of
The Jordan
And Zion's toppled
Towers...
Oh, my country, so
Beautiful and lost!
Oh, remembrance,
So dear and so fatal!
Golden harp of the
Prophetic seers,
Why dost thou hang
Mute upon the
Willow?
Rekindle our
Bosom's memories
And speak to us of
Times gone by!
Mindful of the fate
Of Jerusalem,
Give forth a sound
Of crude
Lamentation,
Or may the Lord
Inspire you a
Harmony of voices
Which may instill
Virtue to suffering.
Monday, January 26, 2026
Eclipse of 2019
It seems but a dream
The long night of your bleeding
And what of this wound
Was it a portend of doom
Or one of healing
The lunar eclipse from 2019
Sunday, January 25, 2026
John Sauls
John J Sauls migrated to Alachua County from Orangeburg, South Carolina where he married Mary Jane Robinson. Born in 1825(1840 by other accounts), John left his farm in Alachua County and enlisted in Brooksville, Hernando County as a 4th sergeant in Company C(Hernando Guards)(Wildcats) of the 3rd Florida Infanty on July 19, 1861. He was promoted to a full private in May 1862(reduced to ranks) then furloughed to Hernando County and died of disease on Feb 3, 1863 in a Lake City hospital where he was buried in Oaklawn Cemetery. His wife Mary applied for a widows pension in 1903. His is one of the few marked headstones of many unknown CSA markers.
Bob
At ninety
For Bob
A good journey
Never to marry
The painter
Runner
Photographer
Treasure hunter
Is losing
The memory
Of where went
The Kodachromes
The way home
Friends gone
Living alone
We sit silently
Wondering
Whatever would we do
Without TV
And I have not the
Heart to say
TV was obsolete
When you were
Eighty.
Out alone
Out alone in the winter rain,
Intent on giving and taking pain.
But never was I far out of sight
Of a certain upper-window light.
Robert Frost, The Thatch.
Steichen
Steichen
On my wall hang two Steichen’s
You say, o my, of the great Edward?
The photographer?
I say no
Of the late Karen
All colored in markers
Within the lines
Worthless by all estimates
Priceless by one
Recipient
Who thought enough of him.
Jordon
Jordon at Big Shoals, Suwannee River.
Happy Birthday
Jordon
Today has come
The birthday of our son
So thankful there is one
With adventures yet to run
Yes we love our
Stormy bank Son!
Jordon Stokes
Big Shoals
Spot of bother
A spot of bother
Johnclarestokes
I do not have the latest Lincoln, but I ain't gonna let that bother me. My tag is so expired, I lost it, but that’s no bother. My camellia's grow too far to pick above me, but that don't bother me. My bricks don't quite match, but it doesn't bother me. My roof only leaks when it rains, and thats not a bother. My yards all weeds, the mower was stolen, but why bother? You could have it as good as I do, but i ain't gonna bother you with that.
Just don’t want to be a bother.
Barred
I'm a bar hunter
And what is the comment I get? Focus. We'll, you missed the purpose entirely for the lack of focus. You need to become a bar "barred" hunter and perhaps come off some of your sharp focus.
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