Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 1918 - 2013

"I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people.  I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.  I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony with equal opportunities.  It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realized.  But my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

~ Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013)  speech in Johannesburg, 20 April 1964, which he quoted on his release in Cape Town, 11 February 1990.

Source:  The Oxford Dictionary of QUOTATIONS,  Oxford University Press, 2001.

www.nelsonmandela.org

"I could feel myself growing stronger as the weight of the long years lifted from atop my shoulders like a wish borne on dandelion down.  Silently, the last poppy's petals closed, and Elder began to vanish from sight, remaining just long enough to speak his final words:
    
'In this end is to be your greatest beginning, Nicholas, for from this day forth, the world will know you as Santa Claus, The Keeper of Childhood Dreams.  So has it always been, so shall it be forevermore.'

"The elves erupted in a glorious cheer that shook the snow from the treetops and began a revelry that has been remembered ever since as The Night The Hills Sang Out.  Hand in hand, Sara and I turned to join the joyous elves, dancing as never before beneath a universe of infinite stars."

~ Santa My Life & Times An Illustrated Autobiography, designed & produced by Martin I. Green and Berkshire Studio.  Avon Books, Inc. 1998.

Note:  Selfie Courtesy of Santa

Greeting Card (Fifties ?)

"As the much-loved novels of Charles Dickens demonstrate, while many English families of the mid-nineteenth century lived in leisured comfort, seeking agreeable pastimes to fill their time, the poorer people lived in appalling conditions. . .
"[Queen Victoria] tried to encourage her subjects with her own example of a happy family gathered around a fir tree hung with pretty decorations:  a day when people everywhere stop to greet one another in peace and harmony, exchanging cards and presents to demonstrate friendship and love."

"In Dickens' A Christmas Carol, even the miserly Scrooge was forced to recognize the joy of Christmas."
~ VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS, Valerie Janitch, Brockhampton Press, 1995

~ Charles Dickens (Feb.1812 - June1870)  English writer, social critic.
~ Victoria (May 1819 - January 1901)  British Queen from June 1837 until her death.

Cottonwood Mansion presents a light-up decoration that will cheer and warm the season.  Set it up in any room where a soft colorful light will add a touch of festivity.  Support the mansion's projects at the same time!

Look for the Christmas display in Foodland, Cayuga.  Available in two sizes.

www.cottonwoodmansion.ca
Photo:  Courtesy of Catherine Stidsen

"If our parents read to us as children, we remember the closeness of the moments together, the sound and power of voice and expression, the sense of wonder that a poem inspires." 

~ Caroline Kennedy A Family of Poems MY FAVORITE POETRY FOR CHILDREN, HYPERION, 2005.

"We live in a world of words and feelings that poems can help us understand.  Poetry captures the most fleeting moments and makes them last forever, or describes the tiniest creature and makes it huge.  Poets express our deepest emotions and ponder life's biggest questions in just a few lines that we can carry with us and bring to mind whenever we need them...." ~ Caroline Kennedy

When we first opened as The Neat Little Bookshop, many will recall that we didn't have a POETRY section.  There were several reasons ~ not least of all, we personally did not have a great interest in poetry.

In 2001 Caroline Kennedy, daughter of Jackie and John, published The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  The book's popularity inspired Caroline to publish in 2005 A Family of Poems.

In the introduction to A Family of Poems she writes, "Some people think poetry is solitary or boring.  They worry that they won't be able to understand it.  But people who start reading poems when they are young don't have these fears.  As children, we enjoy exploring language and rhyme and creating word pictures of the world around us...
"In our family we were encouraged to write or choose a favorite poem for each holiday or birthday as a gift for my mother and grandparents instead of buying a card or present."

[Photo:  a favourite from my files lbw]

STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING
     by Robert Frost *

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

* American poet (1874 - 1963)