BRIGHT NIGHT

“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” - Calvin Coolidge

Poets and Storytellers this week has set as its theme “In Between”. This is appropriate for the ending of the year and that cluster of holidays between the old and new year. Christmas of course figures prominently and my poem is in the form of a carol that celebrates the religious aspect of this important Christian holiday.

Bright Night

The snow has fallen thick and white,
The cold is keen, the trees all bare;
A sky so full of stars so bright,
A night so gentle, still’s the air.

The shepherds doze, quiet their sheep,
The town deserted, all lights are out;
In warm beds people fast asleep
A stillness reigns, no sound about.

And suddenly, an angel down flies
A brilliant star lights up the skies!
A chorus of seraphs sings a hymn
To welcome the newborn King!
Sing hallelujah, up on high,
The birds wake up and fly,
Sing hallelujah, up on high!

The Mother holds Her Son so tight,
The cattle low, their breath so calm,
The Baby’s face so peaceful, bright;
All listen charmed to holy psalm.

The shepherds dazed approach,
And angels keep watch alert;
The animals nearby encroach,
All danger wanting to avert.

And lo, three men come in and bow, 
Their garments rich, with gifts in tow.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh they give,
The Baby’s kingship they don’t misgive.
Sing hallelujah, up on high,
A glimpse of heaven in the sky,
Sing hallelujah, up on high!

The night with mystery is filled,
The stars the sky golden gild;
The King of peace and light is born
Angels the poor stable adorn.
Sing hallelujah, up on high,
A glimpse of heaven in the sky,
Sing hallelujah, up on high.

The poem is set to music, and you can find all my music in my “Otidorchestre” Instagram channel or listen to it on YouTube,  Spotify,  Amazon, Deezer, Flo, Pandora, and other music sharing sites.

TRAVEL TUESDAY 276 - THE DEL, USA

“When you get into a hotel room, you lock the door, and you know there is a secrecy, there is a luxury, there is fantasy. There is comfort. There is reassurance.” - Diane von Furstenberg

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours onlyDo not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

The Hotel del Coronado (also known as The Del and Hotel Del) is a historic beachfront hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. It is one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: The wooden Victorian beach resort. It is the second largest wooden structure in the United States (after the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, Oregon) and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and a California Historical Landmark in 1970.

When it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. It has hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities through the years. The hotel has been featured in numerous movies and books. The hotel received a Four Diamond rating from the American Automobile Association and was once listed by USA Today as one of the top ten resorts in the world, though it has since been removed from that list.

Notable guests have included Thomas Edison, L. Frank Baum, Charlie Chaplin, King Kalakaua of Hawaii, Vincent Price, Babe Ruth, James Stewart, Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. More recently, guests have included Kevin Costner, Whoopi Goldberg, Gene Hackman, George Harrison, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey. The following presidents have stayed at the hotel: Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 260 - 2020 MELBOURNE CUP

“Nowhere in the world have I encountered a festival of people that has such a magnificent appeal to the whole nation. The Cup astonishes me.” – Mark Twain

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

Today is Melbourne Cup Day here in my home city. At 3.00 pm, on the first Tuesday in November, Australians everywhere stop for one of the world’s most famous horse races - the Melbourne Cup. Even those who don’t usually bet, try their luck with a small bet or entry into a “sweep” (a lottery in which each ticket-holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse).

Since 1877, Melbourne Cup Day has been a public holiday for Melbourne, and crowds have flocked to Flemington. By 11.00 am the grandstand is packed to its 7,000 capacity, and by 3.00 pm, many tens of thousands of people usually gather around the racecourse. The party atmosphere often means that champagne and canapés, huge hats and racetrack fashions overshadow the business of horse racing.

The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861 at Flemington Racecourse and was won by Archer, a horse from Nowra, New South Wales, beating the local favourite, Mormon. The prize was a gold watch and £170. Dismissed by the bookies, Archer took a lot of money away from Melbourne, refuelling interstate rivalry and adding to the excitement of the Cup.

The Melbourne Cup is one of the world’s most challenging horse races and one of the richest (total prize money for 2020 – is $8 million, with the winner receiving $4.4 million), and is the highlight of the Spring Racing Carnival. The race is run over 3,200 metres and is a handicapped race. This means that the better the horse is, the more weight it has to carry in the race. The distance and the handicap ensure that the Melbourne Cup is a horse race in which the occasional punter has as good a chance of picking the winner as those who follow the form. It is a day when all Australians are considered to have an equal chance on the turf as well as on the lawn.

This year for the first time in its history, the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) advised the general public, that in light of the ongoing situation around government restrictions, as well as the current public health advice, it was not possible to welcome spectators to Flemington Racecourse for the 2020 Melbourne Cup Carnival. Hence, instead of hundreds of thousands in attendance within the racecourse and its grounds, the Cup was run with barely 200 people present.

The winners were:

First: No. 6 TWILIGHT PAYMENT

Second : No. 21 TIGER MOTH

Third: No. 12 PRINCE OF ARRAN

Fourth: No. 17 THE CHOSEN ONE

The very sad thing this year was that one of the horses running was injured (a broken fetlock) and had to be put down.

If you bet, I hope you backed a winning horse. If you are like me, and not a gambler, I hope you had a nice lunch with some ice-cold champagne and delicious food!

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter