
Archives: 2019
Annabel Lee

Annabel Lee
by Edgar Allan Poe
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
3 Million

Sometime in the middle of last night, I surpassed 3 million page views in my blog. In its 9 year history, this is a milestone. I know for more famous blogs, this is a tiny milestone, but when I started this blog 9 years ago, I didn’t think anyone would read it. I never thought I’d have 370 regular followers. I didn’t think anyone would care about my esoteric knowledge of history, my posts in religion or poetry, let alone would they care anything about my life. Over the past nine years, I have met some wonderful people through this blog. Some have come and gone, some have passed away, others have stayed and we’ve become even better friends. Y’all have helped me through some of the most difficult times in my life and for that I am truly grateful. Thank you for checking out this blog and following the ups and downs of my life. May we have many more years together.
Sleep Study

I’d been told that I would not get the results back for 5-6 weeks; however, a doctor from the clinic called urgently yesterday to tell me I had sleep apnea. Apparently, it is severe sleep apnea with events occurring over 100 times a minute. At night, my blood oxygen level drops dramatically. The good news is that it comes back to normal as soon as I start breathing again. She was going to call the medical supply company and get me set up to get a CPAP as soon as possible. People keep telling me that this could be a miracle life changer. We’ll see. However, studies have shown that obstructive sleep apnea is a cause of hypertension, headaches, memory loss, high blood glucose levels, and a myriad of other health conditions. As I said, we’ll see, and I’ll keep you informed.
New Heart

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (KJV) ( Ezekiel 36:26 )
Does being “good enough” for God feel impossible? The truth is, on our own we can never do enough good to measure up to God’s standards. God realizes our great need for Him! When we accept Him into our lives, He graciously offers us a new heart and spirit. It’s only by His strength we can serve our great God!













