The kiss you brushed
across the back of my neck
as you walked out the door for work
stayed with me all day.
Everyday Valentine
14 Friday Feb 2014
Posted in Poetry, Uncategorized
Waiting
12 Wednesday Feb 2014
Posted in Poetry, Uncategorized
Snow Day Reprise
03 Monday Feb 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
It’s that sort of winter. The kind we haven’t had for years, so we were due. Here comes another snow day, and I never, EVER get tired of the unplanned bonus of a day at home. When I was a child we would listen to the radio announcing school closings one by one (it didn’t take long with a handful of districts in the county) and cheer when we heard our school announced. (Although it’s possible that my mother may have shed a tear of quiet desperation in a corner somewhere at the thought of the six of us home and snow-bound). I still feel that same childish joy at being handed an unexpected day to be at home. Between work emails and phone calls, there’s time to do the things that I never seem to get time to do. So what to do with a snow day?
Paint stuff. This week I bought some very cool Porcelaine 150 paints from Pebeo. Once baked in the oven, the paint is supposed to be dishwasher and microwave-proof. I’m practicing on some cheap mugs. Next up: my Salvation Army porcelain chocolate pot.
Nap. These guys already know the best use of a snow day.
Make music. My band September Crossing is back in the rehearsal groove again after the holidays, and I have lots of music to learn!
Be still. Watch the snow accumulate. It’s hypnotic, and restful.
Snowfall
21 Tuesday Jan 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
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Eight inches of snow isn’t much where I grew up, but here it grinds things to a halt, and after the flurry of phone calls and texts in the wee hours of the morning, deciding whether to open my agency (Will clients show? Do we want staff on the roads? How much money will we lose and is it worth the risk?) things quiet down and the snow accumulates. Sounds are muffled. The animals snooze. I watch the snow fall, hypnotic and beautiful. I snooze. Candles flicker. Peace.
Anniversary Celebrations
12 Sunday Jan 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
Today is our 12th wedding anniversary. In fact, I’m writing this at 5:00 PM, the exact time twelve years ago when we were walking down the aisle as the winter sun set through the windows of a candle-filled church.
Today I found the packet of memorabilia from our wedding planning. Our cake was delicious–lemon, raspberry and chocolate silk fillings in various layers. Our napkins were wrapped in monogrammed paper rings, and guests were given tiny boxes of creamy Wilbur chocolate buds.
I don’t have a recording of the quartet who sang the meditative winter hymn that we chose, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence , but I’ll leave you with this peaceful rendition from John Michael Talbot. Happy anniversary to the love of my life, my husband. Here’s to growing old together!
Taking Down The Tree
12 Sunday Jan 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
(A post from 1/11/14 that failed to upload, so here it is, a day late)
Today didn’t feel like the best of days to take down the tree, what with a flood watch and driving rain and wind and all. The cheerful lights help to dispel the gloom, but it is the second weekend in January. Besides, my ornament storage box arrived this week, so I had no excuse to put off dismantling the tree.
Made from cardboard and easily assembled, this eight-drawer box holds 165 ornaments. We have a lot of ornaments, but there’s still room to grow. It’s ridiculous how happy something this simple makes me, but it’s so nice to be able to store everything in one place! I started acquiring ornaments in the mid-80s, and my collection includes a lace crocheted angel and spun glass balls from my years in Richmond, and many fun, funky and beautiful ornaments from my sister to our family, including moon faces and sparkly ribbon candy. We have a felted ball picked up at an art gallery one Christmas while in Chattanooga. Most recently we bought a black glass bat in Greenwich Village.
When I first moved to Lancaster, “dusty rose” carpet was in vogue, so rather than fight it I decorated my first ever tree in pink and green balls, and sparkly pink glass bells. Shortly after that I moved again, and having acquired furniture in pale greens and blues, my trees for a few years were blue, green & purple, always with white lights. After marrying, I added strings of the colorful lights that my husband likes, and our tree has gradually become a sparkling, brilliant tree chock-full of every ornament we own.
Lately I’ve begun to collect owl ornaments. Now they are all tucked into their assigned drawer, waiting for next year!
An Excellent Start
01 Wednesday Jan 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
So far, 2014 has much to recommend it. My husband the chef made me omelettes, the mimosas are fresh and delicious, I have an excellent book in hand (The Golem and the Jinni,) and there is a promise of snow on the horizon. Outstanding!
Winter Rain
29 Sunday Dec 2013
Posted in Uncategorized
A few degrees cooler and we’d have snow, but instead rain drips off the eaves and forlorn geese honk overhead in their endless migration from pond to pond. With candles lit and tree lights sparkling, leftover Christmas carries us through the winter gloom to New Year’s Day.
All is Calm, All Is Bright
26 Thursday Dec 2013
Posted in Uncategorized
Just before midnight on this Christmas Day
I’m reminiscent of my childhood Christmases.
Some years there was a gumdrop tree on the buffet in the dining room, spiced gumdrops like sparkling jewels on the thorny branches cut from the woods, oh so tempting to tiny fingers (the gumdrops, not the thorns).
At night we lay in bed, listening to the rustle of stockings being filled, the red mesh kind with candy cane striping around the edge. And in the morning, a giant Big Jim candy cane would be tucked in each one, big enough to last for days.
Some years the porch was rimmed with chunky colorful Christmas bulbs, and some years the train set ran around the base of the tree.
After church the deacons would stand at the front doors of the sanctuary, which opened out into blinding white snow, and hand us each an orange (a special treat in those days) and a candy cane as we headed home.
It doesn’t take much to enchant a child. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Early Morning Bliss
08 Sunday Dec 2013
World So Sweet 