New Year's 2013

New Year's bells are beginning to ring around the world as I write my New Year's resolutions, once again. So many things in 2012 had us feeling dismayed,  devastated, and hopeless from "forces"greater than ourselves which, after the trauma settles, can bring insight that life is precious indeed, and that many things are beyond our control in this world that we want to be hopeful about, but also must  maintain a sense of the reality, that anything can occur to change our life as we know it, and expect it to be. So, can we move forward today with hope for a good new year? I suppose that this is a question that each of us must answer for him/herself....knowing that just as things can go awry, so too can they surprise and delight. I am hoping for more of the latter. I really do not have much on my resolution list this year. I was disappointed with last year's resolution to feed the winter birds, and after great effort to do so, had the squirrels get to the feeders first. Ugh! For this coming year, I do want to "get on board" to perform (at least) 26 acts of kindness in memory of those who died in Connecticut. This was a suggestion by Ann Curry; formally of the TODAY SHOW (why in the world did they ever let her go???) which I saw on T.V. Generally, I am hoping for more kindness in the world all around, and of course, it must begin with each of us. Once again, poetry speaks to me and I recently came across a poem by James Kavanaugh that reflects my emotions and mood at this time when, yes, time passes and options disappear and love means more.

As time passes and options disappear
Love means more, and sunsets
I want to stroll across green hills
More than to climb mountains
Lately I listen more to the stars
Wise and patient in their silent staring
What is an hour or a year?
What is a week or a lifetime?
What is time?
When love means more,
And sunsets.
Wishing all who read this BLOG many many moments of kindness, peace, love and joy.

Newtown, Connecticut Tragedy

Today is December 18, 2012, and I certainly, like the rest of the world, did not anticipate that I would be grieving for the community of Newtown, Connecticut. Actually, I do not even want to write this BLOG, but my heart says that I must in order, in my very small way, honor those brave people who now must go on with their lives, forever changed. I want them to know that I grieve with them even though I cannot begin to feel the depth of hurt they must feel for the losses they have experienced. "As if the soul's fullness didn't sometimes overflow into the emptiest of metaphors for,no one, EVER, can give the exact measure of his needs, his apprehensions, or his sorrows; and human speech is like a cracked cauldron on which we bang out tunes that make bears dance, when we want to move the stars to pity." (Flaubert)  I am also thinking of the ancient words of Seneca (4 B.C-A.D.65) who said, in a letter to Lucilius, "Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." It will take great courage to continue to live, and go on in this community, and the families there will need our thoughts and prayers for a very long time. As many of you know, I have a great love of poetry, and sometimes, poetry speaks the words we ourselves cannot say; they often convey a feeling we have within us that wants to express itself, and today, I reread John Donne's poem, "No Man is an Island," and it helped me with what I am feeling. For this reason, I wish to share it here.

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND  by John Donne (1572-1631) London, England

No man is an island,
Entire of itself
Each is a piece of the continent
A part of the main
If a clod be washed away by the sea
Europe is the less
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend were.
Each man's death diminishes me
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

Today, the world, and the people who inhabit it, are surly diminished by the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.
 

IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS???

Every year at this time, my husband carries up from the basement, the very large and heavy box of my Christmas book collection. These books are treasures that I read and look at each Christmas season, and something that brings me great joy. I, of course, have my favorites, and this morning I was reading The New Yorker Christmas book collection, and laughing again at all the Christmas cartoons through the years. I have the usual; The Night Before Christmas and The Grinch (an actual autographed edition) and various editions of A Christmas Story, but my absolute favorite of all time is the little gem of the story of Virgina who wrote to the New York Sun Times because she was beginning (at age eight) to have doubts about the reality of Santa Claus. She wrote to the Sun Times because her father told her that, "if you see it in the Times, it's so." Virginia says in her letter, "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?" I am guessing that most of you are familiar with this famous letter to the New York Sun Times, sent by Virgina, but each Christmas, when I reread it, I grasp a little more of the meaning so I want to share here, the answer that The Sun Times wrote to Virgina. I absolutely love it!

" Virginia, your little friends are wrong (who were telling her there was no Santa.) They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical  age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas, how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in Fairies! You might get your Papa to hire men to watch in chimneys on Christmas evening to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see Fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside the curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world, there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus? Thank God, he lives and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virgina, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

And, I hasten to add that Helen Keller had this very same "take" on the world when she said, "The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

So there you are; I believe in Santa Claus and all the other "things" in life that bring me great joy and an everlasting sense of wonder.

 

Thanksgiving, 2012

                                   Wild turkeys, September, Evergreen Park, (near my house)

I do not have to do much, after getting out of bed, to have lots to be thankful for....Just getting out of a warm comfortable bed after a good night's sleep is enough, but then I wander into the kitchen, put on the coffee, and turn up the heat on this chilly morning. Electricity....oh yea! And then I go out to the driveway to pick up the newspaper to read about the many conflicts around the world, and again, count my many blessings. Just to be able to look out my back window and see beautiful green grass, pine trees, and the last colors of fall in the trees is a gift that I seldom think about. But when I compare it with the war-torn areas that children have to look at (bombed-out building and rubble), and the fear in their hearts everyday....I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving. I used to tell my girls that, at the end of the day, if they could not think of anything to be thankful for, be thankful that you are not a headline on the front page of the newspaper. Enough said!
When I was growing up, Thanksgiving in our house was a dress-up affair. Even as adults, we came together, the men in suits and ties, women in skirts and dresses and children in their best outfits. Thanksgiving was special then, and honored as an important day to come together with family, share a meal , and give thanks. It also included board games for the kids, naps for the adults and football for the men. How the times have changed! Today, you can hurry through dinner in a very short time after spending hours preparing, so that you can get to the mall to begin your Christmas shopping. At first, I was horrified by this idea, but then I had to rethink. Many, many families today do not have the kind of  "ideal" Thanksgiving that I had growing up, and still enjoy today; going out to the Barclay farm where Mike remembers going to his grandparents as a kid, and enjoying good family time together. Today, with fragmented families, struggling economies and worries that make you weary, many families are grateful for the distraction of going to shop and get a bargain. It is an event, and something to do that might be fun. I lament that the special traditions that make this day special are losing their importance, but I understand it. I grew up in the 50ies when marriage was solid, kids were welcome, churches were attended, and family was valued more than anything. It was a way of life that we may not see again. Just this morning I read in our newspaper that "non-traditional" families are more prevalent than the families of not so long ago. There are blessings to be had in those families as much as any but they just might choose to celebrate those blessings differently. So, let us all be thankful in our own way this Thanksgiving for the many blessings that we  share in this democratic, free and safe country of ours. Those things alone are worth bowing our heads in the greatest appreciation of all. Happy Thanksgiving !

This has been a very heavy week for many in the U.S. The east coast was slammed with Hurricane Sandy, and half the country is disappointed (and angry)with the outcome of the national election. Overall, the country is in a funk with so much concern with our future and which way the country is going. Most immediately, the financial cliff is hanging over every one's head. With all of this negative "stuff" swirling around my head, I try to find something positive to focus on, and so I go to my little book, "Fourteen Thousand Things to be Happy About," and brouse the pages for things that jump out at me as treasures or moments of joy in my life; things to be happy about ...most of them free! I chose things that are seasonal right now, and there are plenty!

  

 

 

* Putting out a winter bird feeder and watching the birds fly in and out.

* Taking back roads to see the colors.

*Wrapping up in warm blanket in front of the fireplace.

* Holiday table linens, and decorations.

* Hot tea afternoons.

* A good pot of delicious chili.

* Country stores.

* Brisk chill of October morning.

* Seeing deer in the timber.

* Piled leaves (to jump in) that I did not rake.

* Giving thanks

*The last summer tomatoes baked with breadcrumbs.

* Thinking about pumpkin pie and pecan pies.

*Orange sunsets over the empty fields (beautiful one just last night)

* Hot chocolate on a cold day.

* Apples and apple cider, and apple pie.

* Canadian geese flying south.

* Family traditions.

* Earth tones.

* A trip to Chicago to see the lights and store windows.

* Home-made soups in big kettle on the stove.

* The first snow....

* Fresh-made cranberry sauce.

These are just a few of my favorites and I am sure that all of you have others that you treasure as well. How very blessed we are to live in a country where we are free to enjoy them all.

 

 

 

Here comes Halloween again, and this is the closest picture I had that somewhat resembled a pumpkin....As a kid, this was one of my favorite holiday, just behind Christmas, I think. I think what made it so special was: taking on a different persona, getting to stay out after dark (often on a school night), and getting ALL that candy. What could be better? And as I said in a previous BLOG, I was attired in a home-made costume created by my artistic mother who could also sew, certainly a lost art today! What is staggering for me to find out is that Halloween is the second biggest spending event in this country (Christmas is the biggest) and Americans spend over six billion dollars on events, costumes and candy! Eek! To think it started way back  when a Celtic festival was enacted to feed and ward off the dead who, they believed, came back this one night as ghosts. They dressed in disguise (costumes) to hide from these ghosts, and provided them with treats. This holiday also became, in the Catholic Church, All Hallow's Eve, and the next day is recognized as All Saints Day. The Jack-o-lantern also has its history steeped in Irish tradition where the peop[e first carved large turnips and potatoes to signify the end of harvest. Most important today, pumpkins are used and can also be eaten (pumpkin seeds are delicious roasted in the oven) providing a good source of Vitamin A and D. So, enjoy the day and evening and don't let anything scare you; life is scary enough!

Grandchild Ninja Ben

 

Grandchild "Cheerless Leader" Sara

 

Autuum, 2012

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted something on my BLOG! My computer gave out sometime in early September, and after spending 2 hours on the phone with our Provider with no results, I gave up. It sat dormant for quite awhile with me trying to see if it worked now and then, and thru some miracle, it just started working again! I don't hesitate, once again ,to say what a mystery computer are to me! It is all magic as far as I know!  And speaking of "magic," today I drove out into the country to enjoy the Fall foliage, and what a show! Fall is such a magnificent time of the year with all the amazing colors.....one of the earth's greatest gifts, I think. Fall is also the time of year when I get a little nostalgic about all the things I love about this time of year. And here are some of my favorites. What are yours?

I love to watch the Canadian geese in their V formations, honking across the sky..heading south, I suppose. I love the earth tones of Fall; the snap of Fall in the air and the crunch and wrestle of the leaves as you go walking through the woods. Home-made soups, apple pies and hot cider are favorites! I love to see the crops of corn and soybeans out here in the country turn their different colors until it is finally time to harvest. I love finding bird nests in the trees after all the leaves have fallen. I love apple orchards, home-coming parades (we live in a town with two major universities) and football games.

"Sleeping in" on a cool crisp morning with a window open, and seeing a big round harvest moon almost takes my breath away. Awesome sunsets over the empty cornfields are not bad either! Seeing deer in the woods and listening to the leaves fall from the trees is a delight along with a trip down a winding road to buy fresh maple syrup, special tea for the winter, pumpkins and apples at the country stores .I never want this season to end when I finally relent and bring out the hats, gloves and scarves for winter. Bah humbug! And this year, I am disappointed that The Cincinnati Reds will not be playing in the World Series. I was so sure they would. Oh well, maybe next year.  I am sure that we all have special Fall moments that fill up our senses and speak to our souls; what are yours?