Holiday Cheer

The holiday season is winding down, and we topped it off by visiting the temple to see the lights. It was beautiful as always. I am happy to live so near the temple. Tonight is new year's eve and I am eschewing resolutions in favor of looking back briefly to savor this past year. Resolutions sometimes have a faint undertone of implied inadequacy. It is good to set goals and all, but sometimes I need to just remember that while I'm a work in progress, life is good right now. I have a hard enough time staying in an abundance mentaility and counting my blessings. I don't need to dwell too hard on what I don't have because my brain is pretty good at reminding me of what I lack in times of weakness. All the to-do lists for 2007 will come soon enough.

In the meantime, here is my ta-da list for 2006:

Watched my oldest son choose to serve a mission (not really my accomplishment, but I am savoring it nonetheless)
Put an addition on the house (choosing this option instead of buying a bigger house has allowed us to look forward to paying off the house in about 8 more years instead of 20 or 30!)
Finished teaching all four courses of study in seminary
Celebrated my 20th anniversary
Celebrated my 40th birthday
Used the word "celebrated" for both those milestones and meant it!
Made it back to Maine and loved it.
Started teaching my fifth year of seminary
Spent almost 60 hours alone with Eric for the first time in about 7 years.
Made precious new friends
Kept precious old friends
Joined a book club with no meetings and remembered that I am pretty good at reading and writing and thinking about things beyond seminary lessons and my kids' homework!
Continued teaching knitting lessons and at the Stitches conferences
Gained confidence in my photography skills and took opportunities to get better
Enjoyed my family and watched them all grow taller and more beautiful

So, before you jump into next year and start feeling like there's already too much to do, remember what you've accomplished. You're pretty amazing!

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I did not pose these!

Okay, so these are the moments that make all the challenges of mothering worth it. We got our lovely tall Christmas tree yesterday, got out the ornaments, put out the nativities, hung some garland, and generally made the house festive. In the midst of it all, one of the things Evan and Sara paid most attention to was the stack of christmas books that are always under our tree. They get stored all year with the decorations, so they are fresh every year. I started collecting them when Jeff was born. I captured these images yesterday while we were decorating and today after church. It is a sweet thing to catch your child in the glow of a sunbeam, curled up with a good book.

Another moment that gives me hope that I've actually had an influence on my kids happened late last evening. Eric and I got home from a date around 9:30 pm. As we walked into the house, I noticed an enormous ring around the moon. I ran in the house and told the kids there was something cool to see outside. Bless their hearts if they didn't all just come running out, look up and start oohing and ahhing over the moon ring. Johnathan even wanted to take a picture but we couldn't get the tripod set up fast enough and it was gone. They thought it was as cool as I did. They love the skies and sense in them the same messages of love and evidences of God's grandeur that I do. That makes me so happy.

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My Day-Before-December Garden

We've had a rather warm, wet fall, and this morning when I took Evan to school, I found these valiant little flowers blooming away to welcome the winter. A rosebud appeared a while ago and I've been watching it, hoping it might survive. The frost never came, so I present for your enjoyment a bit of lively botanical rebellion among the moldering leaves. These plants are not near each other in my garden, so each one stands alone against the inevitable change of seasons. It has happened before, in our unique climate, that I have had fresh flowers on my Thanksgiving table, so this is not a complete anomaly. On a grey November day, however, even if it is 65 degrees at 8 am, it brings a smile to see flowers blooming.

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After the Storm

We had an apocolyptic storm last night with torrential rain, wind, lightning, thunder, the works. Then it blew out and as the front left, the timing was perfect for the sun to be dipping below the edge of the clouds to set. As is often the case after a storm, the sunset was incredible. An entire half hour of spectacular, ever changing color and light. Here is a little photo essay. This is the sun through the neighbor's trees and looking down the end of the street.






Here is the play of light and shadow to the east as the sun just came under the rim of the storm front. The trees in the foreground are dark and the ones in the back are totally effused in an ethereal golden light that is the closest I can get to alpenglow out here in the flatlands of the east. I'll take it though.







Here is the clearing storm get set ablaze by the sinking sun. I love the sihouette of the trees in front of the drama of the tempest's exit.







The fading blue sky contrasts with the glowing clouds. These pictures just pale in comparison to the real thing. I feel like Emily in Our Town. I just want everyone to enjoy every sunset, every day! Do you realize the beauty outside your window! I know there's not always time, but oh, what a gift to savor every day.







This is another feeble attempt to capture the million different colors of gold the sun turned the sky.










And now the finale. The sky was like this for maybe 2 minutes and then, poof, nothing but grays and blues and darkness. This is on the dark side, but oh, the colors! The reds were so different from the golds of the previous 5 minutes, and the clouds converged in waves as the front passed overhead. The sun catching them from underneath made me feel like I was looking at some magical upside-down sea.






Thank you for your indulgence in my romantic flights of fancy through the sunset. I am renewed every day by the beauty around me, and this was just too good not to share.

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Beauty and Bounty of the Farmer's Market

Well, these are not artistic photos of produce, but it all looks really pretty on my table. I found wonderful colored cauliflowers in purple, orange and the lovliest green. I found brussels sprouts still on the stalk, giant sweet potatoes and potatoes still dusty from being in the ground a few days ago. I love buying local stuff that really is local stuff. I am trying sooooo hard to get my eating to a higher plane. My main birthday present to myself is to lose some weight, and enjoying this kind of beauty is really helpful for me. Haven't written much, but life's been crazy. Now that Stitches is done, things have settled down a bit. The fall continues to hang on and be absolutely beautiful. Last Sunday it was grey and blustery on the way home from church, but the trees on the side of I-95 were the exact color to simply glow against the seemingly drab background. I quite enjoyed the drive with the beautiful leaves standing out in really beautiful contrast to the neutral sky.

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Twenty Years Marked

Here's Eric and I down in Williamsburg by the Pond next to the Governor's Palace. We had a lovely couple of days and I have to say that this is absolutely my favorite picture EVER of Eric and I. I love the setting, Eric looks good, we look like ourselves and I think it shows the peaceful sort of comfort that can come if you just keep working on a relationship.

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All-nighter

When a mother leaves home without her children for any reason, the process can be compared to a space shuttle launch. The preparation involves huge effort focused on escaping from gravity's pull. Most of the fuel is used up for that purpose. Arranging everything so Eric and I can get away tomorrow for exactly 48 hours has taken two weeks of unrelenting effort. But, like the space shuttle, once we break free of the earth's atmosphere, we will be floating free and settle into an orbit that will allow us to enjoy ourselves knowing that everything is just fine down on the surface of the earth. My support network is just about as large as mission control and how grateful I am for Johnathan, my mom, and everyone else that is helping me out. So, tonight as I wait for seminary handouts to print and wrack my brain to come up with something interstesting enough to keep them all awake tomorrow, I thought I'd just relax with a little blogging. I still have two more loads of laundry to do so I am probably just going to stay up all night and sleep in the car. Eric likes to listen to music or the news, so he won't mind. Then, we will be in beautiful, glowing-with-fall-foliage Williamsburg, ensconced in the lap of luxury at the Williamsburg Inn. It's our twentieth anniversary so we are seriously splurging.
Seminary went well this morning and in exactly 5 hours and 30 minutes, we will play catch-phrase to end up the week. This morning, as I was taking Evan to school, the sun was just peeking over the rooftops and through the trees and this is what greeted me from across the street as I walked out the door. To me, it is a little reminder that God is indeed good and that he knows my needs. Seminary is so frustrating sometimes, and asks so much of my family, with little evidence of any success, but then the Lord gives me a moment like this to warm my whole soul.

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Giant Journaling

Tonight was Giant Journaling. It has become harder for me to go because Eric has appointments on Tuesday nights, but tonight he was free, so I could go! Such good women. Such fun to connect like that. It just does my heart good to be around them. I was a good girl and left early so I could come home and get the room set up and finish my lesson, but I'm so glad I got to go. Yesterday was another photo shoot. Guinevere called on Saturday to tell me Cassie is going to the Courthouse to get married on Monday! I was so happy Guinevere asked me so I could congratulate Cassie. I enjoyed it. It was so nice to see Guinevere and her girls. They are all grown up and GORGEOUS!

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Put Your Hands in the Air and Scream!

I'm waiting for the Sunday Ham to cook, Steph's birthday cake is done (We are going over to Mom's as soon as we finish eating) and I am getting ready to make biscuits. I have to time it right, though, so I'll tap out a few thoughts while I wait for the right moment. So, this week was great! A far cry from last week as I sadly chronicled in my other blog. Read it and weep for me.

The week ended up very productively with me getting several projects well on their way to completion, including the knitted womb I am making for my new pal Kris, the ATC's I am making for my one-skein pal Kristin that are too late for the exchange, but oh well, and a return to spinning. I got to go out to dinner with my birthday ladies and go see Nanci Griffith in concert! She was outstanding. I was a teeny tiny bit afraid it would be a protest concert, but she was very classy about expressing her opinions and really let the music speak for itself, so I was not forced to stand up and remind people that NOT all republicans are warmongering, gun-toting, redneck jerks, some are really nice people.

Yesterday I had two classes which went really well because knitters are among the nicest people in the world. Things at home are settled and peaceful for the last few days, and life is just good, even though it was really busy and there were moments when I felt like I was orchestrating a military operation. Overall though, it was a lovely, serendipitous week. Funny how life just goes up and down, eh? Just like a roller coaster. All we can do is put our hands in the air and scream!

Its time for Biscuits. Here is my favorite easy recipe. I use powdered buttermilk and keep it on hand at all times, and it works great.

Tall and Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits
7/2004

We prefer to use low-fat buttermilk in these biscuits, but nonfat buttermilk will work as well (though the biscuits will be a little lighter in texture and flavor). For the highest rise, use a double-acting baking powder, such as Calumet, Clabber Girl, or Davis. Store leftover biscuits in an airtight zipper-lock bag. Reheat by placing them on a baking sheet in a 475-degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes.

Makes 12 biscuits
Nonstick cooking spray

Dough
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups buttermilk cold, preferably low-fat

To Form and Finish Biscuits
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces), distributed in rimmed baking sheet
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted


1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Spray 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. Generously spray inside and outside of 1/4 cup dry measure with nonstick cooking spray.

2. For the dough: In food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda to combine, about six 1-second pulses. Scatter butter cubes evenly over dry ingredients; pulse until mixture resembles pebbly, coarse cornmeal, eight to ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add buttermilk to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated (dough will be very wet and slightly lumpy).

3. To form and bake biscuits:Using 1/4 cup dry measure and working quickly, scoop level amount of dough; drop dough from measuring cup into flour on baking sheet (if dough sticks to cup, use small spoon to pull it free). Repeat with remaining dough, forming 12 evenly sized mounds. Dust tops of each piece of dough with flour from baking sheet. With floured hands, gently pick up piece of dough and coat with flour; gently shape dough into rough ball, shake off excess flour, and place in prepared cake pan. Repeat with remaining dough, arranging 9 rounds around perimeter of cake pan and 3 in center. Brush rounds with hot melted butter, taking care not to flatten them. Bake 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 450 degrees; continue to bake until biscuits are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes longer. Cool in pan 2 minutes, then invert biscuits from pan onto clean kitchen towel; turn biscuits right-side up and break apart. Cool 5 minutes longer and serve.




STEP BY STEP: Shaping the Biscuits

1. Using greased 1/4-cup measure, scoop 12 level portions of dough onto floured baking sheet. Lightly dust top of each biscuit with flour.
2. With floured hands, gently pick up piece of dough, coating outside with flour, shaping it into ball, and shaking off excess flour.

3. Place 9 biscuits snugly around perimeter of pan, then arrange last 3 in center.

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More Photography

Today I did a photo shoot with my nephew. We had a great time and these are my favorite shots. He is a senior and he requested that I do his pictures. I have 2 other requests for photo shoots in the hopper and I have to make some serious decisions about whether to make this a real business or keep pretending. I need to charge more, but I don't see myself as a pro yet. I just enjoy it so much, it seems to good to be true that people would pay me real money. I also feel like I have so much to learn to be good enough to charge money. Sigh...but sheesh, what a dilemma to have. I certainly can't complain. I sure am grateful I get to do ii at all. Take pictures that is. It is amazing to me how my life has unfolded. I can so see how I've been prepared for these times when I can do things I truly enjoy, that have the potential to become actual careers as the kids continue to grow up. Even though I don't have a degree, I feel like I am successful because I've taken time to try and do one thing at a time. The best part is that I still have time. I see women 10 and 15 years older than me with new lives unfolding in glorious splendor. Life really is good.

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Photos, phinally.

Okay, so now it is working. Beta-blogger is having known issues with Safari, but I am having trouble with Firefox, too. Gack! Technology. Anyway, The first is the tranquility that I was able to experience with my pals from Cloverhill as we retreated to the West Virginia woods for a day. Highlights included hearing John Denver's "Country Roads" while I was actually crossing the Shenendoah River with no planning on my part. It was just a delicious moment of serendipity. On the way home, the sky was putting on another incredible change-of-seasons show, and this time I DID have my camera with me, so Sammy snapped this one through the car window. Not bad for 65 miles an hour.

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No photos, sorry

For some reason, blogger beta is not letting me upload photos. I am working on it because I really want to write about the view at the lake at the cottage I got to visit on Monday. It was a day of Ahhhh in the middle of the busy fall. A lovely deep breath to energize me for a while. I am continuing to enjoy fall even though today it is raining cats and dogs. Its all good because the moisture will help the trees to have better color instead of just going straight to brown and dead and falling off in despair. More later when I can include some images.

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This past week has seen that subtle but wonderful shift in the light, the feel of the air on my face and the colors all around me that signifies the autumnal equinox has actually occurred. Today on the way home from church we noticed a tree beginning to change color. It is so incredible to me that the world works so perfectly. It is to me an evidence that there actually is an organization to all this. It just can't be random. As I sat at Evan's soccer practice on Tuesday after my run, the sky danced through the most beautiful sunset I've seen in a while. This picture shows the last faded vestiges of the incredible blaze of glory that I saw about 10 minutes earlier. Imagine this view except in living breathing pink, purple and orange pulsating across the entire sky in waves like liquid fire. More evidence that I simply should NOT go anywhere without a camera.

The equinox also is a signal to me that things really are settling down from the wild, wonderful abandon of summer. It is time to pull in a little, focus inward a bit and get ready for the total introspection and rest of winter. I love the rythmn of the seasons, can you tell?

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New York, New York

I wanna be a part of it-New York, New Yo-ork...Bah bah badada, bah bah badada, bah bah badada dum...
This past weekend, my dear friend Guinevere put together a sort of reunion weekend so that all her good friends who had never met could finally meet. So, it was not a re-union, it was a union. I guess. Anyway, it was delightful. I had met Jane, who used to be G's roomate and also finally got to meet Krissy, whose name I have known for many years. It was so nice to put names with faces and enjoy the fact that when you have a friend in common, it is a very good chance you will become friends yourselves. K and I hit it off and I hope I will be able to stay in touch with her. Jane is lovely and actually remembered me even though I think we've only met once. Guinevere and I haven't had the chance to spend that much time together in a while, so that was special.
New York was Fab! in two days I ate myself around the world at La Bottega (Italian brunch to die for), Le Pere Penard (wonderful down-to-earth French), HSF in Chinatown (Dim Sum-if you've never "done" dim sum, try it out), MarieBelle for Iced Hot Chocolate (mine had cardamom in it-and I thought chocolate really couldn't get any better) and then finally a little Vietnamese place in Chinatown (chicken curry that was so, so good). It was so much fun to drive around NY with natives who knew all the non-touristy places to go and could drive around without ever once looking at a map. We did try to get into Serendiptity, the famous dessert spot (check out the movie of the same name with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale-it is a cute love story), but it was crammed and our native guides were not interested in waiting 2 hours for a table. We concurred, so I bought the recipe book so I can try some of their more famous dishes. We did not get to see the temple or ground zero or anything really famous, but as I said, I liked walking around just feeling the vibe. We did go see Spamalot which was laugh-out-loud funny. We also got to see Lenny Kravitz's actual recording studio because K's hubby Dave is part of Lenny's production team. Way cool.

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Seminary and the computer lives!

Well, seminary is off to a pretty good start. I have 20 attending regularly. Brent tried for a couple of days then gave up. That broke my heart a little, but he may let me work with him on a home-study basis. That would be a good thing. The other good news is that my computer has come back to life. The geniuses at the Apple Genius Bar backed it up for me and saved most everything. Then I (gulp) wiped the hard drive clean and started from scratch. I have had to spend a lot of time rebuilding things. The worst thing I lost was my music library from itunes. I did NOT lose the music, just the database overlay. So, definitely not the end of the world, but it has been a little arduous reconstructing all my playlists. I started a new playlist while I was working in Itunes. It is for Jeff Lowry for him to listen to while he undergoes treatment for his cancer. He is so dear to me and I was so touched by the mix my pal Corinne gave me that I thought I'd try to pass that same feeling on to Jeff. Off to finish my lesson...4:30 comes early.

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Waxing Poetic for My 40th Birthday

Sunshine on My Shoulders
So, my other blog is supposed to be all about knitting and I felt conflicted when I would want to just write. So, here I will just write. I will post my poems, my photos that have nothing to do with knitting and maybe I'll relax and do a better job at updating and enjoying my blog. The name comes from the song by John Denver that still makes me feel warm and safe and happy. It was part of the soundtrack of my childhood and hearing it gives me a physical sensation of everything being all right. As I strive to be an optimist in spite of my perfectionistic, negative, uptight tendencies, this will help remind me. My 40th birthday was last Wednesday the 23rd, and it passed me by quietly and gently. I worked on my personal history, wrote letters to my kids, and made a musical retrospective of my life. That was fun. The next night I had a party for my other 40is girlfriends, most of whom I've known for the majority of my married life, or at least since we've lived here. It was a quiet party with chatting about real life with real women that I love. It was the perfect way to celebrate being 40.

Significance

today. a milestone
many call significant.
is it the sign I have arrived
somewhere?
finished something?
or is it just a single grain of time
from among inummerable sands-
no more precious
than any other?
I would sing about
ordinary days
gotten through with
ordinary grace
and not mark time
as though i am only
waiting.
I was already somewhere
yesterday,
and today I am here.
tomorrow's
significance will happen simply
because I will be there.

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