A WINTER'S TALE

Remember Murphy's Law? "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

I wonder if Murphy's Law can be blamed for events that happen decades apart? Or even, {gasp} repealed?

Back in the day, when I had a birthday party every year (about 40 years ago), my great friend of now over 50 years welcomed us to her house--made quiche, poured the wine, and I think we even had a cake. Or maybe it was pie--whatever. We tried to schedule the event on the weekend before my birthday. Had an ice storm. Rescheduled it to the weekend after. Went okay that year. The following year, the ice storm being expected before the big day, we slated the party for the weekend after. Yup, you guessed it--ice storm.

We're not talking a tenth of an inch here--these were your wholesale, pull out all the stops kind of ice storms. (I do hope Jan enjoyed the quiche and wine when no guests showed up.)

So what does Murphy have to do with all this? Thank you for asking--I'll tell you.

This past weekend, on Saturday, we had a Zoom birthday party, courtesy of COVID. I had guests from my college days, family, and church folks. They couldn't do much about helping with the carrot cake (which was delicious, by the way), but they were available for visiting and sharing their lives with each other. (The gallery thing that Zoom does is fantastic!)

Was there an ice storm? No, there wasn't. Will there be one this weekend? Probably not.

So we have here the repeal of Murphy's crazy Law--if something can go right, it will--eventually. Maybe 30 or 40 years later, but it'll finally make it.

We discovered singing together wasn't a good idea--research showed that the kind of homegrown Zoom meeting we planned was likely to produce feedback from all parties and echoing and I don't know what-all. My daughter found a Happy Birthday song on the 'web that we played for everyone to hear--a chorus singing to the tune of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." We ended with that!

Now THAT was a celebration!

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Thus I am now well and truly feted and can say with great relief, I've had a lovely birthday party. The cake was delicious (some of it's in the freezer--carrot cake is heavy, rich, and known to put on a pound per slice--I think that's what I heard). I have a bevy of greeting cards from various family and friends that I can read over and over; some of them even said nice things about me! And best of all, I have great memories. Not to mention a recording of the Zoomed party.

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The ice storm, so-called, finally came Monday night and on into Tuesday. If you can call a tenth of an inch of ice a storm. I stayed inside both days, went out again on my own yesterday, and though the air was cold, the sun shone and roads and walks were clear. Never thought it'd be fun to visit the Coumadin Clinic and then buy a few groceries.

Now that all the excitement has moved on to somebody else's house, I'm back to some of my neglected tasks:

--sorting a box or two or three of papers and books that managed to hide themselves in the garage for several months (some of them for years)

--finishing a sofa throw so I can curl up and watch videos in the cold winter months

--sewing lap quilts and some slightly larger quilts for other folks; once I get a stack ready, I'll contact a couple of people who said they know who might take them

--reading. Yes, I admit it--I've neglected my reading. The 50 Books in a Year project is going well, but I'm nearly bogged down in book 2 of Connie Willis's World War II time-travel epic; this one is 691 pages (previous volume was only 491 pages). But I'm determined to finish it. In the meantime, when I can't handle any more bombings and air raid shelters, I have a couple of fairly tame murder mysteries by Colin Dexter (who created Inspector Morse).

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And now that February is nearly upon us, it's the traditional time to think about gardens, and planting things, and getting the landscaping company out to do clean-up and see if we need new mulch. Thinking time. Dreaming time.

Birthdays in my family abound--two more in January, two in February (plus a friend), two more in March, then one each in April, couple in May, June, couple in July, one in August. Plus friends. Then we begin again in the fall. We do our best to keep the greeting card companies in business. (This is another type of economic stimulus.)

Winter may slow us down, keep us inside more times than not, but life sure doesn't grind to a halt. Hope you find plenty to do while you're waiting for warmer days.

Until then, blessings to all!

NEW BEGINNINGS

Yesterday, January 20th, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States, along with Kamala Devi Harris as vice-president (first female VP, first Asian American VP). They're making a new beginning. Our country is making a new beginning.

In a couple of days, I'll start my ninth decade. (Remember? Age 80 means the end of the 8th decade; please don't get confused.) On Saturday I'll celebrate being 80 with a Zoom party--a couple of hours in the AM, then a couple more in the PM. Cake, candles, and singing at 5 PM. COVID isn't going to keep us from having a party!

So I'm making a new beginning also. Besides the one on January 1st, I always begin a new year with my birthday. And again in the fall when school starts, and that's my real, true, and personal New Year. (Not a religious thing, just a feeling that life starts up again when school doors open.) And no, I'm not really 160--the new-year starts are more metaphorical or philosophical or just plain "because I want to."

Last time we met I suggested some words for us to consider for the coming year. I listed only seven words, and there are so many more--you can easily find a word that conjures up meaning for you and your situation.

I've pretty much come down to Think and Create. Maybe I'll choose both . . . Thinking is always a good thing to do, and I certainly do a lot of it when I'm working on a novel. Creating is my personal favorite, but without Thinking, the Creating part would be sadly without substance. Or maybe just more difficult. Possibly even impossible!

So--Think and Create.

Here's my agenda for the months to come:

--finish some quilt Works in Progress (WIPs); several of these are to be given away to folks who need them. I finally got a line on a couple of places to donate finished items.

--finish the novella I'm currently writing (slowly); it's a mystery and is part of a series of short stories and novellas featuring The Rev. Dr. Abercrombie as the sleuth. After I finish this one, I can go back to writing other stories.

--try to complete some knitted items; tendinitis limits the amount of time I can spend with needles in hand, clicking away.

--stick to my goal of reading 50 books this year. So far, January is going well--I've managed 4 books in 4 weeks, and one of those was 491 pages! The other three were considerably shorter.

--stick to another goal--personal fitness. I now have an exercise bike at home, and I've done yoga for years with CDs from a class I used to attend and DVDs I've purchased. Health is a priority at my house.

--try something new--revive my watercolor painting (lapsed for several years), try mixed media art and make greeting cards or small "paintings."

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Next time we meet I'll be 80 years and 5 days of age. A great place to be!

Blessings, one and all!

Make mine carrot cake!

 A NEW WORD FOR A NEW YEAR

The tradition of choosing a personal Word to Live By has probably been around since Moses was a pup. But it got a new lease on life a few years back (I covered that a couple of years ago so I won't go into it again)--now it's by way of becoming a tradition as firmly established as New Year's Resolutions. I do hope choosing a word won't fall into disrepute, though; resolutions have gotten a bad rep and though people try to refurbish them, dust them down, and call them something else, like Intentions or Goals, they still have a little of the old taint about them.

So, forget Resolutions, Intentions, and Goals. Pick your Word.

Go ahead, pick one. If you don't think it'll work, put it back in the pile and select another one. There are no rules when you're playing this hand. 

Here are some to consider:

LOVE - as in, love God; love your neighbor; love yourself

ACCEPT - think St. Francis--accept the things you cannot change

PEACE - a longing many of us have--peace in the world, peace in our lives, peace in our souls

JOY - where has all the Joy gone? Let's do a treasure hunt and find it. Then we can embrace it and allow it to fill our lives, give it away, spread it around.

BELIEVE - this has come to be a biggie over the past few years--Believe is on every pillow, wall hanging, and tea towel, not to mention tee-shirts, doggie sweaters, and soap. Believe in something bigger than yourself. Also, believe in yourself--and in your family--and in your neighbors--and . . . .

THINK - thinking is a great DIY project to start at the new year--amazing what kind of thing you can make using your imagination and the brain cells you already have on hand.

CREATE - your choice--something physical (like a painting, a poem, a set of shelves), something intangible (like space for new ideas in your life, ways to keep in touch with others during difficult times); something for others, something for yourself

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There you have it--seven words. Feel free to take one, pass them along; or find your own. Mine isn't the only deck to work with.

I'll give the final word to Mother Theresa:

     "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."

Blessings for a new year!

HERE WE GO!

It came! 2021 arrived on schedule, amid subdued hoop-la and celebration.

Today is the 7th day of January, so we've been living in a new year for six full days. How did yours go?

At our house, it was business as usual--cooking, eating, clearing up; doing laundry, folding and putting away clean stuff; shopping for food and other essentials. Filling the gas tanks of the two vehicles so they're road-ready.

Then--the clothes dryer quit. It turned on, hummed a little, but the drum didn't turn. That was the first, and fortunately rather minor, catastrophe in this new year. My son ordered parts for us and he plans to stop by and do the repairs.   

Okay, not a huge problem. Next, we had plans for my Ohio daughter to spend the day with us, since getting together as a family of 15-20 wasn't an option. The day she was to drive over, a 50-minute trip, the weather dumped snow and freezing rain on her area and on ours. Hm. Have to rethink that one. No other days were available on her end because she was going back to work after the holiday shut-down. 

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On the plus side:

--I finished a nap quilt for the daughter who lives with me. She plans to carry it around like Linus in the Peanuts comic strips, though I suspect it'll live on her bed most of the winter. 

--Had my bedroom/library cleaned--books and shelves dusted, everything (and I do mean everything) vacuumed. Wonderful how nice it is to have a totally clean room, even more so because I didn't have to do it myself!

--Got a tentative schedule arranged for riding my exercise bike; need to work in 10-20 minutes of yoga soon. Walking outside isn't for me--besides the cold, walking creates a pain in my back and hip that doesn't want to go away. Walking at the Y on an indoor track was no help, hence the exercise bike. It works both arms and legs and I get a little more oxygen into my system. I think that's called a win-win. I'll take it.

--Started a 50-Book Challenge with my daughter for this year. That's about a book a week, right? Already I'm behind, having not quite finished my first one, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. But there's still today, the 7th day of the new year.

--Ordered a couple more books from our Evergreen program; they're in transit. They'll fill the weeks nicely.

--Also ordered Season 5 of Shetland, a police procedural series our family likes. 

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Looking ahead:

--My kids are giving me a virtual birthday party for my 80th. Almost as much trouble to plan as the traditional thing! But on the bright side--no clean up afterward; I can take a nap between the two sessions on Zoom; and I can visit with whoever shows up. Plus--plus!--if the weather is its usual cranky self (ice storms on the weekends before and after my birthday have wiped out many a birthday party), I can still celebrate.

--The guys who do my house repairs will be coming this week to do a few small jobs--new doorbell, new smoke alarms, resize a shelf in my quilting studio.

--If the weather becomes typically January wintry, I can read more--quilt more--write more. May even get back to knitting.

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My mother had a favorite saying: "Whatever you do on New Year's, you'll do all year through." Scary thought, that. I always tried to avoid cleaning house, doing dishes, cleaning up kids' and dogs' messes. Didn't always work, but the spirit was willing.

Hope your new year is starting off well, and that you're doing things you enjoy.

Blessings!

 END-OF-YEAR THOUGHTS

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. Oprah Winfrey

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Hal Borland

Wishing you blessings heaped up and overflowing for the new year! See you next time!

Thursday's Child

 FOUR GIFTS

[This year Thursday's Child is again visiting you on Christmas Eve. I reread this post from a few years ago and realized--it is exactly right for this year of 2020 madness.]

Today is Christmas Eve. Gift-giving is a tradition at this season. We’ve searched for just the right thing for Aunt Susie, ordered what we hope will tickle our grandchild, maybe even made some gifts for special people.

If I could give each of you a gift, I’d wrap up four nice boxes and in each one there would be a word you could treasure the rest of your life.

In the first box I’d put Hope. Without hope in our lives, we can grow afraid of the future. It all looks bleak. Or endless nothing. Or terrifying. But with hope, we can see something greater than the fears we live with.

In the second box I’d put Peace. My favorite definition is on a mug I use to drink tea each day. It reads: “Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

In the third box I’d put Joy. A few days ago I read in a small devotional book this thought: “Joy feels deeper than momentary pride, satisfaction, or relief. . . . A sense of joy brings deep contentment and is often expressed by gratitude for what we’ve been given.” (Lelanda Lee, author)

And in the fourth box I’d put Love. Love encompasses Hope; it brings Peace; and underneath all Joy you’ll find Love.

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Have a Happy Christmas!

 ADJUSTING TO THE 

UNEXPECTED

I've always thought I did pretty well at going with the flow--not following every trend and fad that popped up, but when things didn't go my way, I could adjust--refigure my path--try a new way, so I could keep on an even keel. (Forgive my mixed metaphors.)

This year just ending, 2020, which many are calling the COVID Year, seemed to evolve in new ways every whipstitch--one week it was all right to meet in small groups, a few days later, forget about meeting in face-to-face groups, turn on your Zoom. And so on. You remember.

After adjusting the adjustments, time and again, I've come to see that it can all be summarized this way: KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Not a new thought, right? We've had that bit of advice around for several years. 

Here's how it's playing out right now:

Christmas Preparation

Online shopping, get things mailed to me (or to the recipient). The Post Office will pick up as well as deliver, so I don't have to schlep big packages downtown.

Or, forget shopping. Write checks. Withdraw cash to put in cards. Buy gift cards to various stores and mail them to recipients.

Decorating--I've never put up outdoor stuff. My neighbors do enough to make a good display in our one-block-long neighborhood. Instead, I let Mother Nature decorate for me with new-fallen snow (yesterday morning was a good starter), bushes with red berries on them, evergreens (no adornments needed). Minimalist is more my style.

Indoor decorating--not much room for a tree to fill the front window, so my daughter and I decorate two small pencil trees (each about 30 inches tall) and place them on either side of the fireplace. Since the fireplace is not in operation, they're perfectly safe. They're prelighted, and we add a handful of colorful balls, bells, and ribbons. Quilt batting around the bases does the faux snow thing.

Cooking & Treats--a vexed subject. I used to make large veggie trays to take to folks who have helped me throughout the year. Made my own Skinny Dip. Delivered the goods early in December, preferably before the 10th. Everyone who received a tray loved the idea of fewer calories, though I suspect they really were thankful they didn't have to clean all those veggies.

This year? Prepping veggies would have involved my wearing a mask and vinyl gloves while working with the food. Since I make six or more big trays, I'd be working under a handicap for a long period of time. (Try doing quick work with your hands in gloves and your glasses fogged over from breathing under a mask. Uh-huh, no fun, right?)

My adjustment? Redo the menu. A bag of mandarin oranges, a package of string cheese (each string is individually wrapped), and a box of fancy crackers divided into several snack bags. (One box of crackers divided while wearing mask and gloves isn't onerous.)

Tuesday I delivered three treats, and yesterday I delivered one more. Just a couple to go.

What else? Oh, yes, greeting cards. December we have three birthdays in our family. Those cards have gone out. Christmas greetings are running late, but then, if those cards got in the mail before December 20th, the Post Office might wonder if I'd died and somebody else had sent the cards. My current plan is to get most of them in the mail today, and the last few tomorrow. Long before the 20th, if you count time the way I do.

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Like many people I know, there's no big holiday dinner this year. My daughter and I will probably have a roast chicken and veg meal in the evening, then watch a holiday movie. (I've never seen the Grinch, can you believe that?) Won't be surprised to hear from my other kids for a phone visit.

A year ago I wouldn't have suspected this year would be different . . . but it's turned out to involve a radical departure from Christmas preparation in the past.

Will this become the new norm? Many people hope not! They want to go back to what they've always done, maybe do even more that in the past.

I won't mind if the simplicity of Christmas hangs on
. Fewer expectations, fewer responsibilities, more time to reflect on the season. . . those would be gifts indeed.

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Have a wonderful week! May your Christmas holiday bring you peace and joy.