happy who? what?

 My west coast brother texted me today to wish me a Happy Hogmanay aka Happy New Year's Eve.  I guess, since we are a little bit Scots-Irish (or so my mother always told me) we are allowed to celebrate Hogmanay.  

In Scotland, especially in Edinburgh, Hogmanay is celebrated with fireworks and street parties. Sound familiar? Maybe some scenes from Edinburgh will show up on TV later tonight. 

Evidently Hogmanay (which may mean "gala day") began being celebrated in Scotland after John Knox, in an excess of Presbyterian zeal, forbade the celebration of Christmas as being superstitious, linked to Catholicism, ungodly, and leading to excessive feasting.    (I must admit I've done some excessive feasting over the past week.)  

This ban lasted for 400 years.  In 1640 an Act of Parliament actually made celebrations illegal.  You'll be glad to know that Christmas was reinstated as a public holiday in Scotland in 1958.  

As it happens I am Presbyterian and for Christmas this year our church was beautifully decorated with flowers, Christmas trees, lights, red bows, a Nativity set that was brought over from Germany 100 years ago, candles and more.  Our musicians, augmented with members of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, filled the sanctuary with beautiful music.  John Knox is probably spinning in his grave. 

In case you're wondering my wonder spouse and I did celebrate Hogmanay earlier today.  We went out to lunch with another couple and indulged in a bit of excessive feasting.  We went to a Chinese restaurant (covering all the bases). Later this evening my spouse and I will watch the ball drop, probably with fire works and street parties, from the comfort of our bed.

Happy Hogmanay everyone.

special daze....

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Falling Needles Family Fest Day" and also the "Festival of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute."

My spouse and I unknowingly celebrated that second one last year when. four days before Christmas, we were in an accident that totaled our car (no one was hurt) and found ourselves shopping for a new car.  A last minute change for sure but not too enormous since we went from one Subaru Outback to the newer model. 

Happily, the only enormous change coming our way in 2026, as far as I know, is the birth of our first great grandchild.  That won't be an enormous change for my spouse and myself but it certainly will be for my grandson and his wife.  It's been a long time for me but I do remember the enormous changes that come with bringing that first baby home from the hospital.  Your whole life suddenly revolves around this new little being and sleeping through the night becomes a distant dim memory. 

As far as celebrating falling needles is concerned, my spouse and I will be sweeping up the fallen needles from my 40 year old artificial tree (even fake needles come off eventually) and consigning the tree (trunk, bald branches and all) to the garbage bin after we disassemble it on January 1.  Then, sometime next week we can go shopping for a new smaller tree - 5.5 feet instead of 7 feet. I'm sure we can find something nice but it won't need to survive for 40 years.  Even if we should happen to live to be 120 I don't think we'll be decorating a tree at that point in our lives.

another day

 This is a continuation of the saga of the fabulous bird feeder.  

It was very, very windy all night last night but the bird feeder which my wonder spouse installed survived the night.  I'm really glad he installed it yesterday when the high temperature was near 60 degrees. Today the high was 21 with a wind chill feels like temperature of 4. 

Nevertheless, when we got to the kitchen table (our bird watching spot) this morning there were several birds feasting at our original bird feeders including two beautiful blue birds (first timers).

However, the only thing feasting at our new wonderful smart bird feeder with camera 

was a large squirrel. 

My west coast brother, who sympathizes with our plight, has suggested that perhaps a small electric fence charger around the pole might be a deterrent. He could be right but I really don't want dead squirrels lying around if we get the charge wrong.  Of course my spouse is an EE so he can do it if anyone can. 

Maybe tomorrow the bird feeder camera will send us a picture of an actual bird????  Meanwhile I will try to think of something else to blog about.

a great gift

 My son and family know that my spouse and I like to watch the birds at the bird feeders outside our kitchen window, especially in the mornings as we drink our coffee.  We keep a book of Indiana birds handy so we can identify birds we don't recognize.  

Knowing all this my son and family gave us a fascinating Christmas gift.  It's a 'smart' bird feeder.  It has a little camera imbedded inside which takes pictures of the birds who come to eat and then identifies them.  

We spent today assembling the bird feeder.  I say we but my wonder spouse really did the work while I cheered him on.

Here he is working on the high tech feeder.  The dark piece that looks like a roof contains the solar panel to power the camera when the sun shines - obviously not today.  There is a back-up battery.

Here (on the right) is the finished product.  It looks like a little white house.  The birds who show up are photographed by the camera and the pictures come to our phones.  Only one picture so far and that was after dark so it just looks like a spooky ghost bird.  Ah well, tomorrow is another day.

double the fun

 Possibly the only thing more fun than having three adult grandchildren come by for an afternoon of Christmas Leftovers Lunch and a rousing game of Five Crowns is having them bring along their significant others.

Three has become six.  One blooming spouse (pregnant with my first great grandson), one fiance and one "I think he's the one" boyfriend of less than a year.  

It was a very good time with lots of laughing and happy talk.  It is such a deep pleasure to see grandchildren moving into adulthood.  Another kind of joyous Christmas celebration.  

This has been a busy holiday season but tomorrow my wonder spouse and I have nothing to do and nowhere to go, and that's ok too.  We senior citizens need to pace ourselves.

the lull

 You've heard of the lull between the storms?  Today was like that - the lull between the guests.  Yesterday we were 15 together for dinner, tomorrow it will be nine of us for lunch.  A few repeats but mostly another set of relatives.  This time all in the under 30 category.

Today we ran the dishwasher for the last time from yesterday's meal, put away all the fine china and silver, made sure there is a clean tablecloth on the large dining room table and set out casual crockery dishes with a Christmas motif to use for tomorrow's buffet style service.

Lunch tomorrow will be a much more casual affair.  Mainly because most of the attendees will be my grandchildren and their significant others, one of whom is the mommy of my great-grandson-to-be, and another who is the "getting serious" boyfriend of my youngest granddaughter.

But about that lull, today actually was a restful day.  I did have time to read and relax, spend time on the phone with my west coast brother and his spouse before they took off to go roller skating, and enjoy some of the tasty treats that were brought to us yesterday.  

All in all a fine in-between day. 

a good time

 

Before - the Over Forty table

                                                Before - The Under Thirty table

                                                                    After

After

Fifteen of us gathered for feasting, great conversation and lots of laughter. It was a very good Christmas.

My spouse and I have declared tomorrow a No Weigh Day.

Oh Holy Night...

 My spouse and I attended the Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian this evening.  Times have changed.  When I first started attending First Pres 43 years ago, the Christmas Eve service would start at 10:30 pm with a half hour of instrumental music, then the traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols, concluding with the lighting of candles, one per person, and singing of the final hymn Silent Night.

We did all of that this evening exactly the same except the service started at 5:00pm and ended about 6:30pm.  This change in service time has had an interesting evolution.  For many years there were two Christmas Eve services, one in the early evening for families with children and one later service for adults.  But in the last few years (and I admit it could have something to do with the aging population not wanting to be out late at night) more and more church members and visitors were choosing to come to the early service.  

A few years ago, on a very snowy Christmas Eve, only ten hardy souls made it to the late service.  So the following year it was announced that there would be only one Christmas Eve service beginning with music at 5:00pm.  To the best of my knowledge no one complained.

The church was full this evening and it was certainly dark enough by the end of the service for the candle lighting to be as beautiful as always.  

The hymns we sang were many of my favorites including "Oh Come All Ye Faithful," "Away in a Manger," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "Joy to the World" and, of course, "Silent Night, Holy Night."  Most of these songs I have known since childhood and I must warn my very patient spouse that I may be singing them in my sleep.

Merry Christmas, everyone....

a great performance...

 I couldn't blog yesterday evening because my spouse and I were out of town attending a ballet, and not just any ballet.  We saw "The Nutcracker" performed by the Milwaukee Ballet.

It was an amazing performance.  The professional dancers were outstanding, with some truly breath-taking routines.  The stage sets and special effects were magical.  I had, I'm embarrassed to admit, never seen "The Nutcracker" before, but I will certainly look forward to seeing it again.

During the first half I tried hard to follow the story line (confusing) but after intermission I just got caught up in the magic of the dance scenes, the colors, the amazing costuming and, of course, Tchaikovsky's music played by a live orchestra. It was all wonderful.

My very favorite scene was the swans swimming in the lemonade lake.  Followed closely by the candy dream sequence.  Of course I was partial to the swans because our youngest granddaughter was a black swan.  She is eight years old and this was her first time to dance in a professionally produced ballet.  

I'm hoping that in a year or so she will be dancing the part of one of  the cupcakes.  The real magic of "The Nutcracker" is that, while the major roles are danced by professionals, there are up to one hundred roles that can be danced by aspiring students.  

Before the show I had a nice long conversation with our granddaughter.  She told me all about the program, where she would be so I would recognize her when she came on stage, and her favorite part of the show - being back stage with the professional dancers.  She said they were always so nice to the little dancers. I was glad to hear that.  

I enjoyed the ballet, I really did, but most of all I enjoyed spending time with our granddaughter.  

Here she is, our black swan, in costume.  

a sunny day...

My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Look at the Bright Side Day" and "National Flashlight Day." I guess that one way or another we are supposed to see where we are going today.

Happily it was a beautiful sunny day here.  

There was only one problem with that.  I had a lot of driving to do today and the sun (low in the south) shines into my car at a sharp angle when I'm driving west, as I was to get to church. When it shines in that window it also shines into my very light sensitive left eye, and my visor on the driver's side can't be adjusted to block the sun.

So I have come up with what I think is a genius solution. I keep a baseball style cap in my car which I can wear with the bill tilted to keep the light out of my left eye.  

My girlfriend tells me I look like a 'hood.'  Maybe that's good.  If I look tough driving around town no one will bother me. Of course the fact that I'm driving a little ten year old Fiat might blur the image.

my variation

 In ancient times it was tradition to burn the Yule Log, a huge log, on the hearth to welcome the return of the sun at the winter solstice.

The log was burned to honor the sun and encourage its return.  In case you're interested the winter solstice this year occurs at 10:03 am tomorrow, December 21.  

So hang in their friends, after tomorrow the days will start getting longer. Hooray!

We personally can't burn a yule log because our hearth is lined with nutcrackers and, since they are all made of wood they would not fare well.

Aren't they handsome?

But about that Yule Log.  I wanted to do something to visually echo the idea of the Yule Log.  Each year my spouse buys 20 jars of "Cherries, Berries and Nuts" (10 with dark chocolate, 10 without) as gifts for all the family.  I decided to display them in a double row on our coffee table.  I know they will bring good fortune to anyone who eats them and if I squint they sort of look like a log, don't they?  If you can envision a log covered with red and green bows.

By the way. we decided to put everyone's gifts on the coffee table instead of under the tree because it was easier for us to check and make sure all the gifts are there.  It's not that I can't get down on my hands and knees.  That's easy.  But, you know, what goes down must get up and therein lies the problem.  So my spouse and I will enjoy our family Christmas gift exchange while comfortably seated on the sofa. 

an old old friend...

 Some parts of Christmas are simply wonderful over and over again. Today I unwrapped all of the pieces of my Nativity scene and set them up.

This is the same Nativity set that has been in my home, child and adult, since I was five years old.  At first it was just Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus and, I think, the two sheep.  Pieces have gradually been added over the years.  I was able to find three correctly sized wise men and a too-small shepherd. 

I used to set this up on white cotton so it looked like snow but then I was told that wasn't very realistic.  However, the one time I visited Bethlehem, in February, some years ago, it snowed.  Only about two inches, but the kids were scraping it off the tops of cars and having snowball fights.  So now you know, there might have been snow.

My spouse also has a Nativity scene but he has several more pieces including camels and a cow and a donkey.  We have set them up in different rooms to avoid jealous comparisons.  
 

when I met Santa...

 Some years ago I was traveling with friends in Finland and we were taken into the far northern area which is Finland's part of Lapland.  The Laplanders still herd reindeer, use them to pull their sleighs, and, after a sleigh ride, took us on a walking tour of a delightful little village where Santa and several of his helpers live, at least part of every year.

One thing I remember distinctly when we visited Santa at his house in Lapland was the big bed in Santa's bedroom, because it had two huge black swans carved one on either corner at the foot of the bed.

As it happens, our youngest granddaughter is dancing in "The Nutcracker" in Milwaukee this year.  We will be seeing her performance in just a few days.  She is dancing the part of a black swan. 

Being curious about what makes black swans so special, I've done a little research.  The only thing that I've found that seems to have anything to do with Santa and Christmas is that black swans symbolize a "rare and wonderful surprise." That sounds like the essence of Christmas on so many levels.  

Now I'm wondering if the famous "seven swans a swimming" were black swans???

When we get to Milwaukee I will ask our granddaughter what she knows about black swans and what they have to do with Christmas. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the season everyone.

weather report...

 Tomorrow we are supposed to have a dramatic change in weather around here.  We have had many days of cold cold weather but today was in the 30s and tomorrow we are supposed to have wind and rain and a high near 40 degrees.  

If that doesn't seem like perfect December weather to you, if you really have been longing for a white Christmas, if you are tempted even a little bit to complain about the weather, consider this.

My west coast brother, who actually lives in the east part of Washington state, informed me that today, at his place they were having 60 mile an hour winds with gusts up to 80 miles an hour. Their power was out obviously.

They are ok but my brother's last bit of news was that the left side of the state was getting hammered.  Really? More that 80 mph gusts.

If you can, stay in and stay dry tomorrow, but if you must go out, don't complain about Indiana weather.   

candy time

 My west coast brother informs me that today is "Chocolate Covered Anything Day."  Now I will readily admit that I am a chocoholic (it's a real thing) but, even with my intense love of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, there are some things I would not cover with chocolate.  

Some things are fine covered with chocolate like pretzels or cherries or strawberries or caramels.  

But some things just shouldn't be coated in chocolate. Would you coat your table with chocolate or your front porch?  Even if we consider only edible things, do chocolate covered scrambled eggs sound good to you? Or chocolate covered fried chicken? Chocolate covered asparagus?  Chocolate covered Swiss steak?

I think you get my point.  I am perfectly happy to celebrate chocolate many times during the year but I do think today should be renamed.

How about "Chocolate Covered Some Things Day" or "Chocolate Covered Appropriate Things Day?" Or at the very least "Chocolate Covered Anything Edible Day?"

cat herders

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Cat Herders Day."  On our recent trip to Egypt we overheard our ever patient guide commenting that keeping us all together was like herding cats. 

On that particular excursion we had been given a little free time to explore on our own after the guided part of the tour.  My spouse and I were among the first back to the bus because it was so hot that day that we were ready for the bliss of the air conditioned bus and the ever present bottles of water after only a brief look at all the amazing things for sale in the market area.  The refrain "One dollar, only one dollar." echoed in our heads.  Our guide had told us that if we didn't want to be bothered to just keep saying "No thank you." over and over and never make eye contact while we kept walking toward our bus.  That worked very well.  

The sales people were never scary, just pleasantly persistent.  I did buy one item, an Egyptian book on the tombs translated into English.  Some interesting syntax but still quite readable.

But back to herding cats. Perhaps Cat Herders actually refers to cats who have been trained to herd some smaller animals - chickens maybe?  I have seen amazing demonstrations of sheep dogs herding sheep so why not chicken cats or bunny cats herding those animals.  

Of course we all know that even the best trained cats would only do what they were asked to do when they felt like it.  Cats operate on cat time.  Although they do respond to the sound of a can opener.

FOLLOW UP...

 Even though it's the day after my birthday there is one more item I must celebrate.

My west coast brother and his very own wonder spouse sent me the most perfect Christmas tree ornament as a birthday gift.  Because my birthday is in December, I have received many ornaments as birthday gifts over the years.  But this year's is extra meaningful.

As you can see, it's Lucy and her little brother Linus.  They are connected by Linus's security blanket which Lucy is using as her super hero cape.  My name is Luci and my west coast brother is technically my "little" brother. He is, after all, ten years younger than I am.  We will not worry about the fact that he now stands 6 feet 6 inches tall.  

I would like to believe that at some times in our lives I seemed like a super hero to him.  He has always been super special to me.

a great day...

 Today is my birthday.  It should come as no surprise to you that turning 81 is not quite the same as turning 21.  

At 21 I was in the middle of my first year of teaching, had met my future first husband and was generally feeling very grown up. That all seemed quite wonderful but let me tell you 81 is looking like it will be even more exciting.

In the spring my wonder spouse and I have a long cruise booked from Tokyo to Vancouver with many stops along the way.  Then a visit with my west coast brother and his family.

Between now and then we will be celebrating Christmas and New Year and Easter and various birthdays with 4 children, 4 children-in-law, 10 grandchildren, 3 grands-in-law, 1 "out-law" and one great grandson-on-the-way.  The baby is due in March.

At 21 I had no idea how beautifully my life would unfold (there were some bumps along the way of course) but I am so peacefully content with where I am right now.

I thank God every day that I've been allowed to live so long and experience so much.

My stepson and family sent me a beautiful birthday poinsettia. 
My wonder spouse gave me a box of DeBrand's chocolates and took me and several of the family to dinner at Dos Margueritas.

I even got to wear the birthday sombrero and hear the birthday serenade. And the food was delicious.

never again....

This morning I had a manicure, and, since it's getting close to Christmas, I decided to do some holiday grocery shopping on the way home.  It happened that the route to my house took me past the huge Kroger Superstore on St. Joe Center Road so i decided to stop there. I live near another perfectly good ordinary Kroger grocery store but the superstore was, as I said, on my way home. 

I did find everything I was looking for at the superstore and the checkout clerk was very friendly and nice.  The only thing missing in that store was convenience.  Almost everything I wanted was separated from everything else by at least five or more wide aisles. 

I may be exaggerating a little bit but not much.  So I am making an early New Year's resolution.  I will always shop at my normal size local Kroger's.  If by any chance I can't find what I want there, I will change my menu, or, better yet, send my wonder spouse to the super store for me.  

He enjoys a challenge.

The big project...

 Sometime last week I gave you all a sneak peek at my Christmas poem for this year.

Well, let me tell you, the finished project will wow you!!

My wonder spouse has combined my poem with an assortment of pictures from our two trips this year to provide you with a veritable travelog of pictures and captions.  It is indeed a work of art. 

The finished product will be winging its way to you via the USPS early next week. meanwhile.....

                                    The Step pyramid of Giza

                                        The great sphinx

                        Our balloon ride over the monuments.

These pictures didn't make the cut, but I think they are worth seeing.

Don't put it off.

 I attended a meeting this evening where we watched a very interesting TED talk on procrastination.  I always thought I was a champion procrastinator but this speaker had taken it to a whole new level.  

I won't go into all of his theory on why we procrastinate (including the little monkey in our brain who leads us into time wasting activities) but I did appreciate his explanation of two different types of procrastination.  The first is what I was most familiar with from my school years - putting something off until the big scary panic monster scares the monkey away and you finally get something done.

I can well remember some sleepless nights in college and even some in high school which I spent finishing up projects due the next day.  I'm currently working on a weaving project that needs to be finished by March.  March seems like such a long time from now.  Plenty of time to get it done.

The second is the procrastination of something that may never need to be done at all. For example raking leaves.  They all blow away, or get covered by snow, or chopped up by the lawn mower eventually. 

My greatest excuse for procrastination is that I love to read.  I can remember my mother saying to me, when I was about 12 years old, "You can't read your life away."

Well I did get my head out of the books long enough to get married, raise a family, enjoy my grandchildren, get married again, enjoy more grandchildren and all of that is still going on.  But guess what Mom?  In retirement I do have plenty of time to loose myself in a book without feeling much pressure to get anything else done.  Life as a procrastinator is just fine.

It helps me avoid senior moments (at least sometimes)

I read this on a Senior Moments calendar this morning:

"Walking with a friend one day in New York, Fritz Kreisler, the Vienna-born violinist and composer, passed a large fish market.  The fish, mouths open and eyes staring, were arranged in rows like a comatose audience.  Kreisler suddenly stopped, looked at them, and snapped out of a senior moment. "Heaven!" he exclaimed to his friend. "That reminds me, I should be playing at a concert!"

Curious, I Googled Kreisler and discovered that he lived from 1875-1962 and died after a couple of car accidents.  I don't know who was driving.  He started playing before audiences when he was a child.  

This may explain why, having seen many many audiences with people staring up at him, possibly with mouths wide open and eyes staring, but hopefully mot comatose, the fish lined up in the market reminded him of a concert commitment.

Poor guy, he should have had a cell phone calendar like mine.  Much nicer to look at than dead fish, and it beeps at me a half hour before any scheduled commitment.  

new fangled...

 I am frequently reminded, intentionally or unintentionally, that I am not as up to date with the way things are done these days as I would like to be, but I am learning.

The most recent example of how things have changed since I was a young woman is the invitation we received to my grandson and granddaughter-in-law's baby shower.  Their baby is due in March and the shower will be on January 10.  

The first obvious difference from "the olden days" is that men are invited to the shower.  My spouse isn't wildly excited about this. 

The second difference is that the invitation, which did arrive by snail mail - very traditional - has a QR code attached which we can scan to get to the gift registry.  When we scanned it my spouse and I were taken to my.babylist.com, a collection of many things I had never even heard of.  I figured if my wonder spouse is going with me to the shower, he should have some say in the gift choice.  I did recognize the item labeled baby bottles, although these were evidently 'new and improved.' 

The one thing I did understand is the diaper raffle.  If we bring a pack of diapers we are entered in the raffle.  Not sure what we will win if we win, but traditionally it would have been a baby gift that would then be handed over to the mother-to-be. 

Maybe that's how it will be, maybe not.  We shall see.

Woops...

 I stand corrected.  A sharp eyed reader has pointed out to me that I misspelled Chile in the draft of my Christmas poem that I shared in this blog a few days ago.

I appreciate the correction and want to make sure that everyone knows that we traveled to Chile in South America in February.   While we experienced some interestingly rough seas on that cruise, we did not find ourselves afloat in a sea of chili.  

We were, at one point, afloat in a sea of ice chunks (baby ice burgs?) with a view of a beautiful glacier.  It was definitely chilly there.

The moral of this silly story is eat your chili while it's hot, wear a sweater if you're chilly, and visit Chile when you get the chance. 

Restaurant review...

 Today I took a friend to lunch and then to do some Christmas shopping.  I expected things to be busy three Saturdays before Christmas and it was, but everyone was polite and cheerful.  

We had decided to try a new place for lunch.  I should have know better.  Fort Wayne citizens love to try out new restaurants.  If their first experience is good the place will probably stay in business, if not, people will go back to their tried and true favorites and the new restaurant will fail.  I'm pretty sure that Bubba's 33 is going to succeed, although it has only been open for three weeks. 

It is part of a national chain which helps I think.  About the waiting, their organization was interesting.  When we went into the restaurant there were lots of people waiting to be seated so I knew we would have a wait but my friend really wanted to eat there so I gave the host my name and cell phone number.  He dialed the number right away to make sure it worked, said it would be 15 minutes to a half hour, and suggested that we wait in my car.  My friend wanted to just wait on one of the benches in front of the restaurant but, after being assured by the host that, once I was called, we would have plenty of time to come in from the car, and considering that it was 25 degrees out, I insisted that we wait in the car. 

As it turned out, the wait was only 15 minutes, we were seated promptly when we came in and it just got better from there.  The ambiance would not have been my first choice (TV sets all around the perimeter broadcasting sports shows) but I did appreciate the display of emblems of all our armed forces. Our waiter was excellent, the menu was extensive (I recommend the loaded tater tots as a side) the food, advertised as made from scratch, came in a very reasonable amount of time and was served piping hot.  The manager stopped by to make sure we were being well taken care of.  We assured him we were.  

All in all it was an excellent eating experience.  You should give Bubba's a try.

it's finished

well, almost...

I have completed my Christmas poem; Paul likes it. Now we just need to print a bunch of copies and mail them out.  Yes, we are hopelessly old fashioned and send our annual greetings by snail mail.  

Here's the rough draft if you don't want to wait for the mail:

From Penguins to Pyramids

And all along life’s journey

We continue to travel well,

together.

In Egypt Paul rode a camel

And we soared in a hot air balloon.

Visits to tombs and temples

Filled our days.

On our South America cruise

We went around Cape Horn island, twice

Saw hundreds of penguins

Cruised through ice floes,

Saw glaciers,

Visited Ushuaia,

(the southern most city in the world)

Uruguay, Argentina and Chili.

At home we enjoy family love

And eagerly await the first great grandchild.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU and may your life also be

blessed with wonders.

We do plan to add some pictures, but you'll have to wait to see those.  There needs to be some reason to open the envelope.

It's timd...

 I'm posting a picture of my good old Christmas tree, fully decorated and ready for the family gatherings to remind me that there is still work to be done.  I have ordered most of my gifts but there is another job to be done - specifically writing my annual poem.  Years ago, many, many years ago I decided that I would write a short poem each Christmas, highlighting the year just past.  I made this decision because I was so rushed at holiday time that I didn't have time to read the long detailed newsletters I would receive from friends and assumed others were just as rushed.

The problem is that this has been a very busy year.  We've traveled around South America and to Egypt and done a lot of living in between.  That's a lot to squeeze into a little poem.  I do have a working title "From Penguins to Pyramids."  Stay tuned or check your mail.

Finland

 We have an unusual amount of snow on the ground for this time of year in Fort Wayne.  It's also very cold.  I'm reminded of a trip a friend and I took to Finland a few years ago.  It was January and we were on the trip in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights.  

Finland was a fascinating country with much to be admired about its government and life style.  We spent some time in Helsinki where we watched some people jump into the cold water of the bay in their swimsuits then climb out and run around, I guess 'til they were good and cold, and then dry off.  Not something I was remotely tempted to try.  Our tour guide proudly showed off their new city library which did have the best communal restroom I have ever used.  Otherwise, all of the features they pointed out were similar to our main Allen County library which is pretty spectacular.  Of course I didn't say that. 

After some time in the city we travelled farther north to the Finnish area of Lapland where we rode in a reindeer pulled sleigh (the coldest ride of my life), tried our hands at dog sledding, met the real Santa Claus and slept in glass dome roofed cabins.  The idea was that if the Northern Lights started shining late at night we would be able to see them from our beds.  It didn't happen but the saunas helped to make up for our disappointment and the stars were amazing.

I'm seeing this same friend for lunch tomorrow and I will remind her of our Finland trip.  She, unlike me, loves cold weather so I know she will remember it fondly.   

the wish book...

 I spent some time on line today looking at possible Christmas gifts for our youngest grandchild.  It was sometimes frustrating as often clicking on a button that I thought would take me to exactly what I wanted whisked me into a whole other category of items for sale with flashing orange signs ordering me to sign up now!

So many items for sale and so many great bargains if you just sign up for a (presumably life time) membership deal.  I resisted, persevered, found what I wanted, and successfully placed my order. 

I found myself longing though for our wonderful wish books.  Those big thick catalogs from Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward.  The original mail order system.  Every fall the wish books would arrive, two inch thick catalogs full of clothing for men, women and children, household goods, tools and, most wonderfully, toys.

My brother and I would lie on the living room floor paging through those catalogs, marveling at the toys available and letting our parents know what our dearest wishes were.  We knew we couldn't have everything we wanted but it was such fun to think about the wonderous choices.  

There was something very satisfying about turning page after page to see new marvels revealed - doll babies and doll houses with little people families, cap pistols (two guns in holsters were the best) and cowboy hats, Lincoln logs and Erector sets and bicycles and train sets.  

I hope that shopping on line is just as satisfying for kids today, I really do.   

aging gracefully????

 Today is December 1.  December is my birth month.  Today is also a Monday.  My spouse and I tutor on Monday afternoons.  Actually we didn't today because of the weather.

But thinking about age and tutoring reminded me of one of my favorite interactions with a student.

I started tutoring ten years ago.  The first youngster who I tutored was a lively fourth grader.  After sitting in school all day, another hour of "school" was rough for him.  So we would take breaks and walk all around the building. But the reason I really remember him was for his devastating honesty.  

During our very first meeting as we were getting to know each other, I told him that I was 70 years old. The conversation went like this 

Me "I'm 70 years old. I know that must sound really old to you."

Him, as he laid his hand gently on my arm, "I don't mean to be rude but you look about a hundred." 

nature's acrobat...

 As you've no doubt figured out from other recent posts, when not rushed to go somewhere, my spouse and I like to dawdle over breakfast coffee and enjoy the antics of the birds.

This morning we had a glorious cardinal and its mate as well as a woodpecker and a tufted titmouse at our feeders.  I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of the cardinal, but that flash of brightest red against the snow was thrilling.

What we didn't anticipate was this little acrobat who made his way over the squirrel shield and up the shepherd's crook then down to the bird food.  I guess it helps to have little bitty 'hands' and feet that can grab hold of anything.  

Interestingly, the birds didn't try to chase him away. 

snow day...

a view of our snow capped bird feeders

 Today we had snow, lots and lots of snow.  It's the first time in years that we have had a steady all day snow fall.  I think we got five inches, maybe six.  It may not seem like much in some parts of the country but here in northeast Indiana this much snow in one day is very rare.

My spouse was so excited that he went out and bought gas for his snow thrower that he hasn't used in four years.

Early in the day the birds had a feeding frenzy at our feeders.  I think they sensed a big change coming. We even had a woodpecker show up for the first time.  

The sad thing is every school age child is wondering, why now?  Why not on a school day?

Sorry guys, there will probably be school on Monday.  

tradition

 It has been my tradition for many years to put up my Christmas tree sometime during Thanksgiving weekend.  For at least 43 years it has been the same tree.  As my spouse says, I have certainly gotten my money's worth out of this tree.

I have always encouraged any children or grandchildren who were around to help with the decorating.  

Today was the day and my helpers, in addition to my spouse were one son, one granddaughter and her boyfriend (the one she says is "the one").  He is very nice so I approve. 

I read a description in a novel recently of an 'old fashioned' artificial Christmas tree, the kind where you stick the branches in the trunk one branch at a time.  When I read that description I realized they were talking about my kind of tree.  

This morning I got the tree assembled and this afternoon my helpers strung the lights.  Now I can take my time hanging ornaments.  I have many!

Happily we also had plenty of time for snacking on apple pie and playing "5 Crowns" (a vicious card game which I lost spectacularly).  This is just the way an afternoon of tree decorating should go.  The season is off to a good start.

And here's my tree, festooned with lights and waiting for the ornaments.

counting...

 Today is the day for counting our blessings

for remembering all the good in our lives

all the good people

friends and family then and now

the ones we love and the ones who loved us

all the good times

past and yet to be

HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

May you fall asleep counting your blessings.

sooo good....

 Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day which means that today, at least at our house was Fudge Day.  

At least twice a year, for very special occasions, like Christmas or Thanksgiving, my wonder spouse makes fudge.  And not just any old fudge.  This fudge is made from his mother's recipe with a few tweaks of his own. He makes some with nuts and some without using dark chocolate cocoa powder and many other secret ingredients.

It is delicious and extremely addictive. Remember the old ad "You can't eat just one?"  It's true.  

My primary job this morning was to clean the bowl and spoon after the fudge was poured into flat glass dishes to cool and harden.  It was a messy job but somebody had to do it.  Yummy.

I also leant a hand cleaning up a little boil over on the stove and a little sugar on the floor.  Both signs of lots of productive activity. 

Tomorrow we will pack up the fudge, as well as some ham, an apple pie and real whipped cream (our contributions to the feast) and travel 20 miles to our son's house where we will indulge unashamedly in an eating orgy.  

But we will also remember to be thankful for all the blessings in our lives.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Have a blessed day.

a last look at Egypt

 My mind is still full of memories of Egypt but I have already shared the highlights over the last several days.  This evening I want to share just a few fun/interesting facts.

Did you know that many of the ancient Pharaohs were actually fat?  It makes sense, considering that they were immensely rich and waited on hand and foot. But they were never portrayed that way.

Here they are looking typically slim and trim.

Not fun but interesting - did you know that polio was a disease that existed 3000 years ago?  I didn't get a picture of this piece but their is a bas relief carving of one Pharoah with one leg much skinnier than the other and DNA has confirmed the disease.

it is estimated that the "flight into Egypt" Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus' escape from Herod, was a journey that took three years.  And we thought that our 28 hour travel day to get home was a long trip. 

The Coptic area in old Cairo celebrates that flight into Egypt everywhere in paintings and sculptures.

A carving over a street in the old Coptic area of Cairo.

Someone asked me this week if I would go back to Egypt.  My first response was to say no.  It was a once in a life time experience.  But, on second thought, if I did go back, it would be to spend more time in Cairo.

This was the night scene from the balcony of our hotel room where we stayed for the first four nights of our trip.  The traffic over the bridge only eased up for about one hour at 5:00am.  The constant beeping of horns is the music of Cairo.

Ahmed Waasfat was our most faithful and gracious and patient guide through our entire trip.  Viking always provides the very best.

sharing Egypt

 On Monday afternoons my spouse and I each tutor a third grade boy as part of the Fort Wayne Community Schools Study Connections program.  This afternoon we went prepared with souvenirs to share with the entire group (9 students) and stories to tell about our trip.  It was our first time back to tutoring since our vacation. 

The students and their tutors were greatly entertained with my spouse's explanation of what it feels like to ride a camel and impressed that we had gone on a balloon ride.  One of the little girls in the group said her grandparents are from Egypt and are coming to visit. They all seemed to really like the souvenirs we gave them.  

After the group discussion my student and I discussed things more fully.  I was astonished that he has heard of Anthony and Cleopatra and he was quite impressed that I had been in a play about them.  It turns out that they are studying the history of Rome, Greece and Egypt right now.  He was fascinated by a little chart of hieroglyphics and spent some time drawing his name in a cartouche In the ancient Egyptian style.  

All in all a delightful finale to our Egyptian adventure.

I will show him this picture of the cartouche of Queen Nefertiri (not Nefertiti, a different one) next week.

the GEM

 Just a week before we went to Egypt, the grand opening of the GEM, the Grand Egyptian Museum, was held.  We were lucky enough to spend almost an entire day at the museum during our time in Cairo.  

In the museum they have nearly all of the treasures discovered in the tomb of King Tut.  King Tut, rightly Pharoah Tutankhamun, became a Pharoah at age nine and died at 19, of illness, not murder as was once believed.  He is remembered more for what he left behind than for what he accomplished in life.  His tomb was the only one found that had never been robbed, so it gave archaeologists the best idea of how lavish the burials had been. Here's a sampling of what was found there:

This is one of several gold plated coffins in which his mummy was entombed. One inside the other like Russian dolls.

This is the side of one of four large sarcophaguses in which the coffin was contained, again one inside the next. Each box was covered in gold.

Some of the figures (servants for the afterlife) found in the tomb, made of gold and precious stones.

This is our guide, Ahmed, who really deserves mention in this saga.  He was with us from our first day in Cairo through the entire trip.  Like all of the guides we encountered he was an Egyptologist which means he had at least a bachelors level degree in Egyptian history.  We learned so much from him.  He had a boundless enthusiasm for all things Egyptian.  

This is a view of some architectural details of the GEM.

Another of the gold covered sarcophaguses.

Abu Simbel

 One of the monuments that was absolutely on my list to see was the giant figures at Abu Simbel.  When I was in college and studying art history we learned about the ancient monuments that were being threatened by the construction of the Aswan High Dam (which we also got to see).  To save the two temples from being covered by water they were moved piece by piece and reassembled on an artificial hill high above the reservoir. 

I don't remember who the four figures represent but the small figure nearest the camera is my wonder spouse who helped me over the rough spots and made it possible for me to visit all these sites.

The cartouche of Queen Nefertari.  The giant temples were commissioned by Ramses II to honor his queen and himself.

the valley of the kings

 One of the most amazing sites we visited in Egypt was the "Valley of the Kings," a wide, long area of desert containing King Tut's tomb, and the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the only female pharaoh. In addition to these and several other royal tombs, they have excavated an entire village of workers homes.  The contents left behind in these homes indicated that the workers who built many of the fabulous monuments were certainly not slaves but well paid skilled artisans.  Comparable, in my mind, to the builders of the great cathedrals of Europe.  

This is Hatshepsut's funerary temple, three stories high and lavishly decorated inside and out.

Two paintings from the walls of King Tut's tomb.  His mummy was there but all of the lavish wealth with which he was buried is now in the fabulous new museum in Cairo.  The brand new GEM, Grand Egyptian Museum, deserves a page of it's own and I will write about it in detail tomorrow.

King Tut became pharaoh at the age of nine and died when he was nineteen, of illness not murder as was once believed.  

the city of Cairo..

 I decided to break away from ancient history this evening and give you an idea of what modern Cairo is like.  

First, the traffic is unbelievable.  The constant beeping of horns is the music of Cairo, as buses, cars, motorcycles (carrying up to five people) donkey drawn carts and pedestrians share the streets of Cairo.  Lane markings are evidently just for decoration.  Vehicles of all descriptions and ages change lanes, or better yet create their own lane, drive the wrong way on one way streets, and generally disregard any and every traffic law as casually as you or I would flip on a turn signal (which they never do).  The one control are massive speed bumps placed randomly that do slow down the flow of traffic, at least temporarily. 

One of the things we observed as we were driven around Cairo were many unfinished apartment buildings.  It was not unusual to see buildings with ground floor businesses, then one or two floors of finished looking walls (having windows and balconies).  Above or between these finished levels were totally unfinished levels with no windows or other enclosures.

We learned, during one of our talks on the ship, that young men in Cairo live with their parents until they are married. But they do go ahead and buy an unfinished apartment.  Really, really unfinished. Outside walls, some interior divisions, but no windows, flooring or any other finishing.  There's not a lot of concern about rain damage.  When the young man "feels the spark" (our guide's term) and decides to get married he can honestly tell his future father-in-law that he owns an apartment.  Once they are officially engaged, his fiancee goes to work selecting flooring, light fixtures, kitchen cabinets, furniture and anything else she thinks they need.  By the time they get married everything is ready.  They do not live together before they are married. 

If they should happen to get divorced, the wife keeps the apartment. The children, if there are any stay with her.  Women get married at about age 29, men about 33 or older.  Women often do keep working in their careers but it's their choice once they are married.  There is a substantial dowery involved, contributed to by both sides of the family.  

A view of the lobby ceiling of the hotel we stayed in for our last night in Egypt.  One of Cairo's finest.

Notice the stream of traffic on the bridge at the left side of the picture, now imagine everyone of those cars beeping non stop. Happily, when we closed our window it did block out the sound. This picture was taken from the balcony of our 8th floor room in the hotel we stayed in for our first four nights in Egypt.