December 31, still listening..........

Waking up this morning I realized winter had given us a reprieve and released us from an icy grip, if only for a few hours.  Making coffee, I grab the camera, left a note to my sleeping family, apologetically patted the dog on the head and make my way out the door........ to the beach.  

This is it, December 31st, the last day of the year.  Time to look back, conjure up hopes and dreams about moving forward.  Maybe my walk will reveal what my year holds......... 

Here is review of my morning walk...........

I am not in the Arctic I am standing on the shores of Lake Erie in Northeastern Ohio.  

It is so quiet this morning, peaceful, yet I know the fury this lake can unleash.  

 During the last storm a fish finds it's final resting place....... in a tree.

the icy jaws of winter......

Sharing the beach with a blue heron.  What is he doing here?  

Hard to believe this frozen place can sustain life in sub zero weather and yet here he is.

Some won't make it.

There is profound beauty in this quiet place.

on my way home the gifts this morning were many......... 

Walking down the path and mesmerized by a large flock of geese over head, I am slapped into reality by a thin willow branch on my cold cheek.  Harsh?  No, just pay attention.

An hour and half later I am moved by the revealing secrets of natures.

I started this walk watching a bald eagle snatch a rabbit in a field.  I watched in disbelief as bald eagles two years ago were non-exsistent in northern Ohio.

The eagle; hunting, catching & eating speaks of abundance and prosperity, maybe not for the rabbit. 

Work hard, stay focused and you might feast too.  Stand still in the face of fear and you just might not live to see another day....... at least free.

Some of us will thrive and make the journey; other will not.  

Step over the chasms this year.......

Seek a safe harbor during storms this year and stay on course.............

and most of all, take time to smell the roses...........

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! 

Cooking lessons.......

Abby hit the door late Tuesday night.  Finals are over and Kent is a memory.

She called on her way home and I said; "Hey how about pizza for dinner?"
"Hi Mom!!  I would love meat on a bone, like steak and maybe a salad?"  Oh, ok stop with Dad and pick up the "meat on a bone" and I'll make a salad.  So much for tossing a pizza in the oven.
Home at last, the table is set and we can catch up on life.  I watched in amazement as an entire steak disappeared before I had eaten the garnish off my salad.  Thanks Mom, that was fabu-licious and she grabbed the car keys, dashing out the door to visit friends at Starbucks.  
As I heard the door slam I said the Mom chant;
"Drive careful and we have loads to do tomorrow!"

Wednesday was an adjustment day, for me.
Up early and stumbling to the coffee pot, I never turn on the lights
as that would be too much of a shock to my delicate system at 6 a.m.
I have lived here 25 years and my feet know the way to the coffee pot.
My barefeet found a 50 pound backpack in the middle of the floor,
a laundry basket full of dirty clothes and pairs of shoes scattered to the door.
She must have been late because my bare feet found the puddles of melted icy cold snow too.
Muttering expletives, the dog covered his ears......

Made coffee in the dark and stumbled to the back door to let the dog out & tossed a log in the woodstove.  The coffee pot beeped, and I ran back in the dark to get my morning infusion.  Reaching up in the dark for a cup........ no cups.  Where are the cups?  Turning on the light and realize Santa Dohrman had sent a new mug rack and I had moved the mugs to the left of the coffee pot, proving I am a creature of habit.  Changing my name to Pavlov-ia.

Hearing the dog scratching on the back door I ran back with my steaming cup of coffee to let him in. 

Hunt for the remote, stuffed in the third couch cushion, I flip on CNN.  I flop into a chair and sit on a cold plastic lap top computer, spilling coffee on blue leopard print nighty and the dog.  

Today is better........... 

We had a cooking lesson for Chicken Paprikash and Abby learned to make dumplings.  A bit heavy on the sour cream but it was delicious!  

She ate a bowl, loved it and ran out the door to Starbuck's.  I see a pattern developing here!  I blindly reached down to turn the kettle on for tea water and the stove knob was covered with sour cream...... 

The Abinator has struck again!   

I'm adjusting ..........

Tomorrow we bake bread...... Nisua (finnish cardamon bread)  I think I will wait to mop the floor.

did you say Nisua? 

Tonight I am watching the Grinch and weaving......... it's good to have her home. 

Back to Weaving!

It's December 22 and I should be baking cookies and fa-la-la-la-ing somewhere but sometimes I am truly driven and feel very compelled to finish a project...... and this was a project.

Four non-stop days of weaving and happy it's finished.  Now I can get on with cooking the figgy pudding!

It's a nice sized pot at 14" h x 8" w. 

Let the games begin!!  Happy Holidays to everyone!!

random emails.......

In this day and age of rapid fire email I have started responding to some of the stuff that filters in.

Hey if they are going to deposit an unsolicited email in my inbox I can give the gift back, right?

And it can be about anything I choose to ramble about, right? 

Sending lovely little letters about the library in Benin, 

their over indulgent lifestyle (and I always send the latest fashion trends of Guinagourou!) or even my website.

Today .................

I get this unsolicited email complete with pictures telling me it's about the light......  and fashion. 

Here is the picture in the unsolicited email from these lovely folks:

 "SoCurio:  your guide to discovering art"

Oh look and a photograph for $5,000!  What a steal!  The woman above is the curator of the month.

She can help me discover art and apparently, a real bargin.

Well I couldn't stop myself and picked out a random email address, to an editor at large and sent her what fashion really is all about and suggested she send it on to her clients; The Kardashian's.   Thank you very much!

The Fashion-ista's of Guinagourou

Told her I was sitting here trying to figure out how to sustain a $60 a month salary for a librarian in Benin, did you read that?  Salary - $60 a month and anyway the contrast was a bit startling.  Wow, she responded.  Ok this makes me laugh and go for the jugular. 

 Last month, a Jewish rabbi, Mark Miller from Houston, Texas mistakenly emailed his sermon to my in box.  I emailed back ...... how could I stop myself?

Randomness............

Ho Ho Ho.........

It's here!  Winter has reared it's ugly head and we were caught in our underwear........ again!
This year the lights have not been hung and the old elf has been busy splitting and stacking wood.
Now that I think about it.......... that is ok as it has has kept him off the roof and out of the trees.
With luck I will slap a wreath on the door and throw a string of twinkle lights on the wood pile by Dec. 24th.

Every year I have visions of baking cookies in a June Cleaver apron and decorating the house while the smell of cinnamon circles my head, giving me a migraine........ and this is before I dip into the bourbon balls I hide under corner cabinet!   It never happens; it used to happen when the wee ones were padding around in footed jammies but the Wee Ones are now in their 20's.

Yesterday I saw the first rubbermaid tote emerge from the bowels of the basement.  I was working away in the back room when I heard the plastic bottom sliding over the floor.  I kept weaving, I knew what it was but I didn't get up, I didn't feel bad.  At midnight I decided to slink off to bed and what did my wondering eyes behold?  Electrified garlands wrapped around doorways, up the staircase and into a spare bedroom.
Today I noticed the battery operated candles had appeared in each and every window in our house.

Can I watch the "Polar Express" one more time?   I bought him a giant gold bell without a dinger in it.
I screamed ........ I HEAR IT!    It's hard to leave him his illusions when he's pushing 60.

December 14th and I am packing the truck, charging the cell phone, loading the ipod with books, gassing up the truck and filling the wiper reservoir with pure alcohol for a sub zero drive to Arlington, Va.
The alarm is set for 3:30 a.m. the coffee pot is locked and loaded, thermos is on standby and the maps are in the travel bag.  Yes, maps!  not a GPS but a good old fashioned map.
According to mapquest, a mere 6 hours and 40 minutes to my destination.

Picking up a new/used Crafthut outdoor canopy for shows scheduled in 2011.  Next stop, the Walters Museum in downtown Baltimore to drop off two ordered pots to a more than patient curator.  Weaving the last two weeks has been intense!  The results are:

I will return by midnight and wake up refreshed and ready for Santa! 

Happy Holidays! 

It's a Jolly Holi-dog Celebration!