Peace Be With You

messenger

If 2012 turns out to be our last year, let's make it a good one.

Here's to peace, love, growth and prosperity in the new year.

Hope

Here's hoping that you have peace in your life and that whatever might prevent that peace can be enlightened or given a hug or a sandwich.

Here's hoping that your fears can loom just far enough away for you to have a good time and just close enough to keep you safe.

Here's hoping that your burdens are only heavy enough to make you feel strong.

Here's hoping that love will keep you buoyant.

Tis the Season

separated

I presently have four lists in my back pocket, six in my pocketbook, two in my coat, three on the kitchen island and an unknown amount on or near my desk.

I have a rule about the holiday season; If it makes me stressed out, I don't do it.

Freaking out over money, gifts, relatives and food ruins the whole deal for me.

This is not to say that I don't ever stress about those things. When I start to (or after I have already lost it), I stop what I am doing.

I ask myself if this is something I really want to do.

If the answer is "no" I cut it out (baking anything, for example).

If the answer is "yes", then I stop complaining and figure out how to do it in a joyful way (ask someone else to bake or buy baked goods, for example).

Sounds like I am just tricking myself into having a Merry Christmas?

Correct.

The mind trick and the lists, works every time.

Let it Snow

brigade

I'm not a big fan of cold weather. There are some great things about snow though.

I love how beautiful it can be. The light refracted off of all those tiny crystals really is quite magical, before the snowplows, cars and people muddy it up anyways.

My favorite thing about snow is the opportunity to build something.

We used to make some great forts out of the icy top layer of the snow.  Best to wait until the top layer was frozen enough for a 50lb. kid to walk on without breaking through. We'd break off the chunks like pieces of slate and stack them up, stone wall style.

Snow people and animals were also fun. I never could get one to look as perfectly round as I had seen in picture books. The snow was not as pure. When you roll the snow across the yard you are pretty likely to pick up leaves, pine needles, pine cones, dirt and acorns as you go. There also was never a top hat available to place on his head upon his head. It was fun anyways. It still is.

The coolest thing I ever saw built in the snow was a homemade sledding track made by my cousin, Tim. 

The winter he built it was one of those classic New England winters where the snow was never in short supply and the temperatures never got above 32 degrees (F).  Tim was out there with shovels of all sizes and buckets of water to smooth and perfect the curves of the track. 

The back yard had just enough incline and square feet to get you up to heart-beat-skipping speed with jumps that only almost broke your tailbone. 

I was happy to ride it and I was happy to go inside where Auntie had a cup of warm cocoa waiting for me.

Dude, Sweet

round

My daughter and I go see a local production of the Nutcracker every year.  The local dance schools do some pretty impressive productions, but after last year's show we decided that we were ready to see the real thing.

I set the money for the tickets aside in January, so that when the time came I wouldn't cop-out due to sticker shock.

November came around and I realized that we would be in New York on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  We had planned on going to the Boston show, but why not do New York and have Auntie come with us?

We got all dolled up and went to the matinee show at Lincoln Center.

It was a magical show. 

The live orchestra, beautiful, the sparkly sets, the colorful costumes and the amazing feats of athleticism from the dancers were enchanting.

When we got back to Auntie's we decided that no matter what the word was for Illustration Friday, I would have to do an image from the show.

Mirror, Mirror

vanity

The battle cries between, "I don't care what other people think" and "I want to look young and beautiful" get louder and louder, the older I get.

Afraid of the Wolf

silent

When I was a kid the woods were my backyard. It was easy for me to picture all those fairy tales that took place in the forest.

I was a quick study of the lessons from the stories that often ended in children meeting their doom.

I wasn't scared of these stories. I took them as useful information and filed them in my mind for future reference. This way I would know what to do if I came upon a house made of gingerbread or a talking wolf while I was playing in the woods.

Get locked in a tower? Grow my hair long. Got it.

White rocks, not breadcrumbs. Don't give directions to Grandma's house.

I still find much of the advice useful because I know that if you make the wrong choice you will get eaten by the wolf.

Sunshine on My Shoulders

stripes

My favorite time of the workday is when the sun works its way to the west side of the building. This is  where the window next to my desk is. The large pane fills with sunshine.

I can hardly see the computer screen but the greenhouse effect on my little patch of the office is like a mug of hot cocoa.  The perfect combination of warmth and pep to get me through the rest of the day.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

scary

Where I live, I always have a great view of the night sky.

We have a low tree line, most of the buildings are two stories (or lower) and there is very little light pollution.  I love the night here. Dark.

The night usually starts out with a spectacular sunset.  Then the sky, like an overworked watercolor turns dark.  The stars and the moon start to appear as if on a dimmer switch in God's living room.

There is a new show every night.

Even on foggy or cloudy nights you can feel the vastness of the universe like a tremendous ocean that Earth is a little beach ball floating around in.

The morning sky brings a no less spectacular sunrise and lights the solid  and defined world. This is beautiful as well but leaves less to the imagination than the darkness of night.

Coffee Kingdom

fuel

Like any good Irish-American girl I was raised as a tea drinker.  I love tea.

My first impulse when company comes is to turn the kettle on as I offer a cup to my guests. The lighting of the tea kettle is also the first step to any* crisis situation. Tea is my rock, my friend, my life companion.

I also love coffee. I love coffee in a more desperate, get this coursing through my veins kind of way.  This may sound like an addiction.  I admit to times of abuse but I have it under control presently. I limit myself to around 16 ounces a day.  I can get through the day without it.

If I do start to get twitchy there is always my tea, patient and kind, to make everything alright.


*birth, death, illness, car, school, family, work, home, friends, etc.