Merry Christmas 2012

Wishing all who celebrate a Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year.  

This is my 500th post.  Never thought I'd keep this blog around this long. 

Happy New Year 2011!

Happy New Year to all of you.  2010 is a year I’m not sorry to see go.  And it went out with a bang around here, with strange weather this week that saw us go from the 30’s up to the 60’s and then get hit with a cold front – with predictable results for the Midwest:  Tornados. 

Predictable, except at the end of December.  Oh, we’ve had tornados touch down in St. Louis before.  In the spring and summer.  There is a furniture store that has been hit a couple of times during my life by a tornado, it almost has become a joke with them since no one has ever been injured.  But this was an out of season tornado and it hit a suburb  called Sunset Hills about 10 miles from me and took out about 20 houses.  Sunset Hills is about 10 miles from where I live and I’m out there all the time for shopping.  Fortunately no one was killed, although other people in Missouri did die in the storms.  It was a sad end to 2010.

So good riddance 2010 with your bad economy and all your crazy people populating the television and radio and your bad weather.  Welcome 2011. 

Please be better. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today my job is to bring the Cranberry Relish.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to those who celebrate and have a good Sunday to those who don’t. 

And whether you celebrate or not – never trust a muppet monster dressed up like a bunny:

Hello 2010

It’s so nice to see you!

I don’t usually make resolutions for the new calendar year. For one thing,  I know I’ll break them almost immediately.   But mostly I think it’s because I still tend to think of September as the start of the new year even though I’ve been out of school for almost twenty years.

The only resolution I’m making this year is to change the way I make donations to better the world.  I resolve to give my money to organizations that work day-in-day-out, year after year on issues that I care about.  That means I will not be giving any money to individuals running for office.    

Other than that, no resolutions.  But maybe some wishes.  Yes, I do wishes.

Not “I wish for peace on Earth” kind of wishes (although I do wish for that) but “I wish I were different” kind of wishes.   Don’t worry, I’m a pretty rational person so I don’t suddenly wish I were 5’5” instead of 5’8”  or wish I looked like someone else.   I don’t even wish that I were nicer.  There are some things that just don’t change.

But other things I have a bit of control over and I wish I would do those things.    So in the spirit of the New Year maybe, if I wish hard enough and clap loud enough, in 2010 I’ll:

• do more stretching
• make more homecooked meals
• spend more time with friends I didn’t see enough in 2009
• catch up on my French history project that I mostly put aside a couple of years ago
• Learn some more Italian (which should be easy with my new “phrase a day” Italian calendar from AB)

And if I don’t, oh well.

Felice Anno Nuovo!

Goodbye 2009

I know a lot of bloggers do retrospectives at the end of the year.  But I would like to close the door on 2009 without looking back.  

Yes, I realize that it’s possible that 2010 could be worse.  Much worse.  But I’ll face that if it actually happens. For now, I’m ready to put 2009 behind and have a fresh start.  

So, goodbye 2009 and good riddance. 

Troll the Ancient Yuletide Carol

The 2009 winter solstice occurs on Monday, December 21 at 12:47 p.m. (EST).   After that the days begin to get longer.   Thank you whoever is in charge up there.   I need more daylight.

Winter solstice is the traditional time of midwinter festivals and the Vikings celebrated it a “yule”.    Being fairhaired Irish I’m probably descended from the Vikings.    At least, I like to think so.  And my English ancestors came over with William the Conqueror from Normandy.  And William and his followers were descended from Vikings.   It’s true – you can look it up.

So I’m going with Yule being a tradition in my family going waaaaaaay back.  

The winter solstice is always observed at Woodhenge (across the river in Cahokia) at sunrise on the nearest Sunday to the actual date, which was this morning.    I’m not really sure why people think spiritual events always have to happen at the ungodly hour of sunrise.  Can’t a person be spiritual at sunset?   I know I’m much nicer at sunset than at sunrise and being nicer seems essential to spirituality.   I feel certain that Vikings weren’t very nice in the morning either.

In any event, I didn’t attend the solstice activities.  I never do.  But my halls are decked and my gay apparel is standing by.

I’m ready to troll.  

Getting in the Spirit

I haven’t been much in the spirit this year.  Truthfully, 2009 has sucked and I can’t wait for it to be over.  So I’m much more interested in getting past New Year’s this year than the Christmas holidays.  

I never put up a tree in 2008 because I wasn’t much in the mood last year either, what with the total meltdown of the economy and everyone wondering if they were going to have a job in 2009 and all.   This year I went back and forth on the whole tree thing.  I wasn’t planning on having any holiday parties and my “big” tree is, well,  pretty big.  It takes a long time to put up (and take down).   It seemed like a lot of work for just me to see.

I almost ditched the whole idea but it has been such a downer of a year that I thought I ought to do something rather than nothing.  So I got out the little tree that I used to use before I moved into my current house and put it up in my study /tv room where I spend most of my time anyway.   

I found my holiday playlist and realized that most of my holiday music didn’t even get played in 2008.   So I’m playing some of it this year.   But it all sounds pretty much like this to me:

It’s supposed to snow tonight.  Maybe that will get me in the mood.

Update:   More fun from Andif:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Have a great day.    Hope your turkey comes out ok and if it doesn’t, there’s always the side dishes. :)

The View from my Window

For you to contemplate while I'm off doing other things.

 

Le quatorze juillet

Couldn't let the day go by without wishing our friends across the Atlantic "Bonne fête à tous".   Or as we say in America:  Happy Bastille Day.

Here is my favorite version of the French national anthem:

Vive La France!

Happy 4th of July!

One reason I love the Independence Day holiday is that I'm a big fan of John Philip Sousa and marching bands.  Everyone have a great holiday.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to everyone out there who is a dad.  Since this is "musical" weekend, and since my sister and I went to the Circus last night, I'm posting this for my own dad.  

Have a Good Holiday

I'm taking off early today to start the three day holiday. I hope everyone has a good weekend wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Apropos of what I'm doing:

Or maybe this one is better:

And as a bonus, the other day I blogged about Rockcliffe Mansion and noted that it was designed by the same firm that designed the Missouri Governor's Mansion. Here's a link to a blog story with pictures of the Missouri Governor's Mansion - or "the Mary Poppins House" as I like to call it.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve my dad's extended family gathers together. It's the only time all year that we all try to get together. Sometimes it happens for graduations and weddings and other big events, but not always. But everyone tries to get to Christmas Eve. Not everyone is successful. This year my cousin Mike won't make it in from California and, since he's one of my favorite cousins, I'll miss him. Every once in a while one of the teens or college kids has to work and can't make it. But mostly everyone is there.

My dad came from a family of seven kids. Six of them are still alive. Two of them didn't have kids - my Aunt Muggs became a nun and my Aunt Kathy never had any kids. But the other five had kids (me, my sisters and cousins) and now our generation has its own kids. And last year one of my cousins' daughters got married. I think there are about 45 of us if no one brings dates.


A long time ago we started the tradition of having mass together in the home. My dad and his brothers have strong connections to the Jesuits and there were priests who were friends of the family willing to come celebrate mass with us. Most people show up for mass, even those who have fallen away from religion. That's because it's low key and ... nice. And how can you go wrong with the story of the nativity?

There is so much about the story of the nativity that I like that has nothing to do with religion. For one thing, it is timeless. A pregnant young woman. Her husband is not the father of the child. But he is a good man who is committed to the relationship and willing to raise a child that is not his own. They are subject to a governmental bureaucracy that doesn't hesitate to put ordinary people to a great deal of trouble for purely administrative reasons. They encounter travel problems: too many people traveling all at the same time, leading to the ancient equivalent of being stuck in the airport. The wife goes into labor at the most inopportune time but delivers a beautiful, healthy child. And although they are far from home, the couple is surrounded by nice people - ordinary working people who take time out of their days to come by and offer their congratulations and assistance.

And from a spiritual sense, I like the message. Salvation doesn't come in the form of a powerful being who solves all your problems. It comes in the form of a helpless person who needs you to help solve his or her problems. What is the most helpless type of person in the world? A newborn baby. In my opinion, Joseph is the hero of this story because he epitomizes the message. He volunteers to become responsible for this little baby and his mother - two people in need. And like many people who spend their lives helping those in need, the spotlight often misses Joseph. He's not center stage - he's off to the side.

I always think it is a story that can be appreciated for what it is even if you don't believe in it as a religion. And during this Christmas season I honor all the people in the world who help the helpless - especially men who take care of children, their own and other people's.

Anyway, here is my favorite painting of the beautiful story of the nativity. The artist is Hugo van der Goes. The painting hangs in the Uffizi in Florence. The thing that I particularly like about this painting is that almost all the people in this painting have stylized faces and look vaguely similar -- except for Joseph and the shepherds. Joseph, as usual, is off to the side. Not in the spotlight. But Joseph just glows and, unlike Mary, he looks real. And the shepherds? Look at the shepherds. You can almost smell the sweat on them. They've come straight from work and after this strange interlude they will go back to work. See the looks on their faces. The curiosity. They've been told to come see something that will change their lives and what do they find? Not a great warrior. Not a liberator. Not Ed McMahon telling them they've won the lottery. But a little baby who couldn't possibly do anything for anybody. Here's a link to a larger version. Look at those faces.

It's a nice story. Mary Doria Russell said about her novel A Thread of Grace: "What I have written is not real, but I hope they will find it true." Whether or not we know or believe a story really happened, we can still find truth in it.

Cookie Baking

When I was four years old my family moved to a new house.  It was a nicer house - more bedrooms and a bigger back yard.  My mom liked the attached garage.  But the best thing about the house was the people who lived next door.  A husband and wife, Harold and Helen, and two daughters, Barb and Deb, and Grandpa.  They became our second family. 

They had a tradition.  Each year Helen and her daughters would bake Christmas cookies with Helen's sister Clara and her daughters (there actually may have been other family members involved but I don't remember - it was a crowd though.)  Everyone would make up batches of cookie dough in advance and they would spend the day in Helen's kitchen baking and decorating.  And they invited us to help.  Then on Christmas Eve, after we finished with our family festivities, we'd come home and head next door where Helen would be serving the cookies with a cocktail for the adults and kiddie cocktails for the rest of us.

It was a lot of fun.  Baking cookies is about the only kitchen activity that I actually enjoy.  And to this day I much prefer to do it with other people rather than just by myself. So today my mom and dad and my sister and I got together to bake cookies.  Actually my sister and I baked, my dad cleaned up after us and my mom kept the dog out of our way. 

Here's pictures (we didn't do any decorated cookies this year, although we left the gingerbread men dough in the refrigerator so that my other sister can help bake them when she gets here):

My sister's teaspoons.

mixing things up 

Russian Wedding Cookies (or, as we call them, snowballs) being rolled in powder sugar:

Some of the oatmeal raisin cookies, cooling:

Brown Sugar cookies

I have to confess, I think the last two pictures were taken by my sister on my camera, she's much more picture-oriented than I am.

And here is Truman - licking every crumb out of the empty bag of dog food before it gets thrown away:

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday.

The following is from one of my favorite television Thanksgivings: