Breath by Breath

Holiday Haiku ::: 4

One elf is at work

Making treasures in secret

For the dad he loves

Holiday Haiku ::: 3

A little bit now.

A little more tomorrow.

Qualitative leaps.

Holiday Haiku

The season greets us

Exhaling cold, warmth, sound, light

Memories burn bright

Welcoming it all

The Guest House

 

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

 

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

 

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

 

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

 

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

 

Mewlana Jelaluddin Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

Building the universe

Song of the Builders

On a summer morning

I sat down

on a hillside

to think about God -

a worthy pastime.

Near me, I saw

a single cricket;

it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.

How great was its energy,

how humble its effort.

Let us hope

it will always be like this,

each of us going on

in our inexplicable ways

building the universe.

Mary Oliver from Why I Wake Early (2004)

Aftermath ::: interlude

Advent ::: Days 21 through 25

"Little House Christmas" at the Main Street Theater in Houston. Silas and I read all 9 books together this year, so it was fun to hear is very detailed analysis of all the liberties they took with time, place, persons and events.

We FINALLY got to ice skate at Discovery Green and Santa showed up!

Afterward, we had a quick bite at our favotire Mission Burrito and went to Silas' piano teacher's family concert, full of piano, basoon, bell choir and lots of singing.

 

Silas, the Star Wars lego-loving Ninja (new balaclava and ski goggles in his stocking this year!).

Taking the break from the holiday joy, wearing new safety glasses from his very own real took kit and his new sweater & pj's.

Oh, no!  Auntie gave Silas the new version of "Battleship"! 

On Christmas Eve I did a lot of food prep for Christmas and we enjoyed a lovely evening of holiday cheer with friends at their gathering.  On Christmas morning we had a slow and sweet time with gifts for our tiny family, a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, and later a festive lunch and rousing game of Timeline with family, and an adult viewing of the Christmas premier of Les Miserables.  Foosball, lego and other fun stuff ensued for the little one and his daddy.

I hope everyone had and continues to have a peaceful, companionable, and joyful holiday season.

 

Advent ::: Days 13 through 21

 

Scenes from the Season

Dinner with a dear old friend and Mr. Darcy.

The funny pancake maker!

Gingerbread men & such.

Making tamales.

Silas takes a portrait of his family.

Traditional Christmas miniatures.

 

Silas finds a home at the North Pole.

Some making at Silas' school Christmas party.

Note card making.

Singing in public (!!!) at the Solstice Tamale Fiesta.

Not pictured...reading "Cops & Robbers", watching "Rudolf" & "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", wrapping presents, giving presents, the beautiful Solstice Tamale Fiesta ceremony (fire & candlelighting outside this year), making snowflakes for Newtown, and on and on....

 

 

Advent ::: Days 7 & 8 and Elving

December 7 ::: Watch Frosty the Snowman, Make Cookie Dough for Party (& for mommy, elving)

The king-sized bed doubles as a work surface.  It's the best I can do, since my sewing machine is in a cabinet in our capacious master BR.

Various sets of these note cards, each unique from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and the fabric scrap bag, are underway for certain friends who write notes...

December 8 ::: Bake cookies for party and attend the Bayou Village Waldorf-Inspired School Winter Faire (& later, dinner with adults at home while Silas attends an evening out with his friends).

A puppet play about the four seasons and the ability of all the contribute, no matter how small.

My favorite thing was the "Crystal Cave" with beautiful treasures and sweets for the children inside.

Below, Silas loves his ribbon ring.

Preparing a warm atmosphere for conversation and sharing.

 

The Stocking Project 2012 ::: Advent days 1 through 4

December 1 ::: Decorating, Festive Votive Holders and Bay Area Chorus Concert at Villa de Matel Convent

For some reason I have a blurry picture, here, but these are not new.  The stockings were up on time and we're working the Advent joy one day at a time...

Favorite holiday and winter books, movies and our solstice hand-held candles.

The Santa shelf.

The iron tree with family heirloom ornaments.

Experiments with Mod Podge and tissue paper votive holders.

December 2 ::: Trimming the tree & kite paper snowflakes

This is our second year with a real tree and I love it.  Our kite paper snowflake tradition continues with every-advancing sophistication as Silas understands how they work and has greater dexterity with his scissors.  This year's big innovation and all his idea?  The "ultimate" snow flake.  Using an entire sheet of kite paper trimmed to a square, we collaborated on a bunch of these, which are in several windows in our house.  

December 3 ::: Shop for donations, send e-vite for Solstice Gathering and Kids' Cookie-Decorating Party

Our advent activites are focused on making, doing and giving.  Today we shopped for toys to give to Toys for Tots.  We debated over what to get that would not conflict with our values, but also would be fun for kids who might not share ours.  We went through books & board games and settled on Lego.  Lego is Silas' favorite play activity and he has amazing skill at following the "kit" instructi0ns.  But, what I love is how he abandons the kits and makes his own super cool, zany, and often very functional stuff out of the combo of pieces he has accumulated and the Mindstorms robotic kits he has via his engineer Dad.  So, we are sharing the Lego love this year.  Our other "giving" is in the form of monetary donations (which will happen another day and for a specific set of reasons, which I'll go into later...).

Silas asked for a party to make cookies with his friends and I'm always up for a party.  We will be making salt dough cookie ornaments (and a few sweet treats, too!).  I've decided that 6 and a 1/2 is the best age for all this holiday fun.  I'm sure the fun will continue to grow, but he is just so into the spirit and anticipation and is beginning to understand our traditions and really make them his own. 

This year's tamale fiesta will take place on the actual solstice, which coincides with the end of the world/end of Mayan 5000-year cycle thing.  We can't wait.  Where would we rather be if the world ends than at home, surrounded by our friends and family.  Several people (including me) have already committed to sharing music or other forms of creativity after the observance circle and yule log, so I am looking forward to a very festive, celebratory, close, warm and connected evening.

December 4 ::: The Nutcracker & letter to Santa

The Houston Ballet does two daytime performances of The Nutcracker for school groups.  We joined with others to form a group of 8 "home schoolers" and were rewarded with very inexpensive tickets and Box Seats.  This was a first for me and for Silas.  His highlights

::: the snowflakes, which he analyzed via binoculars and determined were "laminated white paper, so they sparkle"

::: looking for the "winds" in the orchestra pit

::: the mice - soldier sword fighting

I asked him if he liked the dancing.  He said, "What part?"  I said, "All of it; the whole thing."  He said, "Yeah."  What can I say, he's a detail kid.  Actually, I think it was all a bit overwhelming and certainly not something we would attend every year. 

After our "snow day" from school, we had lunch and Silas wrote a letter to Santa.  One thing is on his list.  Yikes!  'Nough said.