Lights!!!!

You never know when you will meet a celebrity

Brad Pitt?  George Clooney?  Ellen The Generous?
Nope.
But, still a celebrity.
I bet you will never guess where I was today!

Nature Cat and me!

Peace and Love

blocked

I have a problem

     Writer's block.  I have trouble getting a topic for this, for the Sunday column, for the Christmas letter.
     Every year I do 2 Christmas letters.  A funny one, and a real one.  I don't know if people read either one.
     I wish I had saved the early ones.
     My first was when Julia was still at home.  I began with a normal greeting, and every paragraph got wilder and wilder until I ran out of space.
     We didn't send it to everyone on our list, but I got a couple of calls from family members asking why they didn't get a copy, so I sent it to everyone on the list after that.
     But his is the latest I have ever started a letter.  The One Who Must Be Obeyed said it had to be done this week and mailed by next Friday.  I don't know if I have time to do that.
     Mainly because I don't have any idea what to do.
     Time will tell....but I seem to be blocked with a B.
     Hopefully some inspiration will come to me.
Peace and Love

spritz fitz

I thought I had done it again

     I thought I had lost something, again.   This time, the dough gun we use to make spritz cookies disappeared.  It was not in any of the Christmas boxes.  I looked in all the cabinets, on the pantry shelves, everywhere I could look.      Nothing.
     In desperation, I went downstairs for the third time and saw a plastic tub with only three items in it:  two plates and a cookie press!
     The lost is found.  Why it was in a box by almost itself is a question to be addressed later.
     Hopefully tomorrow we can finish putting out Christmas.  It really takes over the house and with the short time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it has been a struggle for me.
     But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
     I just hope it's not a train.
Peace and Love

energy abounds

I sometimes forget how much energy kids have

     I had my mentoring session with my second grader today, and he was a constant bundle of energy.
     When I was in the hallway, the teeming crowds of students all seemed to have so much more energy than I remember when I taught.
     Maybe it's just me, huh?
     I delivered my poinsettias today, and we made two batches of cookies, which seems to have tired me out.
     Or maybe it was the lack of sleep last  night.
     Talk about weird dreams.  Corki brought in a friend who had six legs and three body parts, all white, with what looked like pipe cleaners connecting or separating them.  For some reason, (maybe it was because this new creature went behind the refrigerator and would not come out) that dream upset me to the point of waking me up.  I slept little after that.
     But the Dickens village still stands.
     And so do I, but only for a little while.  I'm going to bed before 11!
Peace and Love

The village atop the table John built for Jackie two years ago.

Nephew Fred's house

Uh....some thing's not right.

dickens be damned

I have a love/hate relationship with Charles Dickens

     I love Christmas Carol.  I read it every year, starting around Thanksgiving.  But this year I have not even gotten the book out yet.  I am still reading A Confederacy of Dunces, which is a very unusual book.  Great characters, interesting plot, wonderful use of New Orleans as a backdrop.....but it is taking a long time to get through it.  Can't seem to find the time to read lately.
     Anyway, Dickens.
     How can you not get the Christmas spirit when you read about Tiny Tim being saved because Scrooge realized life was not all about money, but family and friends and love.
     We have a lot of Department 56 Dickens Christmas Carol pieces and that is where the hate part starts.  They are hard to set up, the street lights are almost impossible to keep upright and because I am clumsy, parts are being chipped.
     Then the love drifts back in because when it is done, I love it.  Jackie loves it.  Heck, even Corki would love it if dogs had any sense.
     We finished putting out the pieces today.  Now maybe I can find time to read about Scrooge and Fred and Bob........maybe.
Peace and Love

canaries in the coal mine

I was saddened by a picture I saw today

     Part of the road that circles Mackinac Island collapsed after being pounded by waves caused by high winds.
     If you don't know, some of the lakes are at historic high levels and erosion along the shores is becoming pretty common.  And worrisome.
     I believe the climate is changing, and I believe that we humans are a major reason for that change.  Yes, there have been ice ages and glaciers in the past that have covered much of North America.  But the freezing and melting happened over thousands of years.  The changes now are in the last 100 years.
     It's not only Mackinac Island.  Venice has been hit by historic flooding this year, again, rising sea levels are part of the reason.
     I love Mackinac Island.  I was always happy to be a "fudgie" on the island when Jackie and I took our post school vacations there so many years ago.
     I will always have happy memories of riding around the island.  I just hope future generations will also have happy memories.
     To be honest, I love Venice too......but that sinking city isn't in my heart the way Mackinac Island is.
     But if we don't change our ways, it may only be in pictures that people will see the road millions of bike tires have travelled, or the beauty of St. Mark's Square and its hoards of pigeons.

Peace and Love

time flies

I just realized it is after 11

     So much for my plan to get to bed earlier.
     What gets me is...... I did not do a thing today!  Yes, I picked up a scooter and delivered a calendar, but that was it.
     I just don't understand where the time goes.
     Today was Dickens Village day....but that did not happen.  It has to tomorrow.
     But what if Annie was wrong?
     Oh well...one more day lost in a fog.
Peace and Love