DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS

DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS

I used to go all out in the decoration department. ‘All out’ involved getting ready for Christmas by what you did. So when my daughter was little, I crocheted about twenty five snowflakes that decorated our tree for years.

My personal favorite was the ‘Jesus Set’ my daughter punched out and set up for several years. It was fun to read the Christmas story, punch out the cardboard figures, and set them up on the window sill.

I won’t argue that those were the good old days, but I will stand up for our traditions. We had a bunch of them. We painted wooden ornaments with my sisters in law. We baked those plastic ornaments that filled your kitchen with the toxic smell and made your eyes burn. We painted cork ornaments one year. We made the flour dough ornaments and painted them one year. All of this activity was to make the point that it was what you did to get ready for Christmas, not what you bought that made Christmas preparations special and meaningful.

When my daughter was about ten years old, she looked at me and said, “This year I want a ‘Jesus Set’ you don’t punch out.” So the tradition of the cardboard ‘Jesus Set’ you punched out bit the dust.

When my daughter married and left home, I sent all of the ornaments with her from her childhood. When she left home, my son was two and we created a whole new set of traditions. I have since passed onto his wife most of the ornaments we made while he was growing up. My grandchildren are busy creating now their own traditions. I say Merry Christmas and carry on.

 

BEADED ICICLES

BEADED ICICLES

My son loved the shiny crystal beads. We made beaded icicles when he was little. He did not like to color or paint, but he could string beads with the best of them. He made a beaded garland that was several feet of beads. He probably created twenty five beaded icicles all together. His trees looked completely different from my daughters.

We found lights that played carols one year. They were red bells that blinked with the music like strobe lights. They looked awesome on the tree, red and shiny. If you didn’t get the two strings timed in sync, they would raise a cacophony that you can’t imagine. One of the group of carols would be slightly behind the other, like an echo. My husband swore that the ‘blinking lights would cause seizures’ for anyone who looked at them.

Well, okay, they were fun for awhile. Finally, they squeaked their last carol, and were sent to the dust bin where Christmas lights go when they are no longer useful. I have to admit I was recently tempted by a group of shiny pine cone lights that advertised ‘plays five carols’, but that would mean I would have to commit to putting up a Christmas tree. So I resisted the tempting and beautifully shiny little things. I haven’t reached that stage of Christmas fever yet.

 

P.S. I am now doing book reviews at http://www.marytkincaidauthor.com.

MEDICINE

MEDICINE

I have been wrestling with health issues the past couple of years. Often the problems I am having will be the result of a drug that I am taking that I have a sensitivity too. I will take it awhile and then suddenly I will have some problem that I haven’t experienced before. A terrible red rash on my arms that itches. Diarrhea that keeps me in the house and stops my routine. Dizziness, nausea, the list goes on and on.

I had a bad drug reaction when I was young. I was hospitalized briefly while they tried to figure out what was wrong. I found out I was allergic to a chemical bond. Imagine, an entire chemical drug group. They found it because they had prescribed three drugs out of the group for asthma. An experience I don’t want to repeat.

Today I used all the tools at my disposal. WebMD, the pharmacy function of my drug plan. The pharmacist was very helpful. I would not hesitate to use them if you need them. I at least eliminated the possibility of drug interactions from prescribed drugs. The pharmacist suggested the drug that might be causing me problems. I have an appointment with my doctor to talk to him about this possibility.

What’s the lesson here? Be vigilant. Use all of your tools. Assume responsibility for your health by being sensitive to your body and its needs. Take care of yourself.

 

GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE

Being grateful is a decision that you make every morning when your feet hit the floor. Gratefulness will orient you correctly. In this grateful state you can find joy and peace in the little things that start your day. Toast that is beautifully toasted. Preserves that contain fruity bits for your mouth. Hot coffee.

When you are truly grateful, you know that everything you need is out in the universe waiting for you. Your search for ideas and other works will lead you to the place you are supposed to be. Your waiting expectantly and gratefully will be enough. All your accomplishments will mark the path on which you should be moving.

I wake up in the morning and I greet the sun. Hello Sun, Sister Moon, all creation waits for the sons and daughters. Imagine the creation is out there listening and waiting for our gratitude with faith that we will one day get it right. Come with me, let us join together, with gratitude and seek peace, joy, and grace.

YOGA

YOGA

Most of my life I  have been competitive. I love the challenge of beating. Winning is a good feeling. Lately, I have turned inward. This inward turning led to the discovery of the practice of Yoga. Locally I practice with instructor Bee Bradley of the Sun-Moon Yoga Studio. This is a new experience because there is no competition with Yoga.

The meditation aspect of yoga is an inward turning. Learning to quiet your mind and just be. This is a powerful state. It can be to sitting quietly with God. Praying as we Christians often do it involves pleading and invoking to get our way. I believe that God is happiest with us when we are just being in his goodness and presence. Sitting still and knowing He is there is, perhaps, the greatest form of companionship with our creator.

The world would be a different place if all the other type of praying were sufficient to solve problems. I think many things would be resolved. Perhaps we are all being called to meditate on our own spiritual and physical well being.

My competitive nature will not be denied indefinitely. As I practice Yoga I become stronger and set little challenges for myself. My goal is to become strong enough to stand on my head, an inversion. Right now my arms, wrists, and shoulders are not strong enough but stay tuned.

 

BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS

I love to write book reviews. They are wonderful training for conciseness. You want to share what the writer has shown you. There are many writers in the world and many visions. The reason there are so many is that each writer us is unique and speaks to a unique group of people. Many, many books speak to me. The world is full of excellent story tellers. I love them all.

There are books to curl up with on a Saturday afternoon while it is raining. Their stories go well with hot chocolate, maybe popcorn. These little mysteries grab your shirt front and drag you right into the middle of the action before you can say who-done-it. I like the ones with humor or some quirky main character.

The romances that will draw me in are a little more sophisticated. I like a sassy heroine on her way somewhere. Usually my favorites are supported by a classical plot structure. I have found plots from Shakespeare in romance novels. Romances that are not well done are just not that interesting.

I like heroes that start at one point and move to some development as a product of experience or time. My favorite heroes and my favorite villains are not that far apart. There is a very thin moral line of redemption between the best good guy and the great bad guy. I think that villains are harder to craft because you have to know so much about them to create a good one.

Graphic novels are becoming favorites also. My daughter and I read the Sandman series at about the same time. I was enchanted by the possibilities of art becoming another character in the story.

I love children’s books. A good one will send me to the order site for my grandchildren. Good pictures, wry stories. They are sometimes the best present of all.

I am off to review another book for Amazon. My kindle and I’ve become great friends. I’ll download a free offer at the drop of a hat. I always try to offer a concise and encouraging review.

 

FAIRY HOUSES

FAIRY HOUSES

I have a fairy house on my piano. My granddaughter and daughter made it for me. It is lovely. I enjoy imagining the fairy that might live inside of it. It is elegant glass with a central chandelier that is blue when the light shines through it.

There are rules to making fairy houses. Even though they are simple, they’re followed religiously by the fairy house builder’s union, granddaughters and the young of heart. They are constructed out of stuff you find around, in the garage, in the shed. Things no longer useful, needing a redesign for a new purpose. Often the structures are found next to trees, or hidden away in garden nooks. They are small constructions, bits of whimsy. I love to look at them.

I think fairies, like the rest of us, have different skills. The one that lives on my piano is young and just learning to play his music. I hear him sometimes practicing his twinkle, twinkle. I’m sure he will eventually master the tune. I suspect his name is Dunstone. He is trying things to see where he has talent. Next he is going to learn hang gliding.

I saw a fairy house once that had a lapel pin on the roof and my granddaughter told me the fairy received cable. Fairies are capable of anything you can imagine. I’ll have to tell Dunstone’s story one of these days, he is interesting to watch and will surely teach us something.