Come Away With Me

Kitchen Window Shadows

2012-01-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

About 4:00 yesterday afternoon, I opened the cupboard door to get a drinking glass...

...and spent the next few minutes photographing shadows!

I have lived in this house for over two decades

and somehow never noticed the way the light reflects

through the kitchen window onto the open cupboard door.

I think it might have been bouncing off the windshield

of a car parked in the street...

...at first the shadows were only stripes

then they faded away for a few seconds

and returned again, this time silhouetting birds and flowers...

...some of the objects on the shelves

in the window over the sink.

It's good to have a camera at the ready at all times!

Wednesday: Around the Hill

2012-01-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

A hankering for the ocean grabbed hold of me this morning...

...and for a strawberry shake in the restaurant at the end of the pier...

...but I never got any closer than this...Signal Hill.

There are the peaks of Catalina Island, 26 miles across the sea, rising above the smog.

Overlooking the airport...
...not much snow this year in the San Bernardino Moutains.

The view down the coastline toward Seal Beach,
where the pier and the strawberry shake can be found.
Perhaps I will go there tomorrow.

Circling around and heading uphill; this is the huff and puff segment of the walk.

There are other streets around the summit of the hill I've never been on...
...such as this one. How would you like to live next to an oil well?
I could hear the machines creaking and squeaking as they pump the oil out of the ground.
It must be more aggravating than crickets when trying to sleep at night.

Full circle...up there under the palm trees is where I started.
With this amazing weather we are having there were lots of people
walking or running or just enjoying the views.

Tuesday: A Walk

2012-01-24T14:49:00.000-08:00

After a visit to the local whatever-mart store to pick up a few items...and I must say, it's shocking how much other establishments overcharge for the same items one can purchase at the whatever-mart...sometimes for half the price!...I loaded my loot into the trunk of the car and drove off in the mid-morning sunshine to a nearby neighborhood for a walk, parking along a quiet street.

Donning sun hat and sun gloves

and striding east along the street,

the first beauty I encounter

is this dewey white rose.

There seems to be a lot of white around...

...even the sky is white...

...white blossoms and white lawn chairs...

...white house on the corner...

...white planes in the blue sky...

...funny how the sky changes color
depending on which direction one is looking...

A white porthole window...

...look how weather beaten the paint is...

I like the texture it creates.

But there is still plenty of color around too...

...green shutters...

...orange pumpkins...

Have those pumpkins been there since Halloween?

Probably.

Just look at this glorious tangle

of green, orange and russet

star-shaped succulents.

Faded pink cinder blocks, yellow flowers...

...and what is that I spy?

A half-drunk bottle of amber brandy...

...someone evidently had a bit too much to drink last night

and forgot to take his bottle home with him...

Colorful birds of paradise...

...I must admit, I do not care for these flowers

but I do love those broad green leaves glowing so brilliantly...

Now, isn't this the cutest little trailer you ever saw?

It reminds me of an Easter egg.

I'd love to look inside!

My chosen walking location is directly under the flight path

of the Long Beach airport. Look at this old 1950's (?) era

propeller plane. They have their own distinctive drone...

I can remember first noticing that sound when I was six or seven.

I was at my grandparents' home lying on the grass in the hot sun

with my eyes closed and listening to a plane flying overhead...

...its deep rumbling droning sound seemed so lazy and soothing to me...

I'll never forget it.

I see there is a commercial jetliner in this photo also

visible only by its shining trail, straight as an arrow...

...and the tip of that palm tree seems to be waving hello to us...

it makes me smile.

I like how this front yard has been arranged...

a sloping lawn in front,

and a wrought iron fence closer to the house

with a porch/patio area behind it.

Not only is it attractive, but it also keeps the

door-to-door salespeople away!

This is the prettiest section along the many blocks I trod during my 80-minute walk.

The hubcap resting against the base of the stop sign

is what caught my attention.

Somewhere out there is a car with a naked wheel.

Monday

2012-01-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

It was cold and rainy today.

As you can see, although the deck is covered,

it does not prevent the rain from getting through.

The weather prophets are telling us

to expect 80F on Thursday...yes, I said 80!

Tonight the sky is cloudless

and the stars...what few stars we can see in the city...

are shining clear and cold, like silver fire.

I love nights like this!

I missed the next episode of Downton Abbey last night,

because I was blogging and completely forgot about it!

Happily, it is on tonight also, in a little over one hour.

So, I'll say good bye for now.

Psalm Challenge - 45

2012-01-22T22:25:00.000-08:00

Psalm Challenge is hosted by Robert at Daily Athens. The idea of the challenge is to select a Psalm each week and illustrate it using your photos. I've bent the rules and used some artwork with permission from an Israeli-born artist, Amit Yaffe. Click the link to view more of her beautiful art.

Psalm 45

A Royal Wedding Song

Beautiful words fill my mind,

      as I compose this song for the king.
   Like the pen of a good writer
      my tongue is ready with a poem.

² You are the most handsome of men;
      you are an eloquent speaker.
      God has always blessed you.
³ Buckle on your sword, mighty king;
      you are glorious and majestic.

⁴ Ride on in majesty to victory
      for the defense of truth and justice!
      Your strength will win you great victories!
⁵ Your arrows are sharp,
      they pierce the hearts of your enemies;
      nations fall down at your feet.

⁶ The kingdom that God has given you
      will last forever and ever.
   You rule over your people with justice;
    ⁷ you love what is right and hate what is evil.
   That is why God, your God, has chosen you
      and has poured out more happiness on you
      than on any other king.
⁸ The perfume of myrrh and aloes is on your clothes;
      musicians entertain you in palaces decorated with ivory.
⁹ Among the women of your court are daughters of kings,
      and at the right of your throne stands the queen,
      wearing ornaments of finest gold.

¹⁰ Bride of the king, listen to what I say—
      forget your people and your relatives.
¹¹ Your beauty will make the king desire you;
      he is your master, so you must obey him.
¹² The people of Tyre will bring you gifts;
      rich people will try to win your favor.

¹³ The princess is in the palace—how beautiful she is!
      Her gown is made of gold thread.
¹⁴ In her colorful gown she is led to the king,
      followed by her bridesmaids,
      and they also are brought to him.
¹⁵ With joy and gladness they come
      and enter the king's palace.

¹⁶ You, my king, will have many sons
      to succeed your ancestors as kings,
      and you will make them rulers over the whole earth.
¹⁷ My song will keep your fame alive forever,
      and everyone will praise you for all time to come.

Good News Translation

A Dose of Reality

2012-01-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, how about a little dose of reality? We've been walking around my home town, selecting the prettiest and most well-tended neighborhoods all these years...how about a look around my very own neighborhood? Let me show you what I found just the other day after I grabbed my sun hat, camera, and sunglasses and set off on foot to see what I could see.

The very first thing I noticed was a blimp lumbering through the sky.

I'd love to hitch a ride on one of those!

Just imagine what high-flying scenes I could photograph from up there.

Here is a lone camellia against a wall...

These seem to be very popular; I find them everywhere.

They do have very lovely colors and pretty leaves.

...Some trees along the streets were shedding these interesting seedpods...

My big foot, again, to give you some perspective.

Unkempt lawns and bits of trash lying about

are not uncommon in my local area of the city...
You see why I prefer to walk in other neighborhoods than my own.

...footprints of various sizes in the pavement

add a bit of unexpected texture...

...that sad looking pollarded tree

was a beautiful weeping willow the last time I walked by here...

...and I suppose it will be again when the branches grow out.

Thank goodness for the constant surge of life

that brings forth fresh, supple branches

and beautiful green leaves

when the time is right!

The eucalyptus was growing up into the utility lines

and had to be drastically cut back.

It seems almost criminal...

...but I suppose it is better than no tree at all?

Meanwhile, these scrub oak trees have been allowed

to grow into their large, mounded natural shapes
despite the fact they are touching some utility lines.

The local squirrel population loves these trees.

And, most unexpected of all...banana trees!

Can you see the banana clusters?

Looking straight up at a young cluster about 10 feet over my head...

A closer look at a more mature cluster

but not yet ready to be harvested.

We also have cactus growing over tall fences.
I love that whoever painted that fence
chose a color matching the fruits on the cactus.

A closer look.
These fruits are known by various names,
including: cactus apples, prickly pears, sabres, Indian fig, or tunas.

I've yet to try them, though I've been around them all my life.

So, Dear Diary, here is a typical scene in my neighborhood...
...nothing particularly beautiful or attractive...
...just an everyday, working class sort of place.
But the skies are blue and the sun is shining
and life is, for the most part, peaceful.
We hear gunshots at night sometimes,
never on our own block but somewhere not too far away,
and police helicopters circling overhead now and then,
and screeching tires and sirens.
That is the nature of life in the city.

And that's your little dose of reality, Dear Diary.

A good word

2012-01-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

A good word...

...with a touch of ironic humor...

...but not an easy one.

The Discipline of Love

I Corinthians 13

I Corinthians 13 is the description of how Christianity works out in a man's actual experience. Love is the sovereign preference of my person for another; my love for Jesus Christ means that I deliberately identify myself with His interests in other people—and the Lord is interested in some funny folk. Jesus Christ demands, if I am born from above and have inherited His disposition, that I show it, not to fictitious people, but to the people I live beside. Our Heavenly Father has an amazing sense of humour; He will bring across your path the kind of people who manifest to you what you have been to Him; if you have been obstinate, that is why you have got that fellow around you just now, and Jesus says, "Show him the attitude I showed you." That is experimental Christianity with no humbug. It means showing the disposition of Jesus Christ to the man who deliberately wrongs you, and it takes some doing.

From Oswald Chamber's Still Higher for His Highest

January 17 reading.

Colorful Contents

2012-01-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary,

Get ready for a burst of color....

...and a lot of "this and that"...

...in the kitchen drawers...

...you notice we have a couple of junk drawers

for things like hammers and tape measures

and other such odds and ends...

...in the kitchen cupboards

and the silverware and utensil drawers...

The tiptop shelves, which go all the way to the ceiling,

contain items we don't need to take down very often...

I can just barely reach the tips of my fingers up there,

and I'm nearly six feet tall...

...stored rolls of paper towels...

...my coffee makers...

...supplies of plastic zip baggies...

...extra jars of honey...

...overflow glassware...

Then, in the little storage room adjacent to the kitchen and the back door

is my five-shelf catch-all cupboard.

Did you notice the Raggedy Ann and Andy shelf paper?

It was there when we bought the house...

...25 years ago...

One of those things I've been meaning to get around to someday...

It'll probably still be there as long as we live in this little 1940's cottage.

It's a real hodgepodge (love that word)!

Here I keep those dishes I very rarely use...

...a small gift or two yet to be given...

...and a very eclectic collection of nic nacs waiting their turn

to come out and play in the rest of the house...

...miscellaneous vases, decorative boxes, silk flowers and candles...

The brown-paper wrapped cylinders

are my 100% beeswax pillar candles..

...I love the scent of beeswax burning...

it's a very subtle, warm and golden honey aroma.

And they last longer than regular candles.

I buy them online HERE, if you're interested in getting some for yourself.

I sometimes wonder what goes on in this cupboard when I'm not looking.

Here is buddha chatting with the little wooden German pencil sharpener,

while the glorious glass toucan keeps an eye on the shrouded Irish Belleek cheese dish.

The sugar bowl in the background seems to have her hands on her hips

as if to say, "Keep that racket down, won't you!"

And Raggedy Andy is peering off the edge of the paper,

holding his head in wonderment...it's a long way down to the floor.

Well, there you have it, Dear Diary

...a look at the hidden colorful contents around here.

No Snow in Sight

2012-01-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, how did Wednesday arrive so quickly! Didn't I just blink and it was Monday? What happened to Tuesday? Well, let's see, I recall I went walking on Tuesday....so I know it was here. We didn't skip Tuesday this week.

When Tuesday's walk began at about 9:00 the skies were glowering and gray. It looked like it might even rain...it didn't. Instead, Tuesday's walk ended in bright sunshine, two hours later. I walked in the same lovely neighborhood that I've been frequenting recently...it's so pretty there and the time passes quickly as I stride, stroll, and amble, depending on my energy level, down one avenue and up another.

A wrought iron doorway in somebody's garden wall.

It has been boarded up on the inside; thus the interesting shadows.

Tuesday's walk was full of hearts;

here are three of the five I saw as I walked along.

How interesting, I now notice,

that each one is near a crack in the pavement,

which adds something extra to the composition.

Please forgive my big foot...

I included it in the shot for perspective.

As I walked, I was on the lookout for camellias.

These are too far away for a closer look

as I am not comfortable traipsing over people's private lawns

and approaching their front doors just to get a close up.

Further along there were some ruffled pink camellias within easy camera range.

There are no regimented rows of look-alike homes on this walk.

Each one is different from those adjacent to it...

...and this one, with its Asian flavor, is unique among its neighbors.

So, Dear Diary, those are some highlights from Tuesday...

...and now, for today's two-hour walk, again along these streets...

There was no shortage of color,

and no shortage of sunshine either.

And a very friendly, and very large, white cat.

He would have been quite happy if I'd sat down on the grass

and spent the whole two hours with him alone.

I did not include this in the collage above because I wanted you to be able to see it closely.

What beautiful shadings of pink and green, and look at those water drop jewels.

I like the lace effect of the outer green leaves too...

...the artistic contributions of a hungry snail, I imagine.

It is mid-January; much of the country has snow,

and here we are with lavender and roses

in the lacy shade of a jacaranda tree.

These would look quite lovely with snow on them, don't you think?

It will never happen here...

...or, perhaps once every 500 years or so...
I would like to be here when it happens.

As you can see, I did not wear snow shoes today.

And, I ask you, Dear Diary,

what does that brass rivet in the sidewalk do,

and why is it numbered 123?

This post ends on that unanswered question.

The other day I took lots of photos

of the contents of the drawers and cupboards

in my kitchen.

Why, you ask?

Perhaps I had too much time on my hands.

But they have made some colorful collages,

so maybe I'll share those tomorrow.

Till then, adieu!

Saturday's Walk in the Woods

2012-01-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

My thanks to all of you for your concern about my aching back...I'm happy to report it bounced back quickly and so we were able to go walking in the woods on Saturday with some friends who had taken this walk before and wanted to share it with us.

We drove north to the Angeles National Forest,

to the Switzer Falls area in Bear Canyon.

And, may I say, I am sooooo glad I did not know about the bears

until after our hike over the creek and through the woods

was finished and we were back at the parking area

ready to pack up and head home.

I'm not afraid of snakes,

but bears scare me!

I'm not really sure why I put hearts, boots and shoes into one collage!

I brought the littlest heart home with me.

You can tell the hiking pros from the amateurs

with a quick glance at the footwear.

The hikers had hiking boots, one pair pristine,

the other comfortably worn in.

The latter have even visited as far away as Cambodia.

The blue and white sneakers belong to the Musician.

My black leather walking shoes served me well.

The last time they did so much walking was

three years ago in England.

Our friends were last here around Thanksgiving

and told us the fall leaves were gorgeous;

on this trip the leaves were long gone

and the gray and tan shades predominated

along with lots of bare, skeletal branches.

There were several shades of green, too, of course.

We hiked along a small creek winding through the canyon.

Dead leaves, twigs, acorn caps, a bit of everything...

...a glimpse of the creek, which we crossed three or four times...

The sound of running water was delightful,

as was the fresh, clean air, smelling of camp fires

and fragrant forest scents.

Gnarly old tree roots gripped the rocky ground

along bluffs overlooking the creek below.

Sloping banks led down to the rocky creekbed,

trees tilting at odd angles everywhere.

As we climbed up a hill (me huffing and puffing),

the sun began to break through.

Up here above the canyon, now a hundred feet or more below us on the left,

the vistas are to ragged hills dotted with scrubby bushes and grasses.

There were glimpses of color...some red berries...

...I love the structure of this plant...

...and its blue-gray-green color...

...some touches of orange along the path..

...and a few scattered yellow flowers,

each one crowning a very tall, graceful stem.
With a bit of searching, I've identified this as

dendromecon rigida (bush poppy, sometimes called tree poppy).
Supposedly it flowers March to June...I guess it's a bit early this year.

Another view of the rocky path through these dry hills.

We have turned back now, returning the way we came.

There were plenty of other hikers out enjoying the day

and some of them were taking photos too, as you can see.

When we reached the canyon bottom again

we stopped along the creek to eat our lunch

and there was a large autumn leaf, or two, caught in the water...

...as if to say...

"Won't you come again, next fall, and see us in all our glory?"

Yes, I think I will,

God willing.

Psalm Challenge - 44

2012-01-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

All this has happened to us

but we have not forgotten You

or betrayed Your covenant.

Our hearts have not turned back;

our steps have not strayed from Your path.

But You have crushed us in a haunt of jackals

and covered us as with deep darkness.

Psalm 44:17-19

Psalm Challenge is hosted by Robert at Daily Athens.

Photo taken today in the Angeles National Forest near Switzer Falls.

Up the Ladder

2012-01-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

On my walk a few days ago, this sight caught my attention...

What I noticed first was the ladder, the shadow, and the light.

It was all so wonderfully sharp and crisp...

...so well defined.

Later, once I had downloaded the photos

I was able to pay closer attention to all the details.

That is an unusual collection of windows

and somewhat oddly placed.

The ladder gives it all a sense of balance.

I wonder, is it always there?

Or was someone planning to climp up the ladder

to polish that delightful porthole window?

No Walks for Two Days

2012-01-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, it seems my goal of walking every day this week is on a downhill slide...no walk Wednesday, none today either.

Yesterday was gray and gloomy. It surprised me that my mood was also gray and gloomy; I lacked that inner spark pushing me outdoors. That old buggaboo, Discouragement, was trying to fasten its claws into me. It was not about me personally, but a group of people very dear to me that is struggling through some contentious, confusing stuff right now. It took a while for me to see the light and remember not to listen to Discouragement's lies, because God is without a doubt working behind the scenes and now is not the time to give up and just walk away.

A two-hour nap helped rejuvenate my spirits a bit, and during Wednesday's afternoon and evening I lost myself in the pages of Jerusalem, The Biography. I'm about 200 pages into the 544-page book and we have progressed to the year 750 AD/CE. I'm finding it easy reading, and quite fascinating, although the astonishing array of characters with all their plots, plans, wars, loves, and building projects sometimes has my head spinning!

Touching the light early on Thursday...my east-facing kitchen window.

Today, a glorious, clear and sunny day, I did the laundry, pruned the wisteria, and mildly wrenched my lower back by dragging two big pots of amaryllis several feet across the lawn to sit under the plumeria at the edge of the deck. Backs can be tricky things I've discovered, and now I'm trying to give it plenty of rest so it recovers quickly. We are supposed to go on a hike in the nearby mountains on Saturday and I don't want to miss that!

Consequently, there will be no walking on Friday either...instead, back to the books!

My collection of books waiting to be read is somewhat eclectic. Some of them I have already delved into and will come back to, like the Andrew Murray collection which has been sitting here for about two years, and The Spirit of Food, a new addition to my shelf that I discovered thanks to Jodi's blog, Curious Acorn. They can be read in bits and pieces because of how they are arranged.

Yet to be enjoyed are some (I hope) light and entertaining works of fiction by Patrick Taylor, a new author for me.

Some I bought, some were free for the taking at the women's retreat I attended in November.

One, Small Surrenders, is going to be my Lenten reading this year.

There is one highly controversial modern Christian author here, Brian McLaren. And another mostly forgotten controversial Christian author, Agnes Sanford. Where reading is concerned, and particularly on faith issues, I push the envelope...I want to know what others are thinking and believing and why. I am not going to confine myself to a safe little box that somebody else tells me is the only box worth sitting in.

Know what I mean?

Perhaps I should have become a psychologist? Psychiatrist? Philosopher? No wait...didn't I want to be a librarian? A writer of children's stories? An illustrator of children's stories? A fashion design illustrator? A linguist, translating at the United Nations? A nun? An airline stewardess? A fashion model? So many choices...and only one little life!

Dear Diary, I'm glad to be just who I am! I thank my God and Father in heaven that He has brought me to this place in life, this very life, this very moment. So yes, I put my hand out to touch the light-filled window in my kitchen in the early morning and whisper "Thank You, You who are my light and my life, for this life You have given me."

Moon

2012-01-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning's moon

preparing to slip below my neighbor-to-the-west's roof.

Times like these, I wish I had a really good camera!
...and wide open horizons...

Tuesday's Heart

2012-01-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

I went for a two-hour walk on Tuesday, down more leafy lanes.

Still lovely sunshine and, thankfully, cooler temperatures, about 70F.

My little leafy heart of the day.

And, at the opposite end of the leaf-size spectrum - this!

Mr. Squirrel hiding from me.

Nice camouflage!

Some exceedingly tall palm trees.

A very unusual garage door.

And another lofty palm.

I saw so much else, but these posts are getting to be too long...

...so here is a collage of all the leafy lanes...

...and some pretty color.

Birds, Boats, Benches...and more

2012-01-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, continuing where I left off yesterday,

let's go for a walk in the sunshine...

...I've got my sunhat on, and my shades...

The skies were blue, mostly.
There was a faint light brown smear of smog detectable
from certain vantage points, hovering on the horizon
but we'll ignore that for these photos.

I spotted this bird at the top of a very tall pole

and tried to get a closer look.

I wonder what it feels like to be able to bend your neck

into an "S" curve like that.

Come meander with me along the Rainbow Lagoon...
...they've provided this lazy boardwalk along the edge of the lagoon...

The roof line of hotels, office buildings and condominiums

along Ocean Boulevard is softened by palm trees,

colorful boats, and shining water.

An unusual bench, in keeping with the nautical theme.

Another view of the bench...taken right into the sun.

I couldn't help noticing this colorful bit of information.

Viewed straight on, I like the visual effect of the striations.

From one angle, this is what we see...

...local rivers and streams as they would look if untouched by man.

And from the other side...those streams are channeled and directed

along giant cement troughs for much of their path through the Los Angeles basin

and down to the sea.

Here is the bogus lighthouse...
....it does shine with light at night,

but it's only for show.
And a lovely show it is, too.

Me and the birds are making tracks....

Excuse me...the birds and I are making tracks!

They seemed to be heading off into the sand...

...while I am heading back past the aquarium

and admiring the luxury high-rise condos looming up

over on Ocean Boulevard...

Back over the bridge...I couldn't resist this collection of curves,
including the ferris wheel in the distance.

We are at The Pike at Rainbow Harbor...

...a great place to walk and see the sights...

There is certainly plenty to see;
photo opportunities everywhere I looked.

...all this structure and line and shadow...

This is the west side of the Convention Center and I am headed way down there

as far as you can see, and even further...

This is the vantage point I'm looking for...

...and there is the ferris wheel from the opposite side...

casting its shadow most wonderfully

onto the wall of the Laugh Factory.

More curves everywhere I look.

I do adore a curvy line.

I think my walk yesterday, including all the steps inside the bookstore,

probably added up to about three miles, maybe four.

Last week I was on a "no meats, no sweets" fast...

...this week I'm trying to go for a good long walk every day.

So far, so good!

In Pursuit of Books

2012-01-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, I don't want to offend you, but I must confess that as a young girl I never kept a diary. Or if I did, I certainly don't remember it! Somehow diary keeping never interested me...perhaps I didn't feel that my activities, thoughts and dreams were worth writing down...or perhaps I was simply too busy doing them, thinking them, and dreaming about them that to stop and write them down seemed pointless.

What I really felt passionate about was reading books...and my introduction to the public library at about the age of seven was unquestionably one of the most important influences in my life.

My mother escaped from the drudgery and disappointments of her life into books, so we went to the library often. Once I began to read, I soon learned what an amazing place existed inside the world of books. That's where I lived, as often as I could. I abandoned the children's/young adults' section of the library by the time I was ten or eleven...those novels over on the other side were much more attractive with their wide scope of story line, depth of character development and all the lovely detailed descriptions....especially those historical novels. I'm sure I learned more about history and its time lines and how one thing led to another from all the novels I read than I ever did in school, especially English history...all those kings and queens...and early American history.

So...interwoven tightly throughout the fabric of my life, along with all the usual milestones and events...is the pursuit of books. Always looking for something new to learn, something beautiful to absorb, something exciting or adventurous or life-changing or instructional, explorations of other cultures and other countries, the joy of cooking, the pleasures of eating, drinking, companionship, friendships, travels, and also the many difficulties and hardships life brings...you name it...what a deep and rich inheritance of words, thoughts, ideas, loves, hopes, dreams. I simply cannot imagine who I would be if not for all those books!

So, I visited the new One Dollar Bookstore today.

These photos are from my visit...

...and each and every book you see in these pictures...

is only one dollar!

Can you believe I only came home with one book?

It's the Elizabeth Goudge in the middle of the photo above

in the green cover: The Scent of Water.

I already own this book, and have read it many times.

Why do I need another one?

I don't, but I could not leave it there!

Pithy quotes about books are stenciled on the walls.

I especially liked this one.

Most of my book purchases these days come from the section on religion. Perhaps this is a normal occurrence as we grow older? Or maybe it's just a quirk of my own. They have quite a large selection of books in "Religion" at the One Dollar Bookstore. I wasn't really looking for anything specific and browsed rather quickly on this visit...perhaps next time I'll spend much more time and really look at everything carefully.

Careful browsing is required, if you don't want to miss something. Their shelving system is organized but only in a very general way, and can be rather hit-and-miss. I'm always finding books that don't belong...this novel by Rumer Godden, for example, does not really belong in the section on religion...even though a nun is pictured on the cover. But this makes finding that special book more like a treasure hunt, requiring one to slow down and mosey along at a leisurely pace (and how else can one mosey?)...I like that.

They also have a collection of vinyl records.

While all books are one dollar, the records are two dollars.

I'm not sure, but might there be some subliminal message here?

Who placed that book next to this record?

And why?
You can listen to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes HERE

Do you remember the Perry Como show on TV in the early 50's?

Oops, I'm dating myself, aren't I...

...I had a big crush on Perry Como when I was about five.

We did not have a TV at home, but my grandparents did,

and we would often go to their house to watch the Perry Como show.

I thought he had the most wonderful voice

and my favorite song of his was:

"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket...."

If you have a record player in this 21st century age,

you can go on holiday in Rio...

...attend church on Sunday in Hawaii...
I googled this church;
it was dedicated in 1842 and it's still there.

...and even get up to speed on the Lamaze techniques for childbirth preparation!

I never would have realized that is Patty Duke on the left
...some of you are asking "Patty who?"...
...if I hadn't read the cover.

Wow, was I ever really that young too?

My son was born a little over 30 years ago, and I used the Lamaze technique...

...things seemed to be going along nicely for quite a long time...
but that was because my water never broke!
When the dilation had reached the correct size
a procedure was done to break the water

...then the hard labor arrived,

and that was the end of Lamaze...oh my!

Is this too much information for you, Dear Diary?
My apologies...I'll stop now.

Such hops and skips down memory lane!

As well as visiting the bookstore today, I also did some hopping and skipping along the waterfront downtown. Well, I exaggerate! Sedate walking is more like it. And next time, Dear Diary, I will share some sights from my walk.

Sunday This and That

2012-01-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, how amazing that we have already finished the first week of 2012!

My day today began earlier than I had planned.

Another sleepless night...

...it's because I drifted off listening to my iPod...

Sometimes I just keep listening and don't fall asleep

and then I am wide awake in the wee hours of the morning!

Do you know what this gorgeous object is?

Here's a bigger hint!

All this glory from a toy for Miss Kitty...

...a long wand with a collection of bird feathers at one end.

Two of them were peacock feathers and those are the two that fell off first.

They are too beautiful to throw away

so I tucked them in among the books on the shelf,

where I can see them gleam in the lamplight.

Photographed about 4:30 this morning!

Here is another gleaming object...

...a friend surprised me with these pretty earrings.

Have you ever tried a macro shot of your own ear

by standing in front of the mirror and pointing the camera at your ear,

and watching the camera display reflected in the mirror

till it is framed just like you want it?

This was not photographed at 4:30 in the morning, I'm happy to say!

I did this while I was cooking dinner.

Lots of yummy ingredients cooking away...

potatoes, pimento olives, tomatoes, peppers,

onions, garlic, lemon zest, spices...

While these were simmering,

I took a moment to photograph my earrings.

...I also stepped outside to look at the moon.

Here it is rising above my neighbor's roof.

I tweaked the photo quite a bit;

it was much darker and obscure in its

straight-out-of-the-camera state.

The tweaking also gave the moon an interesting pink halo!

I didn't plan that; it just happened.

Back to dinner...the final result!

It's called "Fragrant Fish Tangine"

and I found the recipe over on Simple Life, Simple Pleasures.

It's really delicious. A brand new recipe for me...

...it's been a long time since I've tried something new.

The Musician and I were very happy with the results,

and there are left-overs for tomorrow.

In fact, I wouldn't mind another teensy little taste right now!

I'll see you tomorrow, Dear Diary.

Hopefully this night will not include restless early hours.

They rarely happen twice in a row.

Adieu!

Psalm Challenge - 42-43

2012-01-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

Psalm Challenge is hosted by Robert at Daily Athens.

It is open to any and all and there are no hard and fast rules.

The idea is to select a psalm and post a photo or several photos

to illustrate a verse or two, or the entire psalm--whatever we want to do;

Most of us are going chronologically through the psalms.

This week we have arrived at Psalm 42-43

which are numbered as two psalms now

but, so I have just learned,

are thought to have originally been one psalm.

The Lord will send His faithful love by day;

His song will be with me in the night—

a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 42:8

Send Your light and Your truth;

let them lead me.

Let them bring me to Your holy mountain.

Psalm 43:3

Photo: Probably not the best choice if I feel the need to explain it! But it reminds me of being sheltered safely in God's hand. He is the Gardener and I am the little flower in His garden.

2012 Book List

2012-01-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

Girl Reading

Alfred Emile Leopold Stevens (1823-1906)

Each new year brings to me the pleasure of beginning a fresh list on which to record each book I read during the next twelve months. I wonder what books will appear on this year's list...

You can view my previous lists in the sidebar under "Books I've Read."

And for 2012, here are the books I've read so far:

January 2012

1. Through the Bible Through the Year, John Stott
2. God With Us (Advent to Epiphany readings), Paraclete Press
3. Water My Soul, Luci Shaw
4. WinterSong, Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw
5. An Irish Country Doctor, Patrick Taylor
6. The Secret Message of Jesus, Brian McLaren

Lunch on Friday

2012-01-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

As you may have heard here before,

Friday is the day the Musician and I

have our weekly lunch date.

Today was no exception.

I love this photo! It wasn't planned or composed......I simply set the camera on the table, pointed it in this direction, and clicked the shutter, not having any idea what I would find when I looked on the screen. I had forgotten about the flatware being right in front of the camera. I guess you could call this the view from my plate. Except we hadn't ordered anything yet, so there was no plate.

When we did order, this was what I selected.

I discovered flatbread pizza about a year ago.

Yummy!

You can read on the glass which restaurant we dined in today.

The musician loves their microbrewed beer,

especially the one called Nutty Brunette.

Me...I never acquired a taste for beer.

I had water with my meal.

No dessert today.

We decided to stop at the One Dollar Bookstore on our way home.

While there, we learned they have opened up a new one,

down at The Pike in the former Borders' Bookstore,

at least SIX times bigger than our local shop!

Well, you know where I'll be going early next week.

Today, though,

I did find a few good selections in our small local shop...

...including this!

I've seen recent posts about her Stillmeadow books

and so I'm really thrilled to find this,

and all for one dollar.

I've got quite a few unread books needing my attention...

...there are three I'm currently working on a bit at a time.

I prefer to concentrate on one book at a time

but it doesn't seem to be working out that way.

We shall see how many I come home with next week

from the new One Dollar Bookstore.

After that, I'll have to put the kaibosh on book buying

until I work my way through those I've already got.

A Walk on Thursday Morning

2012-01-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

For the sake of my health and well-being

I put myself on a "no meats, no sweets" fast for just this week...

....and I'm beginning to feel lighter and more energetic.

...but I'm craving those snickerdoodles in my freezer!

I've managed to maintain my self-discipline, however,

and ate an apple for dessert after lunch.

Have you ever cut open an apple just so...

...to find the flower inside?

How amazing is it that an apple blossom

somehow becomes a round, juicy apple...

...leaving its five-petaled imprint at the heart of the fruit!

This morning,

in the interest of becoming even lighter still,

I went for a two-hour walk.

It's warm again today.

I wore my summertime walking-along-city-streets shoes.

I chose a neighborhood with plenty of shade...

At the risk of boring you,

I'll share all these photos

of the many kinds of leafy lanes

down which I strolled for two hours.

Airplanes roared overhead...I was beneath the flight path.

While we are looking up...

aren't these liquid amber seed pods just so whimsical...

...they make me smile.

This tree reminds me of a many-armed Hindu god...

Eyes back down to earth...

...interesting patterns of shade and sunlight

upon which to tread...

Speaking of patterns,

do you see how the wonderfully mounded shape

of the distant tree

echoes the overhanging branch just in front of me?

This delicate curtain of falling strands

bejeweled with golden and amber leaves

is so graceful.

Not all the trees have shed their autumn-toned garments yet...

And I love the way the light shines through the glass of that doorway.

Kitty almost jumped away when I walked by

but I sweet-talked her into a portrait.

She's beautiful...look at those touches of warm color on her belly.

How do you know you're in Southern California?

When you see roofs being replaced in January!

And here are a few of the other quirky things I saw on my walk:

Leaf imprints in the sidewalk, among the real leaves.

Beautifully quirky something-or-others.

I don't know their name, but I love their look!

Two toads keeping watch at the corner of a wall...

...a very tall wall, seven or eight feet high.

An alleyway gate into someone's walled garden,

not quirky, except for the sloping angle of the wall,

but just look at all those luscious lemons!

And last, but not least,

here are a dandelion and his shadow

along a red-curbed corner at an intersection

for my English friend whose favorite flower is the dandelion.

Sending a bit of sunshine to you in Leicester all the way from Long Beach.

A little more from the fourth day...

2012-01-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

Here is the temperature at 2:00 this afternoon,

sitting in the shade of the covered deck.

Is it really the fourth day of January?

I suppose in the Southern Hemisphere

there's nothing remarkable about such temperatures in January.

We here in the southern part of California are used to warmth...

...but I think it's a tad unusual for January, even so.

It does happen (obviously!)...but not regularly.

The skies are beautifully blue.

These are the eucalyptus blossoms I mentioned

in my earlier post...do you see the bees?

They are two of many...very many!

And, wonder of wonders,

when I bent down to take a photo of all the detritus...

...all those fairy crowns, caps and so on...

look what I found!

This is exactly how it was lying there, waiting to be discovered.

A surprise heart, with special adornment!

The Fourth Day of the Year

2012-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, today is the fourth day of the year

...everything, each day, still feels so fresh and new...

I suppose it's just a trick of the mind,

but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

This is the one and only

fourth day of 2012

that we will ever be given...

This is true of every day!

I'd like to experience each one

as the special and unique day that it is...

I wonder if there is anyone in the world

who manages to keep that frame of mind all year long?

One way I hope to capture the special qualities of each day

is to keep a journal of little wonders, little gifts...

...yes, I've been inspired by Ann Voskamp

and her book One Thousand Gifts...

Yesterday afternoon I took my chair out onto the lawn

where I could feel the warm sun on my back...

I intended to do some reading...

...some journaling...

But then I was sidetracked by...

...this!

"What?" you ask..."a grey weathered board?"

No, this!

Tiny fairy crowns and caps raining down

from my neighbor's towering eucalyptus trees...

You can see by the tip of my finger how minute they are.

There must be billions of these delicate objects on the huge trees next door.
Not good for my lawn, but there's not much I can do about that.

Aren't they beautiful?

I looked and looked at these caps with my naked eyes,

but only with the camera can I zoom in close

and be amazed at the glorious details.

Several crowns were hanging from slender silk threads

left behind by resident spiders.

Ornaments swinging gently in the breeze.

Meanwhile the soft hum of bees droned continually...
...the eucalyptus trees were full of bees collecting pollen from the blossoms.

I wonder what tiny little wonders...
...or perhaps even large wonders...
I will encounter in the days ahead?
We shall see!

Dear Diary

2012-01-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, today is the third day of January in the new year...2012!

It is sunny and bright outside.

Most of the leaves have finally fallen off the trees along the street

and there's nothing left but the not-yet-bare branches,

thickly dotted with the round and prickly liquid amber seed pods.

Those seed pods will be the next deluge

requiring raking and tossing in the bin.

Meanwhile, I enjoy sun and shadow

in the early morning

on the covered deck in back of the house

overlooking the avocado tree.

Our surprise hail storm of December 16

has wreaked havoc with the plumeria.

But it's the time of year these big glossy leaves abandon their stations

and drop to the ground below anyway.

Soon the tree will look like a structure of dead sticks,

naked as a jail bird....

Here's a heart for you!

I've had this little plant stand for years

but somehow never noticed the hearts

until the other morning...

...my sparkly morning among the dew drops

on the first day of the year.

This morning I woke up about 3:30...

...someone was snoring...

Couldn't get back to sleep so I stumbled down the hall

and groggily curled up on the sofa in the dark for a while.

Sleep refused to descend, so I decided to make some bean soup...

...the beans had been soaking overnight on the stove.

Here they are before I added water to them last night.
Aren't they pretty?

Needless to say,

the soup was ready in time for breakfast!

So I had a bowl. Delicious!

The Musician said he'd wait till lunchtime.

Now we are off to do a bit of grocery shopping.

I'm going to need a nap this afternoon.

See you later, Dear Diary.

Another gift...

2012-01-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here is another gift for you from my time among the dewdrops yesterday morning....

...I did not see the spider nearby, but she must have been very tiny and easy to miss. This web was only two inches across, suspended between the tips of a bare branch on the fig tree. It was positioned about eye level so I was able to get underneath it and look up at the sky through the beaded silk strands of the web. Such a delight.

No doubt the little spider had found a temporary hiding place among the branches now that the sun was out, waiting for the warmth to evaporate those bothersome dewdrops clinging to her webby home. It surely is not possible to navigate one's web all beaded with water that clings to one's eight delicate legs at every step!

A Sparkling start to the New Year

2012-01-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

About 8:30 this morning I opened the slider out onto the covered deck to let in the fresh, cool morning air. The sunlight was calling me so I stepped out onto the deck. It was a morning of slanting brightness, sparkling dewdrops on the bare branches of the fig tree, dandelions dotting the grass, their powder-puff heads all aglow with light...

...well, you all know what happened next! I went back inside and fetched my camera. Soon I was out amongst all the glitter and sparkle looking for every angle, then down on my knees in the wet grass attempting to capture something I had never noticed before...the breathtaking beauty of the commonplace little dandelion seed pods, their fluffy white manes dusted with tiny droplets, each drop set alight by the sun...hundreds of these minute and perfect orbs of light clinging to each pod.

It was a glorious gift from the Creator, simply waiting for someone to notice...and I am so thankful that His special artistry caught my eye this morning. Here are some glimpses so you can enjoy the gift too. It has been a sparkling start to the New Year.

Time Passes

2011-12-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, there is only one more day left in this year 2011. I find that the years seem to zip by more and more quickly the older I get. I am not sure how I feel about that. There's no denying, however one feels about it, that the passage of time is relentless and cannot be stopped while life exists. So why not enjoy the moments as they pass; they are a gift.

So many moments have passed in my six-plus decades on this earth that I'm finally able to begin enjoying the perspective! It's been a long journey and I am content to have reached this time of looking back on it all, even if time does seem to go more quickly now. All those different me's...don't you sometimes feel, you who have some years counted up...that each decade you have spent here is like a completely different lifetime? We are still the same person, and yet, we are not the same at all! Thank God for that! We learn and grow, and hopefully become wiser and kinder as time goes on.

Because, let's admit it,

we come into this world extremely ignorant and self-centered!

Well, gosh, Dear Diary,

I had no intention of becoming so philosophical

when I sat down to write this post...

where was I going with this anyway?

Let's see...oh yes,

I was simply planning to share a bit of color...

A little shelf in my kitchen...

Did you see the tiny flowerpot on that shelf?

How can anyone even create such tiny flowers and leaves?

I certainly could not manage it.

Mary Cassatt, Baby Reaching for an Apple, 1893

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

My tiny little flowerpot

would appear to be much larger

in a baby's hand.

Are your maternal alarm bells sounding off right now,

as mine are,

at the very thought of a baby

being allowed to hold such a small object?

Into his mouth it would go....yikes!

We won't be letting that happen.

But it brings to mind an interesting (though not exact) comparison...

...we enter this world, and life is huge, looming before us...

all unknown to our unaware new little baby selves...
impossible for us to comprehend its dangers and its joys.

...six, seven, or eight decades later

that huge unknown life is mostly behind us now...

We can look at it, divided into its days and years

and in a sense hold the whole of it in our hands,

turning it this way and that to observe its facets

and ponder its lessons.

Ah, life!

I found some pertinent quotes at the Quote Garden

for your perusal at this year's end,

as our earth glides around the sun

completing yet another full circle,

and we along with it.

The great thing about getting older

is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.

~Madeleine L'Engle

(painting by Berthe Morisot)

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.

~Emily Dickinson

(painting by Mary Cassatt)

Nothing to Say...

2011-12-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary,

Not much to say today...

...but I want to post something anyway...

Well, perhaps a peek at this and that around the house...

Here is a tiny little frog...

...just two inches tall...

...he hangs over the edge of a pot...

I got him years ago in La Conner, Washington...

And my one and only Hummel figurine...

...given us by an elderly friend...

Again, years and years ago.

This little boy and his three rabbits

charm me every time I notice them.

A cookie jar, Amsterdam style...

It belonged to my mother.

And a wooden vase with 3 wooden tulips,

carried all the way from Amsterdam for me

by a traveling friend.

Last, but not least,

my little August angel,

circa 1950s...I think.

My grandmother's.

I've put Christmas away.

There wasn't much out anyway this year.

So..what else is going on this 29th day of December?

I hear a neighbor mowing his lawn.

The sun is shining and the sky is blue.

The birds are chirping merrily.

I'm doing laundry.

I just ate lunch...lentil and rice casserole...

...while sitting here and typing in between bites...

Bad habit!

Now I'm hungry for something sweet

but will have to make do

with a chocolate calcium chew.

Later I hope to go walking,

maybe just around here...my own neighborhood.

I'll take my camera.

A Walk

2011-12-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

Ever since Thanksgiving and all the delicious treats I've been indulging in for several weeks now, as well as not walking with any regularity at all, quite naturally, and with shocking ease, several pounds I fought so hard to get rid of in the previous months have now returned! I suppose many of us are experiencing this particular bounty at the moment....

...anyway, I decided that today was the day

I would begin to fight my way back

to good eating and exercising habits...

...so a-walking I have gone!

There is still some fall color left to admire...

To get to this neighborhood, I had to get in the car and drive there...

...but it's worth the drive to enjoy all the gracious homes,

of which this storybook vision is one of my favorites.

I like that little eyebrow window,

but what really draws me is the charming shape of the brick facade.

This pleasing arrangement of line, shape, color,

backlit by the late morning sunshine

demanded a photo.

So I happily complied!

I've always found this fence,

upon which are fastened

endearing scottie dog cutouts

...every few feet...

rather interesting.

I call this the Scottie House.

Being winter, the glorious riot of flowers one sees

during the spring and summer is lacking,

but nevertheless,

there are still many kinds of plant life to admire.

A delicate camelia against a red brick wall.

A lovely vision in purple...I know not its name!

The slanting light makes it seem like afternoon,

but this was only eleven o'clock in the morning.

For my first day of renewed walking

I spent only an hour outdoors,

but it was a very pleasant and lovely hour.

Winter is Blue

2011-12-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

If I were to go walking down at the waterfront today,

this is what I would see...

...winter in Long Beach is often blue and sunny.

The Musician and I did go walking at South Coast Plaza last week

to visit the Christmas tree, eat dinner at a famous deli,

and enjoy conversation and a cocktail at the hotel

with a dear old friend...our annual tradition.

The next day I visited Downtown Disney

to meet my cousin for lunch...

...she and her family were down from the chilly North

for a week in the Magic Kingdom.

More blue skies...but a cold wind was blowing.

That evening, some friends and I went walking along the Naples canal

where nearly every home was decorated with colorful lights...
...reflecting their wavering twins in the water below.

...light-bears prowled...

...and angels trumpeted...

Even Snoopy got into the act,

performing some magic tricks for Chanuka parties...

There was a Santa in blue velvet too...

I like Santa in blue...very classy...

even though red is still my favorite color.

Blue trees have a certain charm...

...but for Christmas I think I prefer the traditional green...

...and freshly cut, the fragrance filling the house.

There are still several days of Christmas left
during which to consider the meaning of it all
if you are so inclined.
Click HERE to see a post from last year about it.
And click HERE to see all of last year's "twelve days of Christmas" posts.

And thank you all for a year of wonderful friendships
and interesting, entertaining, and beautiful blogs.
I look forward to sharing 2012 with all of you.

Pausing for the moment...

2011-12-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

At Breakfast, Laurits Andersen Ring

The Third Saturday of Advent

2011-12-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, today is the 17th day of December, and the third Saturday of Advent in 2011...two thousand and eleven years, give or take a few years, since a baby was born in Bethlehem whose entry into this world of ours had such an impact that we are still numbering our years from that date.

Van Gogh, Starry Night

And God said,

Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven

to divide the day from the night;

and let them be for signs,

and for seasons,

and for days,

and years.

Genesis 1:14

There are other, very different calendars marking time too, and I like that. They each have a place and an important role to play. There are several New Years celebrated around the world within a single orbit of our earth around that star we call the sun. And yet, it is the calendar beginning with that one particular birth in ancient, Rome-occupied Israel that is recognized around the world today...a sort of international time-language...by which all the various cultures organize their practical business.

Christ-helios at the center of the Zodiac.

Bibliotheque Nationale

I don't know where I'm going with this thought, Dear Diary....I am only musing out loud here. Sometimes the vast scope of passing time and the staggering amount of history encompassed within those days and eons fills me with amazement, and I simply must wonder out loud about it all. And, of course, for me as a Christian, it is my belief that Christ is the center of it all, which I find both comforting and astonishing. There is the incredible cohesiveness of the past, a steady promise in the midst of the chaos of the present, and the bright hope of the future...how long, O Lord? How long?

Isn't this what Advent is all about?

So much deeper

into the meaning of it all,

pregnant with hope...

...with portent for all humanity

and the entire Creation...

...the entire Creation will be made new

when He comes again...

And still, God is in the little things...

Each moment matters...

...even the smallest things make a difference...

Each moment is precious...

...a gift, full of grace.

The reality of this moment, for me, is...

...cloudy skies...

...gentle rain...

...chilly air...

Fall color still abounds on my street today...

...and lots of lovely color is deliciously abundant in my kitchen too.

Look at all this luscious candied fruit...

and golden raisins...

Can you tell they are happy-drunk?

They've been soaking in rum for 24 hours.

I've spent my morning hours doing something I rarely do anymore...

....baking cookies!

I have made a few dozen fruit-and-spice cookies.

I got the recipe at Cookie Madness

(she names them Candied-Fruit Bourbon Cookies)

but tweaked it a bit, using rum instead of bourbon

because that's all I had.

...and, while I was at it...

I also whipped up a batch of these soft, cake-like chocolate chip cookies.

The recipe is also from Cookie Madness,

called Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Again, I tweaked the recipe,

using double the amount of walnuts,

and adding some dried cranberries
for a nice surprise in every bite, along with the chocolate chips.

So...Dear Diary...

I wish I could invite everyone over now

for tea and cookies!

Both recipes came out beautifully

and they taste really divine.

I must admit I had cookies for lunch...

...after all, the cook must taste the goodies!

I don't know about you,

but I am delighted to have taste buds!

What wonderful things they are.

Friday

2011-12-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was quite an adventure,

Dear Diary.

It began bright and sunny.

I went a-walkin' at the mall.

Look at those tall shadows from the palm trees!

Five times around,

sometimes inside,

sometimes outside,

five miles walked!

When I got home,

I was plumb tuckered out

and had to take a nap.

When the Musician and I

sat down for our afternoon tea a few hours later,

we heard mysterious rumblings in the distance.

"Is that thunder!?"

It was.

The weather prophets totally missed this storm.

No one knew it was coming.

I looked outside. The clouds were glowering.

In the north they were low and dark

and the thunder continually rumbled.

A wind came up.

Leaves rained down.

Big fat drops began to fall.

The flashings and rumblings passed right over our heads,

performing their exciting dance the entire time.

But that was not the end of the excitement...

In the midst of it all, hail began to fall.

Hail in the plumeria tree...

The sound of the hailstones slamming into the patio roof

was so deafening

that it scared Ben the cat

and he ran and hid underneath the deck.

Not very smart...

...its cold and wet under there.

Later we were able to coax him inside

after everything quieted down.

He had a nice peaceful nap.

So Ben's day ended soothingly.

But not ours...

...in the evening the credit fraud department called...

Someone had been attempting all day long to use our credit card number

to purchase a couple thousand dollars worth of merchandise...

...the charges were denied six times...

Two of their attempts succeeded.

Naturally, the card is now canceled...

We were told there is a big spike in fraudulent charges

happening here in California

during this holiday season.

Happy Holidays!

May my unethical fellow human beings

now enriched with a cartload of merchandise from Marshall's

and a free tank of gasoline for their car

enjoy the fruits of their crime!

It's only stuff.

The gas will get burnt up,

the merchandise will grow old and tattered.

More and newer is always craved.

Maybe they really needed it.

Or maybe not.

God knows.

God sees.

It is in His hands...

...they are in His hands...

It's a big, bad, dangerous world out there.

But there is so much beauty and goodness too.

And I am exceedingly thankful for that.

Wednesday

2011-12-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, when my alarm clock woke me up this morning with her insistent meows, it was nearly 6:00 and still dark outside. When I checked the temperature on the covered deck, it was 45F/7C. Now, six hours later, it has warmed up, relatively speaking, to 59F/22C. My fahrenheit-to-centigrade comparisons may not be scientifically exact, but they are close enough I think. I do know that you can reverse the numbers of 61F to 16C and 82F is 28C; isn't that interesting? Well...enough jabbering about temperatures....

...even at a balmy 59,

it's still cold enough for me to need extra warmth...

...and the color today is red!

My favorite!

Do you like my scarf?

I made it myself...very long and skinny for winding around the neck

with plenty of tail left over to hang down the front.

Miss Kitty says hello.

She has that lovely fur coat to keep her warm.

I would love for this to be my front door.

Wouldn't you?

I adore red front doors.

Someday perhaps I shall live in a house with a red door.

I could paint mine red but I don't think it would work well here.

However, at the moment, we have plenty of other red to enjoy.

Christmas wrapping paper can be joyously red...

...and gift bags too, with all their pretty designs...

And last, but not least, although certainly the smallest,

my two teeny tiny red glass Christmas birds

purchased last winter at a shop in rainy Edmonds, Washington.

They sit atop a little oval mirror,

affixed with earthquake putty,

keeping company with a snowman in his elegant top hat

and two Christmas trees crowned with golden stars.

This little Christmas scene sits atop the smallest

of my nesting Christmas boxes...

Can you see it glowing in the light?

So, Dear Diary, there's a look at some Christmas red for today,

Wednesday, the 14th day of December,

in the third week of Advent.

Sunny Tuesday

2011-12-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary,

The rain is gone!

The sun is shining!

It's still cold outside though.

For those who wonder,

"cold" here in Southern California

means 60F/15C and below.

Not so cold to my northern friends

who are much hardier than I.

The color for today is blue...

Blue skies...

...blue microfiber fleece...

(to keep me warm)

...blue earrings...

It's lunchtime on this sunny Tuesday

and I have managed to complete one or two

of the "shoulds" and "oughts" that I so blithely ignored yesterday.

All the Christmas cards are addressed and ready to mail.

And some housecleaning has been accomplished.

Still more to go, but progress is being made!

...and a new book I ordered only yesterday

has already arrived on my doorstep...

I saw a review of this in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday

and knew this is what I want for Christmas.

You, too, can read the review HERE.

Be sure to click through to the second page when you finish the first

(they've got so much stuff on the screen, it's easy to miss!)

I don't know this author, but hopefully I will not be disappointed.

One thing I admire already.

He dedicated the book

"To my darling daughter, Lily Bathsheba"

What a lovely name.

Rainy Monday

2011-12-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary, a few days ago I promised to let you know if the rains arrived to wash away our smoggy air. They arrived just before 6:00 this morning! Real rain this time, not just spritzy little molecules of water, but heavy drops thrumming hard on the covered deck with a truly delightful cacophony! Delightful to my rain-starved Southern California ears, at any rate.

It's six hours later now, and the rain has tapered off...

...for the time being...

But the front stoop is slick-wet and shiny...

...and more rain is promised through tomorrow...

It's cold and damp outside...brrrr!

I'm grateful for a warm, dry home...

...and my feet are grateful for their fuzzy striped socks...

Bright orange is the color of the day around here.

There are several other things I could or should be doing...

...addressing Christmas cards...

...mopping floors...

...scrubbing out the tub...

Forget that!

Instead I'm enjoying a delectable orange-cranberry scone...

and rambling about on the Net in search of art.

HERE, for example, is a marvelous series of watercolors

by William Weihe Collins

of cathedral cities in England.

Let's go to Ely today, shall we?

Elizabeth Goudge says in her autobiography, The Joy of the Snow,

"For me, Ely was the home of all homes." (p. 100)

Ely Cathedral West Front, by William Weihe Collins

Elizabeth was 11 when the family moved from Wells to Ely, where her father had been offered a canonry, combined with the Principalship of the Theological School, so that would have been about 1911.

How can one describe the place. Wells was a fairyland, in my memory...but Ely had the hard strength of reality. The cathedral...was a great brooding presence that could at times be terrifying, so much so that at that time there were many people living in Ely who had never dared to go inside it. It leaped on you like a lion, taking you captive beyond hope of escape, but the lion was Aslan the divine lion and once the bondage had been accepted the pursuer became protector. When the winter gales came, or the great thunderstorms of summer roared in a darkening sky, the tall tower looked like a giant's mighty arm held up to keep the storm from falling on the city, and wherever one went on the sea of the fen one could always see the tower standing up like a lighthouse. (page 101)

Here is an aerial view of Ely Cathedral (source)

She describes their house, which became the Deanery sometime after the Goudge family had moved on to Oxford University and her writing of this book in the early 1970s; I assume it is still the Deanery today. No doubt it is visible somewhere on the cathedral precincts above, though I know not where.

The tall house was at the summit of the little Isle of Ely and from the east window one looked out as from a tower over the vast stretch of the fen reaching to the distant line of the horizon. The colours of the fen, especially in the days of harvest, were lovely. They changed with every passing cloud and when the floods were out in winter they mirrored the sky. ... I could watch the sun come up over the horizon and paint a huge skyscape of clouds lilac and saffron and crimson and rose. (page 107)

Ely Cathedral is known as "The Ship of the Fens" as it sits atop its hill surrounded by the vastness of the fens and their great dome of a sky above. The meadows surrounding the Isle of Ely often flood in the winter and would freeze over. Elizabeth describes the joy of ice skating there.

The children, and the grown-ups too, emptied themselves joyously out of the little city and down on to the ice, and the scene could almost equal for picturesque beauty the pictures of the Dutch masters. If the frost was hard enough and lasted long enough it was possible for the river Ouse to freeze over and then the masters of the art could skate all the way to Cambridge. I have never managed to be proficient at any single outdoor sport but I remember floundering joyously along clinging to the back of a wooden chair, sliding and snowballing all in the glow of a great fen sunset flaming across the ice and snow. (page 111)

This sport is evidently well-known as Fen Skating, and you can read about it HERE.

Or even better, watch it HERE (BBC 9-minute video).

I think you will not be disappointed,

and there are some beautiful scenes, even glimpses of a flaming sunset.

Well, Dear Diary, it has been almost three hours since I sat down to write this post, with no particular goal in mind about what I'd be sharing here. The rain has been falling again for an hour or so; it is very gloomy and cold outside. Time for me to publish this post and close down the computer. Then I shall make a nice cup of tea, hot and fragrant, with a pinch of sugar and a splash of milk, and warm my chilly hands around the steaming cup while I delve back in to The Joy of the Snow.

Psalm Challenge - 38

2011-12-11T11:51:00.001-08:00

Today, the 11th day of December, 2011,

is the third Sunday of Advent...

and the day for posting a Psalm Challenge.

Chagall, 1963, from here, David and Bathsheba

I have read that some consider Psalm 38 to be King David's lament over his horrible treatment of Bathsheba and her husband Uriah, and his penitential request for forgiveness and restoration to God's favor. So I offer the painting above as an illustration. It seems I am not a photographer of people, and this psalm calls for people...as you will see so well illustrated in other participants' blogs if you visit Robert at Daily Athens, our host for Psalm Challenge.

Psalm 38

Prayer of a Suffering Sinner

¹ LORD, do not punish me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.

² For Your arrows have sunk into me, and Your hand has pressed down on me.

³ There is no soundness in my body because of Your indignation;
there is no health in my bones because of my sin.

⁴ For my sins have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.

⁵ My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness.

⁶ I am bent over and brought low; all day long I go around in mourning.

⁷ For my loins are full of burning pain, and there is no health in my body.

⁸ I am faint and severely crushed; I groan because of the anguish of my heart.

⁹ Lord, my every desire is known to You; my sighing is not hidden from You.

¹⁰ My heart races, my strength leaves me, and even the light of my eyes has faded.

¹¹ My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction, and my relatives stand at a distance.

¹² Those who seek my life set traps, and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me; they plot treachery all day long.

¹³ I am like a deaf person; I do not hear. I am like a speechless person who does not open his mouth.

¹⁴ I am like a man who does not hear and has no arguments in his mouth.

¹⁵ I put my hope in You, LORD; You will answer, Lord my God.

¹⁶ For I said, "Don't let them rejoice over me—those who are arrogant toward me when I stumble."

¹⁷ For I am about to fall, and my pain is constantly with me.

¹⁸ So I confess my guilt; I am anxious because of my sin.

¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous and powerful; many hate me for no reason.

²⁰ Those who repay evil for good attack me for pursuing good.

²¹ LORD, do not abandon me; my God, do not be far from me.

²² Hurry to help me, Lord, my Savior.

Birds and Birds

2011-12-10T10:19:00.001-08:00

Shall this be a "Dear Diary" entry or not? Oh, why not!

Dear Diary, today is the 10th day of December...already!

It is the second Saturday in Advent as well.

While the temperatures continue in the chilly range,

which I truly enjoy, being able to bundle up in warm sweaters,

the colors, however, are very vibrant and warm...

Look at these glorious leaves out my kitchen window...

I adore the way they bring the amber glass vase to life!

I love the jolly shape of this squat little vase

and its clear glass "ears" for handles...

...and the two glass birds with their angel fish friend

are always a happy sight.

Only three figures, but two fish and two birds,

for the puffin has recently eaten a goldfish!

This is a case where one plus two really does equal four.

There is a new glass bird you haven't seen yet...

...he's currently "wintering" in the cupboard but will be out this spring...

When I bring him out to join the gang,

two plus two will equal five!

Moving on to much larger numbers...

what do you think of all these pigeons

strung like beads along the telephone wires...

It was an especially chilly morning when I saw them there,

all crowded together soaking up what little warmth they could

from the early morning sunshine.

An hour later, when I emerged from the shop I was visiting,

only one or two were left on the wires...

...the others had found more interesting pursuits on the blacktop...

...crumbs to eat, bugs to catch...

and probably more heat too, as the blacktop absorbs the warmth.

So, Dear Diary, the skies remain blue today as well.

Mixed, I'm unhappy to report, with good old Los Angeles smog.

We need a good rain to clear it all away.

It might be coming...I'm hoping so.

I'll keep you informed if rain appears in the days ahead.

That's all I've got for you today...

...except to say the Musician and I are going grocery shopping in about an hour,

but first we must stop and purchase a new microwave...

I had my bowl of oatmeal, wheat germ and dried cranberries

all ready to cook in the microwave this morning...

but the microwave was dead!

...as a doornail...

(what is a doornail anyway?)

Did you click that link?

It's grand what one can find at one's fingertips these days!

Dear Diary

2011-12-08T19:23:00.001-08:00

Dear Diary, today is the 8th day of December, the second Thursday of Advent, and also the Feast of the Conception of Mary. There are feasts for the most unexpected events, I'm discovering, within some parts of the Christian church, while other parts seem completely unaware. Interesting! It's mostly a matter of custom and tradition, I think, and there is certainly a marvelous variety, no doubt about it!

So...today I did the laundry...there is quite a variety of that too...but not so interesting.

Before the laundry, however, I was up early

and noticed how the bright morning sun

filtered through the screen door...

...giving me interestingly dappled sunshine gloves...

I kinda like it...

...better than my normal Irish redhead freckled skin...

...which I can only surmise I inherited from

the distant Irish folks in my family tree.

It seems to have skipped a few generations in between.

While the laundry was swishing about in the machine

(I'm very grateful for machines...can you imagine doing laundry by hand?)

I visited, on foot, the local library...just 5 minutes from my house.

Just look how blue the sky was today.

The exceedingly dry air made for a bad hair day.

And the temperatures were a little chilly (just a little).

My friends from the northern countries might consider it balmy.

I wore my sunhat for protection from the sun,

and my fleece jacket for protection from the chill.

An odd combination perhaps.

My purpose for the visit was to fill out an inter-library loan form...

...if and when the book I requested arrives,

(and I hope and pray it does)

I'll be very excited to tell you about it!

I could only find it at one library in the USA, using WorldCat.

On the way to the library I saw the most delicate rose.

There were roses blooming,

and on the same bushes,

beautifully designed orange rose hips.

So graceful!

Walking home from the library,

my eye was caught by this glowing tree...

...leaves in many colors all waiting to fall...

Someone will be doing a lot of yard raking when that happens!

Meanwhile, the laundry continued...

(You know, Dear Diary, that this photo is not my laundry;

I just like the way it looks, and I got it here.)

...Anyway, I put a load in the dryer

and then I set off, in the car, to the local bank

to pick up some Euros I had ordered...

Watching the news lately, I hope they are still worth something

when the person I'm sending them to receives them!

While I was out and about, I stopped at World Market...

...just to look around...

I was going to buy some panettone,

having recently read this post

by Martha at Lines from Linderhof,

but then I saw....this!

Marzipan cake...I had to try it.

Oh my, it's dangerously delicious.

And I am in awe of the expertise required in today's international packaging designs.

Take a look...do you see just how many languages are printed on it?

The entire foil wrapping is printed solid, all four sides, in multitudes of tongues.

Who makes sure they are all spelled and worded correctly?

It is fascinating, Dear Diary, to observe the various words for "cake."

I can actually read the word in Russian and Greek!

...without knowing either of those languages...

One of these lines, however, says

"Plum cake al gusto di marzapane..." (is that Italian?)

It's the "plum" that I'm questioning.

There are no plums, raisins, or any fruit at all inside.

Unlike panettone.

Which I will try next time I visit World Market.

And so, Dear Diary,

the sad fact is

that I've not lost any of those extra pounds yet.

Sigh.

There are just too many goodies around this time of year.

Elizabeth in Wells, England

2011-12-05T20:55:00.001-08:00

Moat and Bishop's Palace, Wells, by Walter Crane, 1893

Monday afternoon I grabbed The Joy of the Snow off the shelf and prepared to lose myself in the pages of Elizabeth Goudge's autobiography, written in her early 70s at the urging of friends. Of the book she says: ...this book is hardly an autobiography, it is more an attempt to recapture happy memories and with them some of the joy in places and people that I have known, and to share them. And to share, too, some of the conclusions I have come to about work and life. Neither will be in the least exciting and so my hope for this book is that it will be a good bedside book, and keep nobody awake. (page 2)

She begins her story in Wells, England, where her father was Vice-Principal of Wells Cathedral's Theological College, and later promoted to Principal. A few pages in, as she is describing the two homes their little family of three lived in—first the Tower House where she was born in 1900, and subsequently the Principal's House across the road, where the family moved when she was still a toddler, I set the book aside because...

...no, it was not putting me to sleep, but...

...I found myself hungering for an accurate visual image of the placement of these homes and their gardens in relation to the Cathedral. So, after reading only ten pages...I then spent a few hours at the computer rummaging around in Cyberspace to see what I could find.

First, let me share some words from Elizabeth talking about her memories of those places:

I think I am correct in thinking that the garden of the Principal's House was a marvelous one. It was in those days large and...had everything that a garden should have; grass and trees, flowers and vegetables, and it had something which few gardens can boast; a cathedral for one of its walls. Beside the Cathedral, under an archway, a gate opened into a small graveyard and from there another archway led into the cloisters. Whenever I liked I could run through the green garth to the cloisters, and I often did. I liked being there alone and gazing out through the arches at the central square of green grass that seemed to breathe out cool quietness...

...On the south of our garden a low wall separated us from a peaceful curve of water, a kind of lake, with flowers growing beside it, that stretched out like a friendly arm from the main waterway of the moat. Beside it was a green watery place...an extension of our garden...reached through a low gate just the right size for a child...Irises grew in the long grass, and enormous blue periwinkles. I have never seen such periwinkles, not even in Devon. A country name for them is Joy of the Ground and I loved them dearly; not least because of the fairy brooms that grew in their hearts. (page 9-10)

Does that not seem like an enchanted place?

Does that not make you wish you could visit and experience something similar?

Well, it's true, you can never go back...to the 1900's in Wells,

but with the help of 21st Century technology,

we can still visit and dream....

so here are a few of the things I gleaned in my Cyberspace rummaging session...

What Elizabeth calls the Principal's House in her autobiography

is now known as the Rib House (photo source).

Adjacent to the Rib House is a self-catering apartment known as The Piggeries.

(From a site touting self-catering establishments in Wells): The Piggeries is a medieval holiday ‘cottage’ for two, self-contained, in the heart of Wells, a few feet from the Cathedral and the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace. Step back in time. The Piggeries are authentic, rustic and quirky - and in a unique situation, a few yards from the ancient springs. Sit on the patio and hear the choir and the organ in the Cathedral next door. In the garden are free-range chickens.

Sounds like an idyllic spot for a lazy summer's week-long holiday, and the perfect home base from which to explore the city of Wells (yes, I'm dreaming again!). Wells is known as England's smallest city, with a population of about 12,000, but it has had city designation since 1205. Evidently that is because it has a cathedral...and by the way, the cathedral's official name is Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, better known simply as Wells Cathedral.

In this aerial view of Wells Cathedral, courtesy of wikimedia, I can orient myself by the cathedral.

Before it I see the two straight rows of the Vicars' Close with the wide walkway between.

Left of Vicars' Close set in the trees I can see the Tower House.

And above the Tower House (across St. Andrews Street, not visible here)

I see the pale gold facade and red roof of the Principal's House/Rib House.

Behind that, I catch the gleam of the curved "lake" she mentions being at the bottom of their garden,

and some of the moat around the Bishop's Palace.

The Musician and I visited Wells, all too briefly, in the summer of 2009. We toured Glastonbury and Wells in the same day, and my post about it is HERE. We walked through that tower gate into the Vicars' Close and along the walkway between the houses. Little did I know the Tower House was just next door, and the Principal's House across the street.

I wish I had known!
I would have gone to take a closer look.

And in this aerial view, courtesy G**gle *aps, I can look down on it all from the other direction.

Find the octagonal roof of the cathedral's Chapter House.

Across the road above it is the Vicars' Close.

To the right of the Close can be seen just one end of the Tower House.

Come back to the octagonal roof and to the right of it is the Principal's House

with its long green garden stretching down to the curved body of water.

The cathedral cloisters are obvious by their square shape with a big tree in the middle,

and to the right of the cloisters, between the complex of buildings and the cathedral

is the little green area with gravestones.

At the bottom of the picture is the Bishop's Palace.

On our visit in 2009, we walked along the cloisters and out into the little garden and graveyard area.
We peeked through a little window in the garden wall at the water below. And, of course, we spent quite a while inside the beautiful cathedral itself. If I ever have the honor of visiting Wells again, I will know my way around and will certainly spend a lot more time there.

By the way, it is possible you have seen bits and pieces of Wells and, like me, did not realize it. If you want to know more, take a quick look at this site talking about film and television in Wells.

And while you do that, I am going back to my reading of The Joy of the Snow. When Elizabeth is about 10 or so, the family relocates to Ely Cathedral for her father's new position there....perhaps another research session is on the horizon...or perhaps not. We shall see.

Psalm Challenge - 37

2011-12-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

Psalm Challenge is hosted by Robert at Daily Athens.

A man's steps

are established by the Lord,

and He takes pleasure in his way.

Though he falls,

he will not be overwhelmed,

because the Lord holds his hand.

Psalm 37:23-24

Will I stay on the good, solid path,

or will I step off into brokenness and chaos?

Sometimes we lose our way...
...but from past experience I know
He will bring me back
if I want to be brought back (and I do),
and so I can say with certainty

...that...

my steps are established by the Lord,

and He takes pleasure in my way.

Though I fall, I will not be overwhelmed

because the Lord holds my hand.

Dear Diary...

2011-12-01T15:44:00.001-08:00

Dear Diary, it is the first day of December! That's exciting. And also a little bit astonishing...where has the year gone? Only a few more weeks and we will be entering the year 2012. Wow!

Speaking of time passing quickly....I can remember when 1984 seemed unimaginably far into the unknown future...back in my high school English class when we read George Orwell's novel of that name...1984...the high school, teenage me was certain that by the time the actual year of 1984 arrived, the future 30-something me would have already lived all the best parts of her life with nothing left but to grow old!

And here I am, alive and kicking in 2011,
almost three decades beyond 1984, and even further from high school.

Yet sometimes I still feel as young inside as that teenager...

...even though I'm now 60-something!

...and still glad to be alive. And why not, when I can look out my window

as I sit here at my computer

and see as glorious a sight as this liquid amber tree

on the first day of December in 2011.

So, Dear Diary, today I went walking at the mall. It was not crowded in the least, which is rather surprising, since this is Christmas shopping season. The idea was to accomplish some serious walking, because I've added several pounds to myself that I do not want to keep...so many delicious things to eat in November and so many reasons to celebrate with food!

Two miles of dedicated striding is all I managed to complete....
the rest of the time was spent ambling, idly, through a few shops....

...purchasing a box of assorted chocolates...

...a Christmas gift for someone...

What a graceful design on their wrapping paper, don't you agree?

...and acquiring a new box of Christmas cards
to add to my collection of leftovers from years past.

The first thing I do with a new box of greeting cards
is take them all out of the box
and tuck each card under the flap of its corresponding envelope.
The dark red envelopes above are the new ones
I store them standing upright rather than lying flat...
...that way I can fit all my various cards neatly into one box...
Everything in one easy-to-find place.

Am I a neat freak, Dear Diary?
Sometimes...

I like all the red in this post!
'Tis the season of red, and I am enjoying the color,
and the sparkle too.

Good bye Dear Diary, till next time.

Advent - the Birth of Wonder

2011-11-30T09:57:00.001-08:00

If you are one who enjoys pondering the liturgical seasons of the year,

are you reading anything special for Advent?

Alfred Sisley, Snow in Louveciennes

I peeked at Ann Voskamp's blog today

....HERE....

she expresses her pondering and contemplating
of this Advent and Christmas season
in her wonderful, unique style...
...her mention of snow at the very end brought to mind the Sisley painting above.

And...similar thoughts,
expressed in direct, spare words of poetry...

...a poem I found in WinterSong, Christmas Readings

a compilation of works by Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw.

You can preview WinterSong online HERE.

The Birth of Wonder

As I grow older

I get surer
Man's heart is colder,
His life no purer.
As I grow steadily
More austere
I come less readily
To Christmas each year.
I can't keep taking
Without a thought
Forced merrymaking
And presents bought
In crowds and jostling.
Alas, there's naught
In empty wassailing
Where oblivion's sought.
Oh, I'd be waiting
With quiet fasting
Anticipating
A joy more lasting.
And so I rhyme
With no apology
During this time
Of eschatology:
Judgment and warning
Come like thunder:
But now is the hour
When I remember
An infant's power
On a cold December.
Midnight is dawning
And the birth of wonder.

Madeleine L'Engle

* * *
As I grow older...steadily more austere...
Oh, I'd be waiting with quiet fasting a joy more lasting...

Fasting from the frantic rush and clamor of our culture's harried Christmas expectations...
...I pause each day to read from these books and consider anew Advent's meaning...

God With Us, Paraclete Press. This is my third year using this thoughtful resource (their site says the following about the book):

Christmas is the season most difficult to grasp and understand in all its spiritual richness. The sentimentality and commercialism that dominate the season tend to obscure the profound mystery at its heart: the Incarnation. God With Us provides the perfect way to slow down and reconnect with the liturgical and sacramental traditions that illuminate the meaning of the Incarnation and bring it down to earth.

Featuring daily meditations for the complete seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, contributors Scott Cairns, Emilie Griffin, Richard John Neuhaus, Kathleen Norris, Eugene Peterson, and Luci Shaw offer a tapestry of reflection, Scripture, prayer and history. These profound words are enhanced by classic and contemporary art masterpieces carefully selected by the editors. God With Us will make anyone's journey to the stable in Bethlehem and the child in the manger utterly unforgettable.

WinterSong: Christmas Readings, Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw. Click title to preview online.

Though the Bible, Through the Year, John Stott, an excellent year-round resource. One brief but cogent page per day. I've learned a lot in these pages.

One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp. Yes, I'm re-reading it, more slowly and thoughtfully this time, over the next four weeks. The first two chapters have already yielded a deeper harvest than I originally gleaned.

Noel

2011-11-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

This morning, while looking through my list of Christmas posts from the time I started this blog back in 2007, I came across this from December 2008. While I am not planning on digging out the boxes of ornaments this year, it is good, nonetheless, to remember these special items...

...old-fashioned Christmas ceramics

from my grandmothers' homes 50 years ago....

Each letter of "Noel" is designed to hold slim taper candles...

...two each for "n" and "e"...

...and one each for "o" and "l"...

My father's mother always displayed these on her buffet

during our family Christmas dinners

when I was a child.

You saw the little red elf in yesterday's post.

He and the elf in green belonged to my mother's mother.

Last year the green elf fell and shattered into too many pieces to mend.

Now his red-clad friend is all alone.

I can't help noticing the gold wall

reflected in the mirror behind the elves...

which is now green (you can see it in yesterday's post).

That tells me I must have painted sometime after December 2008.

The First Tuesday in Advent

2011-11-29T15:07:00.001-08:00

'Tis the 29th day of November, 2011

and the first Tuesday of Advent.

Yesterday I took down all the lovely orange autumn pumpkins

and put them away until next year.

Here's a backwards look at my Christmas bookshelf
and some simple red and green mantel decor
viewed in the little orangewood mirror that my grandfather made
oh....about 40 years ago, I guess.

Christmas decor here in our little cottage

will probably be very understated and simple this year.

At the moment (though it could change)
I seem more interested in concentrating on the Reason

rather than on the accoutrements of the season.

It's quite possible to do both, of course...
...and maybe I will, at the last minute...

But for now,
I do have my shelf of Christmas books
...it is there all year long.
The cinnamon heart was a gift from Lovella a few years ago.
The cloisonne vase was acquired in Okinawa by the Musician
when he was in the Navy, years before I met him.
The Tiffany ceramic box with red bow was a gift from my boss.
The red ceramic house was a long-ago gift from my mama.
The British Christmas crackers in their clear plastic carton
are just too pretty to use.
The little red elf sitting on a caterpillar belonged by my grandma.

A favorite of mine is the little tin box behind the elf...
It has the most amazingly detailed, colorful artwork on it.
You can see the face of it in the photo above...

...and here are the back and sides...
Aren't the colors so pretty...
...and the snowflakes falling down.

And...isn't this kitten adorable!

One of my One Dollar Bookstore finds this year
was a small, slim volume...

...called Christmas Cats, by Lesley Anne Ivory.

Very, very charming...full of her delightful paintings of Christmas cats.

I'm just showing you the tiniest of fragments here

trying not to infringe on copyrights.

I see that this post is getting rather long....
...time to stop...

...but one more photo first...
This is the other side of my Christmas bookshelf...

Perhaps next time I will talk about Advent
and what it means to me.

A Red Carpet

2011-11-28T19:25:00.001-08:00

Red is my favorite color...

...at least for today...

and most days, really.

So...here is a delightful piece of art

by Felice Casorati (1883-1963) called Girl on a Red Carpet,

to satisfy my craving for red, and perhaps yours too.

Psalm Challenge - 36

2011-11-27T12:30:00.001-08:00

Psalm Challenge is hosted by Robert at Daily Athens.

From The Message

Psalm 36

A David Psalm

^1-4 The God-rebel tunes in to sedition— all ears, eager to sin.
   He has no regard for God,
      he stands insolent before him.
   He has smooth-talked himself
      into believing
   That his evil
      will never be noticed.
   Words gutter from his mouth,
      dishwater dirty.
   Can't remember when he
      did anything decent.
   Every time he goes to bed,
      he fathers another evil plot.
   When he's loose on the streets,
      nobody's safe.
   He plays with fire
      and doesn't care who gets burned.

^5-6 God's love is meteoric,
      his loyalty astronomic,
   His purpose titanic,
      his verdicts oceanic.
   Yet in his largeness
      nothing gets lost;
   Not a man, not a mouse,
      slips through the cracks.

^7-9 How exquisite your love, O God!
      How eager we are to run under your wings,
   To eat our fill at the banquet you spread
      as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
   You're a fountain of cascading light,
      and you open our eyes to light.

^10-12 Keep on loving your friends;
      do your work in welcoming hearts.
   Don't let the bullies kick me around,
      the moral midgets slap me down.
   Send the upstarts sprawling

flat on their faces in the mud.

Second Thoughts

2011-11-27T09:03:00.000-08:00

Art by Fern I. Coppedge

Today is the first Sunday of Advent...and I offer some words that I originally wrote for yesterday's post about the book Beautiful Outlaw but then removed....on second thought, however, I would like to include them here, because Advent is all about the Beautiful Outlaw...

We can learn all about Jesus Christ in the four Gospels;
my personal favorite is the Gospel according to John...
...always has been...
...and this is my most loved description of Jesus:

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

All things were created through Him

and apart from Him not one thing was created

that has been created.

Life was in Him

and that life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness,

yet the darkness did not overcome it.

...

He was in the world,

and the world was created through Him

yet the world did not recognize Him.

John 1:1-5; 10

It is a constant wonder to me that

...oh so many years ago...
when I believed this Christianity thing was just too ridiculous to be stomached
...and that these Christians were all such sanctimonious hypocrites...
(rather sanctimonious and judgmental of me, wouldn't you agree?)

I began to catch glimpses of him, this Jesus,
who is God the Son
by whom all things were created,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,

...a glimpse here, a glimpse there...
...and me with my arms out pushing him away...

...but finally, ever so slowly, over two or three years...

recognition dawned!

Amazing grace...
for such a wretch as me.

And it did not end there.

For I have since learned, by hard experience,

by trial and error, with many stumblings,

...times of distance and wandering...

that there is no end to the wonderful discovering,

because there is no end to the love of our God.

If we want to know him better, it will happen,

we only need to keep returning to him.

Think of these words of the prophet Isaiah
(my most favorite of the prophets):

O God, You will keep in perfect peace

those whose minds are fixed on You;

for in returning and rest we shall be saved,

in quietness and trust shall be our strength.

Isaiah 26:3; 30:15

Life is painful-joyful, and the world is ugly-beautiful
(thank you Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, for those double descriptions)

and in the midst of all that, his loving-kindness pours down on all alike.
I know, now,
for he's shown me more than once,
that he waits with longing
...a father's longing for his prodigal son...
for our return.
And when we take our first hesitant steps in his direction,
he runs...he runs!
to meet us, embrace us, and welcome us home.

No more wandering for me!

Beautiful...

2011-11-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

The books I have been reading lately have been so inspiring and joy-bringing

that I must share one more with you....

...have you read it yet?

Have you heard of it?

Are you familiar with John and Stasi Eldredge

of Ransomed Heart Ministries?
Do you know their other books?

Click HERE to watch an amazing 90-minute video presentation

about Beautiful Outlaw at the Ransomed Heart Ministries website.

While I have not taken the time to research it,
it's possible that to some
this message might be a bit controversial;
it's a little "out of the box"...

...but for others, it's sure to enliven their faith
with a fresh and wonderful look

at the one called Jesus.

I have found it so.

So many gifts...

2011-11-23T09:58:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow, November 24th,

holiday season begins in earnest here

with Thanksgiving Day...

The End of Dinner, Jules Alexandre Grun, 1913

...a day set aside when family and friends gather

to enjoy a traditional turkey dinner

and celebrate, hopefully with thankfulness,

the many blessings of life.

Many pies are being baked right now for Thanksgiving dinner.

As far as the traditional meal is concerned,

what I am most thankful for

is the pumpkin pie...

...with whipped cream!

This year the Musician and I

will be enjoying a restaurant dinner...

...just the two of us...

and there will be pie.

While we are thinking about the giving of thanks,
let me tell you about an experience of mine...

After reading One Thousand Gifts recently, I considered starting a gratitude journal. Then, one day last week, about 1:30 in the afternoon, I stepped out of my chilly house into the garden to sit on the grass in the sun and warm up my cold bones while I read the noon prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. I don't usually say noon prayers, but I felt drawn to do so this day....they are not very long, and when I finished, since I also had my prayer journal with me, I flipped open to the back and started writing down things that I love and for which I am grateful, thankful, and feel mightily blessed...before too long the list grew to 110 amazing gifts, including...

~ quiet afternoons

~ birdsong

~ the lovely warmth of the sun on my back

~ the beauty of words

~ the endless blue, blue sky

~ the twin white trails of a jet liner so far above me that I cannot even hear it pass over

~ scented geraniums

I closed the journal, a spiral bound book with cardboard covers sparingly printed in subtle half-inch polka dots, pale lavender against the slightly darker lavender background...and was holding it in my hand when I noticed the tiniest, most delicate of winged bugs walking along the sharp, thin edge of the front cover. He was so tiny I had to take off my glasses to really see him (an advantage of being very nearsighted!) I noticed he was rapidly tapping his left front leg whenever he paused in his perambulations, and wondered why.

As he walked along the edge, I tilted the book and he moved to the flat surface of the cover, which for him was a vast field of exploration. In the slanting golden afternoon sunlight, his shadow cast a perfect image, sharply edged, moving right along with him. If I tipped the book just slightly, his silhouette twin suddenly grew much taller than he, all six legs stretching long, the two perfect wings showing opaque. Yet he was so tiny that both he and his shadow fit within the perimeter of one of the polka dots on the cover design, as if standing in a spotlight on a stage. Tap, tap, tap went that leg.

He made me burst out laughing! Laughing with joy at his perfection, his funny walk, his tap, tap, tapping constantly with that left front foot. As I watched him, fascinated, for several minutes, he would stop now and then to groom his wings and his antennae and then be off again on his walk.

The wonder of this minute creature, no more than 1/2 centimeter long! So perfectly formed, so full of life! How can something so small even exist in such perfection? He was a beautiful, delicate shade of pale green. His wings were diaphanous. One of them had a miniscule golden spot on it that glinted in the sun. When he finally flew away, I was sad to see him go.

Beauty exists everywhere in God's creation...not only where we can obviously observe it, but everywhere! And it is all so full of life!

And so,

I am filled with gratitude to Him

...and amazement...

...and wonder...

...and awe...

This is the best way to live one's life.

May we all be given eyes to see the wonder

and know how much we are blessed.

I love weather...

2011-11-21T10:05:00.001-08:00

Some might say that we here in Southern California

don't know what real weather is....

...I might agree...

...or not...

...but the weather we have here is the only weather I know...

...and I love it!

Yesterday it rained all day long.

Now "rained" can mean many things to many people...

Yesterday moisture fell from the sky...

...sometimes in tiny little spritzy drops, barely noticed...

...no need for umbrellas...

...but other times...

it poured!

No lightning, no thunder...just lots and lots of water.

This morning dawned clear and cold.

"Cold" is relative too, depending on where you live.

It is 60 today in the sunshine.

I call that freezing!

Yes, I know, I know! Nowhere near freezing really.

But it feels like it to me.

When the sun arose this morning,

everything sparkled!

...still glistening wet from yesterday's rains...

...all the grime and dust washed away.

So lovely.

A Very Novel Novel

2011-11-18T19:21:00.001-08:00

A few days ago, a friend passed along to me

a paperback copy of Margaret George's novel,

Mary Called Magdalene,

and Thursday evening I peeked inside.

24 hours later,

I have finished Part One,

206 pages of fascinating storytelling.

Told so well, in fact,

that my imagination has been transported

back to First Century Israel,

and I want to return there again

just as soon as I close out this post!

I must admit I had not heard of Margaret George before,

but if this novel is any indication of her skill as a writer,

perhaps soon I will also be traveling in my mind

to visit Helen of Troy...

Queen Elizabeth I...

Mary Queen of Scots...

King Henry VIII...

or even Cleopatra!

Needlework: Days of Creation

2011-11-18T12:26:00.000-08:00

Flipping through a magazine the other day,

I came across an ad for a needlepoint kit collection:

There are six patterns, one for each day of creation.

I do like looking at them, and perhaps you might enjoy them too.

You can see more HERE.

I don't do needlepoint,

and even if I did, these are too expensive for me,

but I adore the beautiful circular design of each one.

Circles...that reminds me...

...there was one time when I attempted some needle art.

I designed it myself, using a 24-inch embroidery hoop,

green burlap, and colored yarn.

Not knowing how to frame it,

I left it on the hoop.

When my roommates and I moved on

to other places and new lives,

I gave this to one of them.

I wonder if it still exists?

I've kept the photo all these 35 years.

Gifts

2011-11-17T11:12:00.001-08:00

A gift of precious water

bejeweling a broad, folded leaf

playfully patterned in multicolored stripes

of coral, gold and teal.

Pinecone.

Oval shape formed by perfect segments,

each one sheltering a kernel of life.

Muted grays and browns shaping diamond tips,

patterned lively against wood-striated cement.

The warm brown of pine needles

kisses your lip.

Gifts...

...endless gifts...

...beautiful gifts...

The whole earth is filled with His glory.

Isaiah 6:3

Weekend Photos

2011-11-15T20:22:00.001-08:00

The photos I took this weekend disappoint...

...perhaps it was the gloomy weather...

But a small handful might be worth sharing.

How much luggage does a person need

for a Friday eve to Sunday noon retreat?

Not as much as this!

Flowers lit by late afternoon sun

at the outlet mall en route to our destination.

A gift of simple beauty for consumption weary eyes

that looked but found nothing they could not live without.

It is true that the best things in life are free.

Early morning Saturday...

...I walked around the lake twice

while waiting for the Coffee House to open at 6:30 am.

Steam arising from the hot springs pools...

...and a beautiful mosaic brick walkway...

its colors made more vibrant by the morning rain.

The conference center is liberally decorated with mosaics...

...it is an ongoing project and there were newly embellished walkways

since my last visit three years ago.

Sunday morning the sun shone for us

and the lake's surface reflected light like a mirror.

There was no more time for photos, regrettably.

I did not notice at the time, as I was concentrating on the beautiful light,

that the leaves on the tree are delicately outlined in brown,

their green, glorious lives just about spent.

Home again...

2011-11-14T20:38:00.001-08:00

It was a damp, chilly weekend...

..no soaking up the sun on a bench overlooking the lake...

...but it didn't really matter

because our retreat speaker, Carole Wolaver, was excellent.

If you ever get the chance to hear her,

take the opportunity to go!

Carole is a potter,

and while she is speaking

she is also creating vases and urns

at her potter's wheel...

...tying the whole experience

to how God works in our lives,

if we will let him.

Her presentation was so full of God's Word

and the most amazing analogies

between pottery making

and our walk of faith

that I bought the DVDs

so that I can revisit it all again

and share it with others too.

Away...

2011-11-10T21:19:00.001-08:00

At 10:00 on Friday morning I shall be off and away with friends for the weekend...

...leaving my comfortable, book-lined little cottage
for a hot springs resort just a 90-minute drive away.

The Musician and Miss Kitty and Ben
will keep the home fires burning
while I attend a Christian women's retreat.

My camera is going along too.

I'll be looking for beauty.

And I'll be carrying with me all the wonder and joy
I've just read about this evening in Chapter 6 of Ann Voskamp's book...
...where she runs across the darkening fields to the full orb of the moon...

I think it's okay to share the briefest of quotes...

Beauty is the voice endlessly calling and so we see, so we reach....
See beauty and we know...Someone is behind it, in it.

More on the book

2011-11-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Theodore Robinson, Road by the Mill

For those who might want to know more about the book mentioned in my last post, One Thousand Gifts, A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voscamp, you might be interested in seeing the author talk about her book HERE (goes to Y**tube). And, many of you already know of her blog, A Holy Experience... And HERE is a very detailed online Newsmakers Interview, if you have the time and perseverance. Listening to this last link, I am so inspired by her single vision and purpose to simply do what God has given her to do....

The ordinary...

2011-11-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

The ordinary: humdrum...commonplace...everyday...quotidian...

This seems very ordinary.

Last month we bought ourselves some new pots and pans.

My old copper-bottomed set of cookware,

well used for the past 37 years,

has now left my kitchen.

37 years of memories,

37 years of meals,

...and now, on to the new.

I wonder if this new cookware will last 37 years?

I certainly do hope I'm not still here in the year 2048!

I don't even want to think about being that old!

Isn't it odd the things we hold onto sometimes?

I've had these rocks since I was a teenager and recently found them again.

I call them moonstones, though I doubt if they really are.

Each one fits comfortably in the palm of my hand

with a satisfying heft and roundness.

They catch the sunlight and glow from within.

I collected them one gray, dreary winter's day

walking, alone with my thoughts, along the deserted shores of a lagoon,

inventing stories in my head,

...imagining magical properties attributed to these moonstones

and wishing they could whisk me away to a different place and time...

Is that not every unhappy 15-year-old's dream?

The lagoon is still there

though I've not walked its shores in a couple dozen years.

But I am definitely in a better place and time!

There is undeniable beauty,

even in the ordinary, commonplace, everyday stuff of life.

...the first brilliant autumn leaf...

...the pleasing curved edge of a cooking pot...

...a simple white rock aglow with light...

...and...

Have you read this book?

I was not intending to start it today,

but while moving a few books around on my shelves, I decided to glance through it.

My eyes and heart were caught at the first words of Chapter 9...

A half-hour later, I was still reading.

I finished Chapter 9 and then flipped to where one is supposed to begin a book...

...at the beginning...

It's amazing!

Psalm Challenge 33

2011-11-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

This Sunday is very cold, gloomy and wet here in Southern California. But I am reminded of warmth, sunshine, and the glowing, colorful beauty of autumn by a special gift of Japanese maple leaves we received this week, carefully processed and placed in a frame, to be hung on the wall....a completely unexpected gift...the very best kind. An information card that came with the gift says:

Leaves have an intricate structure and natural symmetry

—a fragile beauty that is normally hidden and transient,

like that of a snowflake, or a spiderweb.

To which I add:

The God who fashioned all this fragile, secret beauty

has hidden His amazing love in every aspect of Creation;

he knows our hearts find great joy

in searching out and finding what is hidden.

All this makes me want to sing His praises!

Which is why I chose,

for this week's Psalm Challenge,

the particular verses of Psalm 33 written below.

Psalm 33:6-9

The heavens were made by the word of the Lord,

and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.

He gathers the waters of the sea into a heap;

He puts the depths into storehouses.

Let the whole earth tremble before the Lord;

let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

For He spoke and it came into being;

He commanded and it came into existence.

Leaf artistry by this California artist.

Psalm Challenge is hosted by Robert at Daily Athens.

The first Wednesday in November

2011-11-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

The first Wednesday in November....

in some ways this year seems to have run away with me...

I can remember last November as if it were yesterday...

what happened to all those months in between?

But never mind last year,

what about last week?!

Last week I was in San Diego....

for dinner with girlfriends I've known for almost 40 years...

...catching up on our lives since we last got together...

...and enjoying a leisurely breakfast

on a delightful, sunny morning...

This week....

...this week has been slow...

But quiet, slow days

give a person time to find wonder and delight

in the way a spider's web

is suspended from the tips of a tiny geranium leaf...

...or catches a plentiful harvest of brilliant dew-diamonds

sparkling in the early morning sun...

...and slow, quiet mornings are perfect

for sitting on the back steps

and enjoying the delicate perfume of plumeria blossoms...

...each one beaded with dew.

Psalm Challenge - 32

2011-10-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Psalm Challenge is hosted by Robert at Daily Athens.

This is week 32.

You are a hiding place for me,

you will keep me from distress;

you will surround me

with songs of deliverance.

"I will instruct you and teach you

in this way that you are to go;

I will give you counsel;

my eyes will be watching you."

Don't be like a horse or mule

that has no understanding,

that has to be curbed with bit and bridle,

or else it won't come near you.

Psalm 32:7-9

The Complete Hebrew Bible

These days I take that last sentence seriously to heart.
There was a time in my life when I ignored it
and much unhappiness ensued
not only for me
but for others in my life.
I have since learned to pray
"Instruct me and teach me in the way that I should go,"
and to listen and watch for whatever follows.
And to draw near...
...and to keep near...
to the Lord.

Photos are from visit to the UK in 2009:

Inside a defense tower, Caernarfon Castle, Wales

Parquet flooring, Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick, England

Horses in Thaxted, England