update

One of my readers once suggested that I warn those who check my blog often when I won't be posting for awhile. After the blogging extravaganza of December, one a day, I am ready for a break. I am less likely to have my camera with me during this cold weather. Photographs that I take of the snowy landscape end up looking like a Vermont Life calendar. Anyway, mittened hands just don't work well with small camera dials.

So I will take a break for January, work on other projects and hit the road for some travel. I will resume leading writing classes during the last week of January so I will be back at it in force by then, posting my own writing as well as ideas about writing.

You may want to check this site now and then (I don't want to lose you!) in case I have a flash of inspiration, but my postings will not be as frequent as they have been for awhile.

Happy New Year everyone.

file photo

Two feet predicted. Wind over night.

First snow of the season.

It is snowing hard now.

december 24

What I like about the Christmas story is that it is about humble beginnings. A stable, a couple doing the best they can under adversity, a long journey, the kindness of strangers (innkeeper), animals, an angel, a star and a baby.

The birth of any baby is a miracle and it happens every day. Every child has it in them to do good, to effect the lives around them in a positive way. Every adult has it in them to deal with the unexpected, things not working out the way they planned but realizing it will be fine just the same.

Here is Hannah playing the part of Mary holding Ginger, the baby Jesus as they acted in the Christmas Pageant at First Parish. Ginger is five now, Hannah in high school. Others sat in the same place this December acting out the ancient story. And so it goes on.

Merry Christmas to everyone as you celebrate tomorrow. And don't forget the wise men bearing gifts; inspiring another Christmas tradition, opening presents! As well as giving to those who are less fortunate.

May 2011 bring you joy and happiness and peace around the world.

december 23

And an angel said unto them, fear not: for behold!

I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all people.

Luke 2:10

art by the women artists of Matenwa, Haiti

december 22

ursa major

In the West, you will find introspection. I am Ursa Major, the Great Bear. I can teach you the power of hibernation, and show you the well of your inner mind. In autumn the sun seeks his winter home. He is tired, as are you. Come into the cave. The harvest is in. The toil is done. Rest, and be renewed.

(art by DK, the words are my part in the First Parish Solstice event tonight)

more

For some reason, the type was HUGE in the post below when I tried to comment. The art work and quote are from Denise Kester. Ruth and I have studied with her in Ashland, Oregon. She is a talented artist and a wise woman. She has a bonfire every year on the solstice. It's not as cold in Ashland as it is in Lincoln. My wood stove will have to do as my pagan ritual of fire to keep back the dark.

advice

If you go into the dark be sure to take a flash light and a cell phone and call for help if you need it.

eclipse

Here is a great web site with eclipse details.

Let's hope for clear skies on this, the longest night of the year.

Snow showers are predicted here in New England.

An excuse for us to get a good night's sleep.

the shortest day

On Solstice Night, the winter comes
stalking through the antlered trees;
riding on the frozen wind.

With hoof and horn, this longest night
brings round once more
the ancient, endless joust;
light and dark contest for power.

hope for clear skies

There will be a lunar eclipse on Tuesday morning starting at 1:30 am and continuing on to 5:30 am. This event falls on the shortest day of the year; the winter solstice. These two natural occurances have not coincided for 456 years. Just as I mentioned in this forum on December 8, there has been a long standing battle between the sun and the moon that is well documented in folklore. On this night, the sun will actually try to obliterate the moon with the help of the earth. A mighty battle happening quietly in the night sky.

Luckily, we pretty much know what the outcome will be. But imagine the ancients who wondered if the world was ending as the days grew shorter and shorter and shorter. Add to that, how alarming it must have been to watch the full moon disappear in one night.

It's good to take in the larger scheme of things. It puts us in our place. We are such tiny specks here on Earth. Powerful beyond imagining it turns out, but tiny just the same.

international letter writing week

An "altered book" is an already published book that an artist alters by collaging, cutting and drawing on every page. Sometimes the text or illustration from the original comes through in amazing ways, enhancing or inspiring the work on the page. Other times I cover it up completely. How to show this kind of art that is hidden between the covers? That is a challenge. Here is a page out of my book.

december 17

We receive fragments of holiness,

glimpses of eternity,

brief moments of insight.

Let us gather them up for the precious gifts

that they are and

renewed by grace,

Move boldly into the unknown.

-Sara Moore Campbell

12/16/10

I call this telephone art. When I am having a long conversation on the phone, I often grab a sketch pad, pen and colored pencils and start drawing. With my hand engaged, I can concentrate on the conversation more intently. By the time I hang up, I have a piece of artwork that I barely noticed creating. It just evolves as the conversation does. I like to think it is infused with the connection between two people sharing life stories.

december 15

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

Emily Dickinson

December 14

Here's another way to celebrate the season. Radio City Music Hall. The Rockettes! Get out your skates and take a turn around the rink at Rockefeller Center. I know some of my readers have done just that.

I was in New York at this time last year visiting Carrie. On the upper west side where she lived, every few blocks on Amsterdam Avenue, there was a little shack set up surrounded by fir trees. Cabins in the woods in the middle of New York. Now I know where New Yorkers get their Christmas trees. Lights were strung around them, as if an elf or Santa had moved in for a few weeks. And then one day, these small habitats were gone.

Inhabitants had surely headed back to the North Pole to start getting ready for next year!

snow

Ashland, Oregon. 2008. After three days of creating art in Denise Kester's studio, we were ready to head home clutching our monoprints, colorful paste paper and hand made books.

Looking up from our work on the last day, we saw something that no one had anticipated. Snow was coming down in huge heavy flakes, transforming this Oregon town. Driving was slippery if you weren't already stuck, having swerved off the road. I barely made it to the Medford airport the next day for my flight home to Boston.

The memory of slapping colors on paper, sewing bindings and writing up a storm with my sister Ruth in a studio I still dream of, is one of my favorite winter memories.

At it's best, the Christmas season is a time when people drop everything and make something. Cooking, making cards, decorating the tree and even shopping for presents takes creativity! Enjoy it all.

the rest of the story

Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. The three kings didn't actually make it to Bethlehem until early January. Three kings day is celebrated in Italy on January 6th which is the official end of the Christmas season. Around here, most of us are done with Christmas at the end of the day! Check out the king's robes. Nice detail.

creche

There were shepherds abiding in the fields,

keeping watch over their flocks by night.

St Francis is credited with establishing the "creche"; a tableau of figures meant to teach people the story of the Nativity.

When I was young, my mother set up our creche in the living room near the Christmas tree. Each year, I reach for the same tattered cardboard box that she once reached for and carefully unwrap each figure and set it on a table near our tree. Some of the figures are chipped, a camel has lost a leg along the way and the sheep don't match, having been bought at a later time. These figures have traveled along with me all these years. They hold a lot of history.

At Church we have no symbols in the sanctuary. No cross, no art work, not even candles. The clear windows let in natural light and we sit in what once doubled as a meeting house and a sanctuary. I love the simple feeling of it and like to think that all who come can feel welcome here, no matter what their faith.

Until Christmas. Then we go all out. These creche figures are from Oaxaca, Mexico. They are set on the back window sill and each week of December, they are passed forward to a sill closer to the front of the church. On Christmas Eve, they will have reached the altar, having completed the seventy mile journey to that little stable in Bethlehem. The church will be lit with candles.

Versions of the Christmas tableau exist though out the world. Mexican artists carved these figures, I have seen clay figures made by Indians in the American Southwest, carved figures from Africa, and olive wood figures from Italy. In front of most Catholic churches today, a tableau is set up.

Once in early December, as we drove by a church with a creche out front, we noticed that one figure was missing. "I can't believe someone would steal the baby Jesus!" one of us said. Then we realized. Oh, he hasn't been born yet!

Beyond Borders

In my previous post for December 10, I wrote about The Matenwa Community Learning Center on the island of La Gonave in Haiti.

I didn't mean for this to be a fund raising plea and it is not. But one of my readers asked how she could donate, so here is the information if you are interested.

With all the commercialism at this time of year, it is so grounding to put your money where it can really make a difference. Many are looking for places to make year end contributions and I can't recommend Matenwa Community Learning Center more highly. I have kept track of this school for years. I know the founder, Chris Low.

At Matenwa Community Learning Center the need is great and ninety percent of donations go straight to the school budget. That money is used for teacher salaries, food, the garden and materials for teaching. There is very little overhead and no glossy brochures and bulk mailings. This is a tiny enterprise with a lot of support here in the Boston area. That's why I like being involved. There is complete transparency.

The fiscal agent for MCLC is Beyond Borders. It is a responsible organization. My church, First Parish in Lincoln, sends an annual donation to pay one teacher's yearly salary. You will receive a thank you letter and statement for your taxes.

To donate, go to this web site or simply send a check to

Beyond Borders/ MCLC

Box 2132

Norristown, PA

19404

Make check payable to Beyond Borders/MCLC

first book

There is a little light shining in the troubled country of Haiti.

If you look at a map of the island, on the Haitian side, it looks like

a giant alligator about to gobble up a fish. That "fish" is La Gonave, an

island off of Port o Prince.

Fifteen years ago a school was founded there with the progressive

tenants that we take for granted here in the United States.

At the Matenwa Community Learning Center, children are taught in their mother tongue (creole) instead of french which is the language of the government, not spoken by most Haitians. They are taught french as well.

There is no corporal punishment (common in Haitian schools)

and children are encouraged to have opinions, speak up, and engage in

interactive learning. These methods that we take for granted

are radical in Haitian schools. MCLC has soldiered on and flourished

against all odds for fifteen years.

Meanwhile the need is great. Children eat one meal a day.

One meal a day.

Women and children walk down the mountain to gather water and carry it

back up a steep hill in jugs on their heads.

So back to the school. Lacking paper, children write with chalk on small

blackboards. There were no books until recently.

Through partnerships with Boston area schools, books are

written and illustrated by kids here, translated into creole,

and sent to the children at Matenwa; most of whom have

never seen a book before. These are the mother tongue books.

You will hear more about this project on this forum. I am on a

committee whose goal it is to encourage local schools to support MCLC in

a variety of ways. This relationship between schools already exists in some cases but more schools in the Boston area are interested in developing a partnership with Matenwa. We hope to help them do that. Teaching children here about life and culture in Haiti is good for them and has the potential to open minds and raise money to help the children there.

Look at the faces on the kids who are holding a book for the first time!

If you know me at all, you know why I am so excited about this!

december 9

december 8

In folklore there are many stories about the competition between the sun and the moon. They share the same sky and sometimes get jealous of one another. At this time of year, the sun is weak, barely able to warm me up on a walk. The moon is in her element with long black nights to shine. With the cold comes clarity of moon and stars. The days shorten. The moon reigns.

For now.

against all odds

One of the nice things about the Gale River Trail in the White Mountains of New Hampshire is that it runs along a river for quite a long time. As the trail steepens, the sound of the river flowing past provides great company as my heart starts to pound and I stop more often to catch my breath.

There are also nice places along the river's rocky shore to get off the trail to rest, eat a Snickers bar (yes, my reward for hard work), swig water and take in the surroundings. This is where I found this intrepid little seedling. I thought at the time that this photo might make a nice Christmas card. I offer it here for the seventh day of Advent as a reminder of the lessons we can learn by observing the natural world.

I'll leave it up to you to deduce what they are.

Happy Tuesday!

Angel

How quickly we can find wings.

Throw yourself into something. Whole heartedly.

Yes, the cold may creep in at the neck where snow has

found its way under your collar. Yes, your mittens are

soaked now and wrists chapped.

Did you ever make a snow angel?

You had to be really careful as you got up not to

ruin the image. (You don't want to step

on the stomach of an angel!)

But look what you have created! I was always kind of surprised to

see that I had made an with image wings.

As humans we are all straight lines, walking on

stilty legs, reaching out with stick arms.

But we can fly.

Find freedom where you can.

Knowing full well it may have it's underbelly

of challenge, discomfort and chill.

It's worth it.

December 5

First Snow!

But not here.

Yet.

december 4

The rapt attention of my grandmother Ruth, my sister Ruth, my brother Don and their squeezed in friend on the far left is enough to make me want to drop everything and get lost in a story.

Dare to dream as the days grow shorter.

december 3

A package arrived in the mail today that I did not order on line. Taking a closer look, I saw that it was a Christmas present mailed to us by a relative. The season is upon us! I put it in the living room near where our tree will be. Advent is all about waiting.

I am especially excited about Christmas cards. They come in paper envelopes with stamps on them delivered to your door by a person who works for the postal service. There's a written message inside and sometimes there is even a photograph. It's like a blog but you can actually hold it in your hand. Now that is progress. What will they think of next?

December 2

What do you love to eat? What is your favorite meal or snack or secret purchase on the road?

I love a meal that someone else has made for me.

Carrie and Eliza know how to handle eggs. They each have their own style but a breakfast made for me by one of them always includes fresh eggs from a neighbor's hen house fried in a cast iron skillet. To that pure start, add avocado, grated cheddar cheese and black beans. Then they toast bread or a tortilla, add salt and pepper, and put a dollop of salsa on the side. Have I left out anything? This colorful array is served to me steaming hot as I sip my tea not having lifted a finger. Delish.

How about you?

December 1

Good morning everyone. It's going to be a rainy day here in Massachusetts. Where ever you are, take some time to make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and settle down with a book or magazine or sketch pad. This month treat yourself to a peaceful moment every day. You can make some time for yourself, I know you can.

I took the above photo at the Sugar Nymphs Bistro in Penasco, New Mexico. My writing class traveled the windy mountain road to get there. We wrote for two hours while eating amazing carrot cake and sipping tea. It is a bistro in the middle of nowhere it seemed, with a full theater attached! Life is full of surprises if you slow down enough to notice them.

Have a great day.