Seven Years

Seven years is a darn good thing when it's spent with your best friend.

Going Gawking

One of Kevin's family traditions is to go on drives to look at the lights on people's homes at Christmas. This turns into the quest for trees that have been done up really well (each branch illuminated with light, as opposed to the sloppy wrap-around). But it also leads us to find the odd and amusing lighted outdoor decor that people will put in front of their homes. So over time, a bizarre decoration has become just as good to see as a professional-looking light job.

One Christmas Eve, we split the family up in two cars equipped with walkie-talkies to communicate between vehicles. We had a great time joking back and forth, and occasionally poking fun at the decorations we saw, until the fire department came on our walkie-talkies, asking us if everything was OK, and we realized they had heard our conversations. Oh, the embarrassment.

To build on that, I thought I'd share some treasured Christmas light "gawking" fun. In less than 30 minutes of driving, we found the following beauties:

"No, Frosty! Don't do it!" Nothing like a glam, gleaming Frosty right on the edge.

I still don't get these huge blow-up lawn decorations. This one is a Christmas tree with a sled stuck in it on the right and a Santa hanging off it on the left. It's amazing how many people put up sorry-looking "hang 'em high" Santas in different forms (hanging from poles, banners, places of business), but the sight of this deflated Santa cracked me up.

I don't know how to explain this house, as its mysteries are many and astounding. This house is one of the best.

On the right, we have in a basement window a glowing floating Santa head, beaming out with a detailed mouth. Above in the window there's something that looks like it may once have been a Tweety Bird, but the lights have faded and it's indistinguishable. I think it looks like an alien or a fetus.

One the left we have these smiley faces on sticks, with a big light shining on them for all to see. All I want to know is why.

One million lights

Or almost.

Heifer Holidays

Lately I've been bugging Kevin about checking out the zoning laws to see if we can have chickens. They're totally sustainable, eating garbage and making eggs, which I love (eggs, not garbage). Besides, I just like having pets.

While I realize that having chickens is not realistic anytime soon, I found something better in Heifer.org. For a couple of years I've been getting their catalogues of gifts that buy livestock for developing communities. The beneficiaries of your gift give offspring of their livestock to another community member, so it's a gift that keeps on giving. And the chicks are so cute.

Perhaps some of your friends and family may not be thrilled to receive a charitable donation as a gift, but I am sure others would be. Six geese a-laying cost $20, and could provide 450 eggs a year to a poor family.

It's better than feeding the Walmart beast, is it not?

Mr. Krueger's Christmas

I make sure to watch Mr. Krueger's Christmas every year. It's the last film Jimmy Stewart made, and it even stars the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

What a special man Willy Krueger is, going about his custodial duties, never complaining. He refuses to let his loneliness get to him, and burns with Christmas spirit and imagination. And he's a cat person to boot! The scene where he imagines he's at the manger has one of the most honest and open prayers I have heard.

Joshua Tree in SLC

Ever driven across the desert on I-15 between the Arizona canyon and Las Vegas? Have you seen the Joshua trees? I guess they're all over the Southwest and even in Northern California, but they're certainly scarce here. While they grow in St. George, they don't even make it up to Cedar City's frigid altitudes. But we have one here in the SLC.

I disovered this Joshua tree a couple years ago on a lunchtime walk, but it took me this long to get a picture. It's not a great picture taken in the dark, and the xeriscape looks so strange contrasted with the Temple Square trees behind it (side note: horses!). I've adopted this tree as a fish out of water. Do you know of any others on the Wasatch Front?

The Road Not Taken: My Alternate Reading

I realize that I posted on this just last April, but a friend reminded me of it, and I started thinking more about the questions I had then on this poem.

I am not convinced that this poem is about the merits of pursuing the alternate path, but instead is about questioning the decision to travel the unworn path. At the end of the poem, the narrator sighs and thinks about that other road that he always had intended to go back and take, but life got away from him before he was able to travel back.

May I indulge in an alternate reading? Even though the title usually is understood as the road the narrator took, the more I think about Frost's title, "The Road Not Taken," the more I become convinced that the road not taken is the one the narrator did not take. Both paths were roads, which by definition must have some passage and travellers to keep their status (he wasn't bushwacking through the brush). And Frost never says that his road was the one not taken, but only "want[ing] wear," "grassy," and "less travelled by." That leads me to conclude that the title and focus of the poem is the other road, the road of conformity, which keeps its place as an absent presence through the poem.

What if this is the pensive meditation of the non-conformist on what could have been? What if it is the uncertainty that is granted about battles that were fought against the mainstream, and the questioning if that path was worth it in the end? The poem doesn't seem to answer these questions for me, but raise them.

As far as I can tell, this is quite a drastic change from the way this poem is touted by outsiders and minorities of all kinds. But now that I see it this way, I can't help myself in thinking that it is the artist that wonders what life would have been like if he'd been like everyone else instead. In the words of a Christmas carol, Do you see what I see? Does that ruin it, or add new meaning to you?

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Christmas songs that must go

I love Christmas music. I have a hard time restraining myself to listen only after Halloween (except I allow myself to listen to The Carpenter's Christmas album when it snows for the first time of the season).

But there are some songs that just bug me when they come on the store speakers or the radio. Now, if you don't feel that way, and if it's going to bug you to have me disparaging your favorite song, stop reading here.

Here is my list of Christmas songs that must go:

• "Christmas Shoes" (Newsong) - This song is the reason for this post. It's all about the narrator bragging what a good deed he did, and it's obvious for many reasons the "poor" kid was running a shoe money scam. Think about it: if you were poor and your mom was dying, would your first instinct be to go shopping?
  
• "Santa Baby" (Eartha Kitt) - Gross old lady singing nasty song with lots of innuendo to Santa. Enough said.
  
• "Feliz Navidad" (Jose Feliciano) - I hesitate to put this one on since it was first introduced to me by Sesame Street Christmas (the old one, with Mr. Hooper). But it's overplayed and a bad representation of multiculturalism.
  
• "Where are you, Christmas?" (Faith Hill) - Too much containment, not enough subversion.
  
• "12 Days of Christmas" - Some people say it's a catechism, but I don't care. It's too long, too repetitive.
  

Any I left off the list?

100 Days of Exercise

With health insurance costs rising, a lot of companies are trying to incentivize healthy behaviors. Our health insurer encourages fitness by paying everyone $60 who records at least 30 minutes of exercise for 100 days of the year. In June Kevin and I decided that we would go for it, and this week we finished our 100 days, which is a 55% exercise rate. Not that it was hard to exercise (I end up walking at lunch for a half hour most days), but my problem is that I couldn't remember to write it down and lost my chance to record a lot of days with my forgetfulness. But we did it, and now we each get $60.

What do I plan to do with mine? I plan on going out to eat!

Clouds on Mt. Olympus

I love watching how the clouds will change Mt. Olympus and Twin Peaks. They will filter, reflect, and hide light on the mountains and bring snow or rain to change the entire color palate. What a cool canvas.

On a related note, when I drove to work this morning on the I-15 corridor, I looked straight ahead but I could not see one inch of downtown. There was just one dark curtain of a cloud that they freeway went through, with a rainbow right in front. Rainbows in Utah in December are certainly a rare sight.

Outdoor Lights

This year we cut down our juniper tree on the left side of our house, which is good for all reasons except that we can't put Christmas lights on it anymore. Sure, I love junipers in the desert. In fact, I'm all about changing Utah's state tree to the juniper (our state tree is the Colorado blue spruce--yes, it has another state's name in it, although we usually leave that part out). But despite my love for the juniper, I'd like them to stay in the desert and out of my yard.

I think Kevin did a great job with the lights, especially on the gnarly hibernating trumpet vine. We're experimenting with the blue LEDs this year. Also note those very clipped rose bushes along the driveway.

Christmas Tree Tour

My favorite decoration for Christmas is our Christmas tree. We bought this one seven years ago, and it's getting a little fragile, but still good enough. We aren't purists, but for some reason have always loved the way the white lights look in our home. These are snow lights, where every other one is a frosted white light.

When Kevin and I go on trips, instead of buying souvenirs, we buy Christmas tree ornaments. These keeps our house from being cluttered with foreign kitsch during the rest of the year, and it makes decorating the tree ultra fun as we can remember the places we've been together.

Here are a few highlights:

This is from the old cat shop in Seaport Village in San Diego. It's a ball with three very fat cats on it in Santa hats. Hmmm... remind you of any kitties you know?

This jester is from Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. There's something that feels so Christmasy about England, and Shakespeare did write Twelfth Night to be performed on January 6th, the 12th day of Christmas in King James' court, so why not have a court player from Shakespeare's home on my tree?

This one is extra special. This Navajo story teller was bought in Pipe Springs, Arizona for me by Kevin's Grandpa who isn't with us anymore. However, it's just one of the many things that reminds me of him and his ever-giving ways.

These two aren't from trips, but they are two of my favorites. The one on the left is from 2006, and the two little cardinals are in their new home. Kevin and I bought this to commemorate buying our home that year. The one on the right really spins. I got it when I was a girl because I had a hamster that would climb up and down stairs and I'd make up super-hero stories about her. I just can't believe they thought to make a hamster wheel ornament.

This last one is from our honeymoon in Mexico. It's a teacup turned on its side with a little nativity inside. I still keep it wrapped in the newspaper the shop owner wrapped it in. I don't think it's even supposed to be an ornament, but since we got married at Christmas time, it will always remind me of our first Christmas together.

List of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all. The family, the food, the non-commercialization, these all add up to what makes this the best week of the year.

My list of thanksgiving, in no particular order:

Art, freedom of expression, and authenticity
Good books, great authors
Food in abundance
Being a woman after the feminist movement blazed the way for my freedom
Music, singing Handel's Messiah, family singing
Heat, energy, and light in this great vacuum of space
Jobs, employment, health insurance, good work
Health, strength, exercise
Home with Kevin, music, garden, and kitties
Education, learning, teachers and mentors who made a positive difference
Generosity of friends, family, and strangers
Quality time
Conversation
Diversion, leisure, browsing, relaxation, vacation
Soft answers, patience, forgiveness
Global community, exchange of information, travel, many cultures and human richness
Wilderness, primitive places, isolation
Civilization, political stability, engineering, medicine, warm sanitized water
Humor
Creation, songs, painting, improving the world
Sacrifice
Beauty, nature, flowers, mountains, deserts, sky
Mercy
Questions, processes, opportunities
Family, tribe, heritage, roots and connections
Good night's sleep
Love

I hope that you will be blessed with thankfulness, happiness, and companionship this holiday!

These Roses Know What They're Doing

This week I am aspiring to be what I've been wanting to be: a woman of leisure. I took off work and it feels wonderful! I spent the morning in the warm sunshine seriously cutting back my roses for the winter.

As I knelt down with each of my 16 rose bushes today, I couldn't help feel a little apprehensive with all this cutting away. It was a tangly, thorny job. Thank goodness the garbage man came in the middle of my pruning because I filled the garbage can twice. I almost didn't get the first full garbage can to the curb while the truck rumbled down my street, but had to go running down my 80-foot driveway with an awkwardly full can crying, "Wait! I have garbage!"

I'm told that roses love nothing more than to be cut back, that essentially my hacking away at them down to the wood today will make them blossom even more come June. Taking a break myself this week, I couldn't agree with them more.

Methodical Miscellany: Women Doing More

When I start feeling grateful, I start wishing there was more I could do to help people who are really in need. A great new blog (new to me, at least), Women Doing More is a place that gives daily ways we can become more involved in filling these needs. How awesome.

I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world

Today I am thankful for beautiful music, warm days, and loving friends. I've been thinking of this primary children's song lately, and I think its message is beautiful and simple with the merging of nature, the senses, and God's love. I should have sung this more when I was the primary chorister last year. I think if I could give one message to children that they could internalize, this would be it.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by a lilac tree,
I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, mind, my heart;
I thank Him rev’rently
For all his creations, of which I’m a part.
Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

"My Heavenly Father Loves Me," The Children’s Songbook, p. 228

Here's lookin' at you, kitties

Here are two crazy autumn cats caught doing what they always do: Aja is perched on something that's a wee bit too small for her so that she will be noticed. And Phoebe? She likes it when she can see, but not be seen (always suspicious). Any proximity to Aja is a bonus. This picture cracks me up.

We are the ones for whom we have been waiting

"We are the ones for whom we have been waiting."

-Hopi Elders

What do you think of this idea? Are we the ones who have come to rescue ourselves? Are we enough? Is the idea that we may have to rescue ourselves from ourselves a frightful or comforting idea?

An ice-axe to break the sea frozen inside us

If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it? [...] What we must have are those books which come upon us like ill-fortune, and distress us deeply, like the death of one we love better than ourselves, like suicide. A book must be an ice-axe to break the sea frozen inside us.

-Franz Kafka, as quoted in The Promise by Chaim Potok

This is not a post about the books we read for fun, for guilt, for pleasure. This is about the novels that shape us, sometimes in painful ways.

What are the novels that have torn you up, that have cracked the ice within you? The first fiction I remember that was really meaningful was A Wrinkle in Time. It changed my perspective on many things. As you think of your own soul-shattering novels, here are a few of mine. I had long explanations on each of these, but I've decided that these books are just too personal to explain in a few sentences and share with the world. So you get the revised high-level list:

• A Wrinkle in Time

• To Kill a Mockingbird

• Beloved

• Heart of Darkness

• My Name is Asher Lev

As I look over this list, I realize that all of these books were read between the ages of 12-18. It's a transformative time. Yes, as I was earning two literature degrees in college I encountered many far-reaching novels that I assume have shattering potential equal or greater to the ones I've listed (The Color Purple and Jude the Obscure come to mind). Yet in some ways these were variations on the themes of the previous books. The foundation had been laid, torn down, modified, rejected, and remodeled through each of these reads. Now with that, I could build a palace with other uncomfortable, strange, new, and sometimes disturbing reads.

What about you? What novels/fiction did you read that shattered your universe and molded you into who you are?

The Leaves are Falling

The leaves aren't just turning anymore: they're falling. Unfortunately for my cats, that means all their outdoor hiding spots will be revealed. Some people say that fall is a spring where every leaf is a flower. I really enjoy the colors, and I'm sad to see them go.

One saving grace is November has pretty clear, beautiful skies.