Life as it unfolds with all its surprises….
Am collecting discarded handiwork found at the ‘Emporium’. Given the fact that I can not imagine the patience one musters to start and then bring to completion such works, I’m more than pleased to rescue these discarded pieces. [More harmless than needy-cute-cats from the Pound which I resist at every turn.] This is the latest. Bessie, on the left, did not make it to fruition.
Have always appreciated the concept of 2020 hindsight. This New Year 2021 is a time to look back with 2020 hindsight; to evaluate what can be learned from these past 12 months. For me. it reinforces the ‘power of now’. A year ago I was on a wonderful, first-time-in-years-holiday. It was a first time solo vacation with one of my children. [Had achieved that already with one; this was for the next-in-line.] The time spent together, in Spain, was everything one could wish it to be. To the delight of us both, rented a ‘fast-car’. We shared delicious seasonal meals, met long-ago-friends. Took in the sights, sounds and with no effort seemed to suck up every experience. There was no way to know that just a month later, in 2020 it would be ‘boats on-the-wall’. No travel, no food experiences, no intermingling. I recall, when the plan came forward in September 2019, thinking, book that plane ticket NOW. Such a good remembrance that we NEVER know what the next day will bring. Do that ‘thing/that-gut-feeling/ that impulse’. You might not get the chance again. This is applicable in telling your loved ones how you honor them, or letting someone you have been ‘thinking’ about, hear from you. Each of us only has NOW. In 2021 we can have a Happy New Year if we live in the NOW!
It is Dutch tradition to have a free day from work directly following Christmas Day.
A bit of history: “The Christmas celebration traditionally lasted for 12 days from December 25 (Christmas Day) until January 6 (Epiphany, the three wise men’s visit to Jesus, according to the Christian bible.) The 12-day feast reflected the winter festivals in Europe during pre-Christian times. The December 26 holiday is now all that remains of the long feast. In the church calendar, December 26 is Saint Stephen’s Day. Saint Stephen lived around the same time as Jesus. He was responsible for distributing aid and support to widows within the church community and was renowned for his preaching skills. He was tried for blasphemy and stoned to death.”
This having been said, the English ‘Boxing Day”* for the second Christmas Day, seems a better explanation. After spending a day with family, eating and drinking and the inevitable inebriated discussions that will ensue, it is probable they will disintegrate into a boxing match?
*For those of you wanting the facts: Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants when they received a special Christmas box from their masters. The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give Christmas boxes to their families.
Shamelessly lifted from a list of jokes yesterday. Please keep in mind that nothing has changed in a year. Yes, a year, because clearly Corona was among us last December, it just had not yet been globally identified. The trite ‘if you are reading this…’ means you are alive. Keep it that way; good choices made so far. If you are feeling cut off from family or friends there are a couple of things to remember. One: this too shall pass. Two: the only constant is that nothing is constant. Three: the world conquered small-pox, polio, mumps, whopping cough – the short list- this C-19 can be conquered as well, if we all do our part in looking out for each other. So Merry ChistmasK one and all.
I’m back… and glad to be so…. Can’t quite explain what caused the break in reporting about life as experienced, but it ended with the LOL – [which stands for little ole lady.].. taking a right turn, right off the page.. Christmas is now one day away; lock down is in force; travel is not an option; friends are those nearest in proximity while family is stuck in various cities. Life is continues to be an adventure. Back to the drawing board.
* littleolelady…outamyway
*marius van dokkum/turbo2018
The world knows that the original tulips grew wild on hillsides in Turkey. The Dutch gathered these bulbs, reworked them in a myriad of ways to the product we see today. To my delight, there are now bulbs that revert back to the original idea. These pictures are of bulbs not more than 6 inches in height. The red stripe you see on the close up is the tulip left in the group photo.
In the playground at the Beach
During the day and at night, the wind has been blowing. Moored in front of my house, vertical to the shore/wall is a row of sail boats. Their sails are lowered and trussed leaving only the rigging/lines taut on the masts. Whether in the house, or biking, the sound made by the wind blowing over these taut ropes is loud. A moaning sound. A call out. An other worldly sound. Part stringed instrument, part wind-in-the-willow, part comforting, part eerie.