Isabella Bird Miscellany

Santa...frazzled and frizzed   I love this little frayed and frazzled Santa.  He perfectly depicts how we are feeling right about now, on this Christmas Eve, Eve, Eve.  (Remember Thanksgiving Eve, Eve?)  The 12 days of Christmas are ticking off and like the White Rabbit, we are late, late for a very important date; all is definitely not calm. My list of “to-be-done” is getting checked off, my shopping is finished and things are wrapped, but oh, what about…and then I add another note to self, while I hear the words “…all is calm, all is bright…” playing in the background.  Ah, dude, burl, whatever you want to say, being calm now needs to be added to the to-dos! Here’s an idea; could it be that the only thing we really need to accomplish is being calm?  We have recently taken to the idea of “peaceful stress.”  There are many things scrambling for our attention – the stress; but how we acknowledge the clamoring – that’s the peaceful.  Th...

Hey, look at me!  Pay attention, see me!  That’s really what the little word, “italics” is saying.  We use it for emphasis, to highlight an idea, thought or title – like a book’s name. What would our lives look like if we lived them in an italicized form?  What type of show-stopping headliners would our souls present on the marquee of life’s theater? For some the story would be a very sad tragedy that brings others to tears, but requires no action – just sobs.  Other sagas would resemble Barnum and Bailey’s Circus or an episode of the Three Stooges.  People would be belly laughing, but that is the extent of the impact.   i.tal.ics Contemplate the narrative of ordinary times; living, laughing, caring, being touched by the good, the not so good and the just plain ugly.  This book of being has it all – adventure, romance and tragedy.  What is the difference with this biography?  It includes action and response.  Ad...

Collection of Vintage Ornaments Oh, noblest of trees you sit as yet unadorned, save the pretty faceted white lights  nestled in your branches My confession:  our tree has been up for a couple of days, but only has lights … and just got moved from one spot to another.  I was having a hard time deciding where it should reside for the next few weeks.  With that task settled, the little Noble desperately needs ornaments hanging from its bushy, fragrantly green branches. Down in the basement, Christmas tubs have been opened and pawed through for the pre-tree decorating, you know angels, Santas and my Grandma’s nativity set.  However, the ornament boxes were yet untouched, until this morning. As I opened each box I thought about my collection of ornaments, the story behind each; where they came from and when, as well as where they are placed in the tree.  On our first Christmas together, Lonny and I received a little glass bird.  This tiny...

Since it is now officially December – Christmas month – I can begin to think all things Christmas! Yesterday, was Boxing Day of a different nature, meaning the packing up of the brown, ginger and golden fall décor; including dumping the uncarved pumpkins into the yard debris bin for composting.  Christmas music now plays in my house, except when I need a little Joss Stone, John Mayer or even Led Zeppelin to clear my muddled thinking. Our house isn’t decked and adorned…yet, but my heart is ready to celebrate the Advent Season…watching and waiting for the arrival. Man vs Tree While watching, I’m seeing snippets to tuck away.  A just right instance happened Sunday evening while taking Isabella for a walk.  It was almost dark and there was sea must in the air. Heading down the sidewalk we saw a family walking in front of us; nothing terribly unusual about that, except that they had an enormous, bushy Christmas tree tied to a Red Flyer Wagon.  We chatted ...

Thankful for this man Just in case you didn’t know, today is Thanksgiving Eve-Eve.  Now you’re thinking, what?  Here’s how it is:  Thanksgiving is Thursday, so Wednesday would be Thanksgiving Eve and since this is Tuesday, it’s Eve-Eve.  Confused yet? Since it is Eve-Eve most of us have our minds and selves working overtime in preparation for the gathering feast.  A trip to the market, and then another  to pick up more eggs…baking pies, cutting up sourdough for stuffing, cleaning the house, or at least running the vacuum…oh yeah, wrapping early presents that you want to send home with people to avoid shipping or trying to pack into your Mini Coop.  Frantic mania!  Maybe I’m only describing my life, but I have no doubt your story sounds just like mine – it’s called life. I climbed out of bed around 5:30am – again.  (Side note:  I don’t get up at that time of day, ever!)  My coffee and devo time was quiet and peaceful, bu...

Where the red leaf fell I’ve been at the computer all day.  My mind is now working on thinking-overload; then you add the fact that Thanksgiving is next week and, well, burl, dude! Right smack in the crush of to-do’s, I needed to write for my class.  It was one of those, “I have no inspiring, muse-filled thoughts.”  Not a good thing for a writer.  As I rummaged through different concepts in my overloaded mind, I started imagining what Thanksgiving Day was going to be like this year.  The kids and grandkids are coming.  They now became my muse…thankful. mindful noise thanksgiving snapshot hand-print turkeys on the wall browning, curly leaves strewn across the floor half-empty glasses of milk, lots of sticky cookie crumbles... and noise bedecked parade floats and high-flying comic book characters slip along, a Macy's tradition spirited, uniformed teams take the field, coins tossed, whistles blown, touchdowns made... more noise...

Thanksgiving prep: The bird