It's standing room only at the manger today, the three wise men are on their way, and I am basking in the glow of Christmas aftermath. We visited, we played games, we ate and drank merrily, we re-connected with friends, family and neighbours (I still have more phone calls to make today); it really was a wonderful holiday.
Remember this old fashioned candy? When I was a kid I could always count on finding some in my stocking. I especially loved the ribbon candy and was delighted when I discovered some at a corner store up here.
Typically on this night I go for a walk in the woods with a candle-lit lantern. But it's really gusty here tonight, so that was out. For the same reason, Plan B was also out...dusting off the advent garden and decorating it with candles - one for each person who's close to me who's passed on. Enter Plan C: light the candles in a darkened livingroom instead.
Not sure if this attracted any spirits: if it did, there must have been quite a crowd in the house tonight.
1) dough heart: made the year the four of us (Jamie wasn't born yet; Alan was 3 and Iris 18 months) lived in Toronto while Joe worked on his Masters. Money was tight, so we made most of the ornaments. This is one of the few that survived.
| Yesterday's posting has me thinking more about memory, and what a wonderful thing it is. Just think what our lives would be like without our memories. We'd only get to enjoy things once, and never have a chance to re-live them again. I'm reminded of a book that Lucca gave my kids many years ago. It's called Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, and is about a boy who has lots of friends in an old folks home. One of his closest friends is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper. Miss Nancy has lost her memory, and Wilfrid is determined to discover what memories are so he can get her's back for her. He asks all kinds of people to explain the meaning of memories. His father said it's something you remember. Mrs. Jordan who played the organ said it's something warm. Mr. Hosking who told scary stories said it's something from long ago. Mr. Tippett who was crazy about cricket said it's something that makes you cry. Miss Mitchell who walks with a wooden stick said it's something that makes you laugh. And Mr. Drysdale who had a voice like a giant said it's something as precious as gold. Based on all this, Wilfrid gathered together a box of things and brought them to Miss Nancy. At first she thought this collection was rather odd. But then she began to remember. She held a warm egg and told Wilfrid about the tiny speckled blue egg she had once found in a bird's nest in her aunt's garden. She put a shell to her ear and remembered going to the beach by tram long ago and how hot she had felt in her button-up boots. She touched Wilfrid's grandfather's war medal and talked sadly of her big brother who had gone off to war and never returned. She smiled at a puppet on strings and remembered the one she had shown to her sister, and how she had laughed with a mouth full of porridge. She bounced a football to Wilfrid and remembered the day she had met him, and all the secrets they had shared. And the two of them smiled and smiled because Miss Nancy's memory had been found again. |
I don't remember how long it was after I moved to Toronto to attend school that I made my first trip to Kensington Market. What I do remember was how blown away I was by it all...the colours, the smells, the strange (to me) food, and the fact that you could find so many different cultures in such a small area.
My bus this morning was all decked out for Christmas. I suspect it's the bus they will use for the city's annual Christmas Lights tour. Hank Karr, who is a musician/songwriter when he's not driving bus, devotes an evening to taking folks all around town to see the light displays. It's a ritual that I don't think many people partake in any more. When I was a kid, that annual drive with my parents was like magic. Today, it fails to impress most youngsters.
In fact, it's pretty darned hard to impress these days. Kids have so much that it's almost impossible to find something that will register on the 'special' scale with them. For example, when Iris and I were in Argentina earlier this year, I purchased what I thought was a lovely Noah's Ark, hand made by a woman who was struggling to make ends meet. I appreciated the care she put into her work, and thought my nieces would like it. However their reaction when I gave it to them was ho-hum, and two minutes later I had to rescue it from the floor where it had been left for someone to bump into and break.
This Christmas I've sent these same nieces a whole manger scene, all hand made. But I doubt they'll appreciate that either. I really am at a loss as to what to give them that will have any meaning for them. It's sad really. I don't blame the kids so much as I blame our society. Somehow, the Western world's excess, instead of enriching our lives, has led to poverty...poverty of spirit, of simple pleasures, and of special moments and memories.
Hmmm, aren't I the cynical one this morning!
This is by the same author as 'The Story of the Root Children', which is a children's classic. In this story, Poppy (the little girl) is looking out her window when she sees that the falling snowflakes are actually little Snow Children. They take her away to the Snow Queen's wintry kingdom for an adventure.
This is the companion to 'The Tomten' - a book that all my kids loved. The tomten lives on a farm and helps all the animals and people there. In 'The Tomten and the Fox', the Tomten saves the chickens from Reynard the Fox and offers his own porridge to feed the hungry fox, keeping everyone happy.
And finally, this one, that reminds us that for everything there is a season. It tells the story of what happens one year when Winter won't wake up. The tired trees need to rest. Their fallen leaves have made a blanket for the sleeping seeds. All the woodland animals try to tell Winter their work is done and it's his turn. They try every kind of persuasion, but Winter won't wake up. Finally a ladybug whispers something gently in his ear, and that does the trick.
If you are interested in any of these books, they can be purchased here.
Now it's your turn. What are your favourite children's books?
(Above) The nature table is set up: the manger seen in the corner. (Below) The candles are ready to set in the garden, King Winter and his reindeer have appeared at the window, the cookies are made, the table is set, and the beeswax candles are made (each person is to receive one as they leave).
It's my turn to host the annual Advent Garden celebration, which takes place next Sunday night. So I spent a few hours today setting up the double spiral. Next Sunday, after dark, dozens of candles will be lit along the entire route in and out of the spiral's centre.
It was dinner for one tonight. Joe and Jamie went to a friend's birthday party, but I begged off, wanting to spend some time just relaxing at home. Because it was just me, I got to make something that isn't a big hit with anyone else in our house...squash soup. This particular version of the recipe, with apples, yoghurt, onions, spices, etc., is especially tasty. I'll freeze the leftovers to take to work for lunches.
| We might be entering the darkest days of the year, but that isn't stopping me from getting out and about. On Thursday night, a neighbour and I went to see Margie Gillis. She was simply amazing - I've never seen anyone dance like that before. Her piece, A Stone's Poem, was in part inspired by time spent in Whitehorse last year. It made my heart sing to see that both Margie, and Holly Bright who performed the opening piece, The Hem of My Northern Coastal Cloud, are both 50 or older. Younger women might have more flexibility, but I would bet that there are few young dancers who could come close to having the depth that Gillis has. Last night, it was back to the Arts Centre to see Ian Parker. Joe and I sat in the balcony, so we had a wonderful view of Parker's hands - so relaxed and expressive. I particularly enjoyed his rendition of Alexina Louie's "Memories in an Ancient Garden". And I was pleasantly surprised to hear him play Beethoven's Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, better known as the Moonlight Sonata. It's such a well known piece that it's unusual to hear it played at a formal concert. He performed it well...not overdone as can sometimes be the case with this sonata. Tonight I'm off to hear J. B. MacKinnon, co-author of The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating. His story is by now a familiar one. After discovering that the food eaten by most North Americans travels an average of 1,500 gas-guzzling miles from farm to grocery store, he and his partner Alisa Smith decided to spend a year eating only food grown within a 100-mile radius of their downtown Vancouver apartment. It's an interesting book, especially the part where they make their own salt! I continue my own search for local food. My meal tonight, a potato and chick-pea curry with chicken, is far from local. Sadly, only the potatoes are from the Yukon. But I have big plans to change that come this summer...stay tuned! |
| Prompted by my post of two days ago (Unhappy Meal), I decided to conduct an experiment. I would go to every grocery store in the city to find out just how much local food was available for purchase. Over the last 24 hours, I have visited six grocery stores, one health food store, one corner grocer, one specialty shop and one shop aimed at tourists. The results were downright depressing. Some stores, including the health food store (to my surprize), didn't have one item produced or grown in the Yukon. A couple of the stores had Yukon grown potatoes. I found local tea, honey, jams and birch syrup (although the jams and syrup were made with sugar, so I don't consider that a local item). The little corner store scored the highest. The manager said whenever they can they get in local produce. Unfortunately, yesterday the only thing they had were potatoes and some Taku River salmon. Next I placed some calls to some of the farms I knew of. The answer was pretty much the same...they had nothing for sale at this time of year, but come see them in the spring and summer. So....if I wanted to eat locally this winter, here are my options: 1. caribou, fish, and a bit of last year's moose from our freezer 2. rhubarb from our garden, and wild cranberries, blueberries and cloudberries 3. eggs from a co-worker 4. potatoes 5. basil, mint and parsley from our garden 6. labrador tea 7. honey 8, the possibility of some goat milk and cheese from a farm not too far from our house No oil or butter, no wheat, no grains, no green vegetables (no vegetables at all apart from potatoes), no sugar, no salt, pepper or other spices, no legumes or rice, no pasta, and little if any dairy. Looking at the list, we could survive the winter on this in an emergency, but it certainly wouldn't be fun. And I definitely wouldn't get buy in from the boys in the house. So, the next question is: what is the next best option? The health food store is full of organic produce from the States and the other side of the globe, so that doesn't appeal to me. In the grocery stores, I can find root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, cabbage, onions, etc. from B.C. and Alberta, although I noticed that a lot of the produce just says "Product of Canada" - it doesn't say where in Canada. The bakery has an organic food club, and I believe they try their best to buy food that hasn't travelled for hundreds of kilometres. We used to be a member, but we found that with five of us, the weekly food basket just wasn't big enough. With three, it might be worth giving it another try...at least for the winter, until I can get my garden going again. Suggestions, anyone? |
| Today is All Souls' Day, or Day of the Dead. It comes from an ancient Pagan festival, which celebrated the belief that the dead would return on this day to have a meal with their still living family and friends. I'll mark the day by lighting candles and putting them in the window (to help guide the souls to my house), putting family photos on the altar in my quiet room, and setting out some extra food at dinnertime. Enough of my family has passed on recently that it should be quite a gathering at the dinner table. I hope they like left-over chicken stew, because that's what's on the menu. |
| Dad passed away last night. I am heading out the door to catch a flight to N.S. Lucca, I will call you on my brief stopover in Vancouver. |
Mom and Dad on their wedding day
Me and my dad
Off on a road trip
Haying time on the farm
A Hunter S. Thompson look-alike
