We made ornaments this week...for the birds.
Because they ate all our cherries this year?
Because they pecked holes in the eaves
and made attic nests?
Heh.
But then we went birding.
A day's adventure into the wet, into the wind,
unconnected
from my technical world,
no busy busy, no run arounds, no errand hopping,
just listening.
Squinting into far off brambles.
Surprisingly, I connected. With the herons in the tree.
With the brown-headed eagle, the sparrows, the finches.
Like the time we stumbled on a barn owl and we lingered there, watching,
till the sky turned shadowy.
Or the day we pulled over the car to observe scores of starlings bathe in muddy puddles.
Maybe it's just the act of stopping
in the midst of a life that whirls
-watching birds go about their day,
breathing in a piney forest,
feeling rain pelt and pummel -
Maybe that's what slows me down.
wakes me up.
brings me peace.
And peace is what we all need this time of year.
So we made gifts for the birds.
I never thought I'd buy lard.
Or thistle seeds, for that matter.
Who needs more thistles? Birds, I guess.
So we squished together birdseed "cookies,"
threaded cheerios onto pipe cleaners
and bent them into hearts.
Where did Birdy's cheerios go?
The big kids strung popcorn, nuts and apples into garlands.
I cut up felt and old jeans and t-shirts into bird-ish shapes
for ornaments and pins.
It was a good project for little sewists.
And then we gathered our bounty
and strung it up
in the climbing tree.
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
- and wild and sweet
- The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
- Had rolled along
- The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
- A voice, a chime,
- A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
- "For hate is strong,
- And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
- The Wrong shall fail,
- The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Peace to you, my friends...
peace that lifts,
peace with wings.
And some beauteous books to warm your winter!
The Birds of Bethlehem - Tomie dePaola
Night Tree - Eve Bunting, Ted Rand
The Candle in the Forest - compiled by Joe L. Wheeler
Uncle Vova's Tree - Patricia Polacco
The Trees of the Dancing Goats - Patricia Polacco
The Birds' Christmas Carol - Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Mitten - Barbara McClintock
The Mitten - Jan Brett
The Money We'll Save - Brock Cole
Owl Babies - Martin Waddell, Patrick Benson
Owl Moon - Jane Yolen, John Schoenherr
No Two Alike - Keith Baker
The fourth Sunday before Christmas marks the first Sunday of Advent. This year it is December 2. Advent is from the Latin adventus meaning coming. It’s not just the shopping days until Santa’s arrival, but a time of preparation observed by Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, and awaiting the return of Christ. In anticipation of the Nativity, children prepare Advent Wreaths, mark the days using an Advent Calendar, sing Christmas Carols, and decorate their homes. 
The symbol of Light representing Jesus is of particular significance and is found on our Christmas trees, in the lighted candles of the Advent Wreath, and on public display on houses, department stores, high rises, and tree lined streets.
The carols that tell the Christmas Story have special meaning and are well worth teaching our children. Singing the songs gives children another way to learn the meaning of Advent and Christmas. Singing also generates mirth and good cheer.
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the Catholic Liturgical Year. The Catholic Company has a list of Christmas children’s books, Amazon also carries a huge selection of Christmas and Advent themed children’s books.
Not to be missed is the Third Annual Crèche Festival of the Diocese of Oakland’s Cathedral of Christ the Light will take place December 14-16, 2012.
Originally posted 11/28/2010,updated 11/30/2011 and 12/5/2012 on SSPP Reads. Graphic courtesy of AHarden, Flickr Creative Commons License.
It has been a truly difficult time, and I've got to say, I was down and out for a while. Without going into too many details, I was laid off from a beloved job and have had a terrible time looking for work. I became very sick and for a couple weeks, I was barely able to do anything, much less get any writing done.
I'm still out of a job, but at least I'm back on my feet, and using the extra time to write and work on great projects.
I'm happy to announce that "Sing We Now of Christmas: An Advent Anthology" is coming very soon. I've ordered the proof copy of it and it just needs my final review. It will be coming out in paperback and Amazon Kindle formats.
You can get a better idea about what you'll find at the anthology's website:
adventanthology.wordpress.com
We will be having a promotion soon to get everything kicked off that has to do with "The 12 Days of Christmas". We're also hoping to do another book next year that will benefit autism. Please send any stories you'd like to have considered for that my way.
This week, another anothology came out of which I am a part. I have two stories that are modern parables that I think you'll like. Check out "Parables for Today":
http://amzn.com/1599559226
I'll going to try to be online more in the upcoming days. Thank you all for your friendship and support.
Hello everyone!
I know you’re all probably not thinking of Christmas yet (and if you are, you’re pretty good at not procrastinating), but here’s a little Christmas in May for you. We need a name for our Christmas anthology so that we can keep the ball rolling on getting it done in time for the season.
I have received many wonderful suggestions from a variety of sources, and I’m very thankful for every one of them. The following is a list that I have narrowed down to ten, and now I want to hear from you. My feeling is that there should be a main title and then a subtitle to help people know what kind of anthology it is. I had someone suggest “An Advent Anthology” as a subtitle, because there are 25 parts to it, which can be read from December 1st-December 25th.
Without further ado, and a few fa la la la las:
1. Angelsong
2. Sing We Now of Christmas
3. Nightly Noels
4. Literary Caroling
8 Comments on Naming the Anthology: Fa, la, la, la...in May., last added: 6/1/2012
Many thanks to Claire for saving my files and restoring my computer after a virus got into the system. Going through my rescued files I am happily finding everything still there, including all the images. I love hand lettering and inventing fonts whenever the opportunity arises, and have this week compiled the resulting alphabet of interchangeable letters. My website is being added to and will include these in a page of lettering samples.
I've had a spate of inconveniences and multiple dentist appointments, the latter the inevitable result of radiation treatment back in January. Not to grumble (or perhaps to grumble just a little), it can all be fixed. And on the bright side, my kind computer friend has loaned me a Wacom computer tablet to play with, my first efforts in direct drawing are below. The stylus responds almost but not quite like a pencil or brush, and after the initial loop-and-scrolls scribbling (reminiscent of playing with my first rapidograph pen) I began to get the feel of it.
Acquiring any new skill takes a while. The tremendous crop from my pear tree led me into some serious jam-making. The first batch didn't set but the next did and was delicious as well. It can can become addictive once you taste successful jam in the making and view with satisfaction the row of full and warmly gleaming jars. There was more than enough to give away, which naturally led to the fun of designing and hand-painting the labels. I cut out rondels of textured watercolour paper, set atop circles of fabric cut from a favorite faded denim.
I was invited to a local Brownie troup recently to introduce them to watercolour painting. This was a highly enjoyable evening - I have only been to Scout meets over the last decade! Our subject matter was fairies, of course. I took along some of my samples and demonstrated my method for painting simple figures. After some initial experimentation the results were charming, a host of Christmas card fairies.
With Advent beginning this weekend the outdoor Christmas decorations went up and I brought my big Santa's List painting out of its storage place.
3 Comments on A Miscellany, last added: 12/5/2010
It's the season of Advent.
”Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you, And His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising." (Isaiah 60:1-3)
Some call it a mini-Lent, as Christ's light
Advent is celebrated by Christians in the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day. At our house, we have taken to setting out an Advent wreath with candles and lighting the candles in succession during the weeks before Christmas while we have dinner. We also have Advent calendars — one with chocolates, and the other stuffed with candy canes that our children eat day-by-day. This year, my daughter and I have the added pleasure of enjoying an on-line Advent calendar that celebrates each day with a magical scene from a wintry village.
One of my reading pleasures this Advent is librarian Sue Fisher’s blog, Mouse-traps and the Moon. For Advent, Sue is featuring a blog post each day on the best child-focused book sites she’s found on the Web. I know it’s getting close to mid-December with my post today, but you can always scroll back to Sue’s earlier posts to see what gems she’s found from Dec. 1. In fact, that’s just what my daughter and I did together this past Sunday afternoon when it simply was too cold to do anything outside. We watched videos on the Peter Rabbit site, heard Spike Milligan recite “On the Ning Nang Nong,” played games on the Jan Brett author site — these are some of the delightful interactive sites Sue links to in her posts. Do check out Mousetraps and the Moon. You can have a fun time with your child exploring these sites and learning about some great books for kids.
The fourth Sunday before Christmas marks the first Sunday of Advent. This year it is November 27. Advent is from the Latin adventus meaning coming. It’s not just the shopping days until Santa’s arrival, but a time of preparation observed by Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, and awaiting the return of Christ. In anticipation of the Nativity, children prepare Advent Wreaths, mark the days using an Advent Calendar, sing Christmas Carols, and decorate their homes. 
The symbol of Light representing Jesus is of particular significance and is found on our Christmas trees, in the lighted candles of the Advent Wreath, and on public display on houses, department stores, high rises, and tree lined streets.
The carols that tell the Christmas Story have special meaning and are well worth teaching our children. Singing the songs gives children another way to learn the meaning of Advent and Christmas. Singing also generates mirth and good cheer.
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the Catholic Liturgical Year, and we find the long awaited New Roman Missal in place with the new year. Catholicmom.com has a list of Advent books and activities for kids; Amazon also carries a huge selection of Christmas and Advent themed children’s books. More Advent books can be found on line at The Catholic Company.
Originally posted 11/28/2010 and updated 11/30/2011 on SSPP Reads. Graphic courtesy of AHarden, Flickr Creative Commons License.
0 Comments on Advent: A time of anticipation as of 1/1/1900
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10 Comments on In a Heartbeat, Advent, and Good Fairies, last added: 12/4/2009
Beautiful! We're going to be making some bird ornaments ourselves before the week is out...love your ideas!
We love feeding the birds too! I loved all your birdie ornaments and food!
It always feels like coming home to visit your blog. Birding can be so fun, and you did something so cool after. Peace with wings to you, too.
Aaaaaaah, I can feel that peace from here. Thanks so much for blessing me with such a moment in the midst of a very hectic day. Sweet peace to you and yours as well.