December 19, 2004 B

"However You Celebrate"
10:00am

One of the Sunday morning new shows featured an item on how people are trying to take Christmas out of the holiday season. It's an old, tired lament, mostly done by shrill voiced fundies who are basically saying, "Look at those mean old pinko commie satanic humanists who want to take Christmas fun away from the little kiddies!"

I'd tell them to get over it, for the pinko commie satanic humanists, or nasty capitalistic pig satanic humanists, depending on their political leanings, are too busy with Christmas preparations of their own to much concern themselves with what other people are doing to celebrate the season.

Now I'm not talking about genuine abuses, rightfully objectionable , as when a state sponsored school puts on an evangelical Christmas program, but things like objecting to saying "Merry Christmas!" They are only attacking straw men, for I can't imagine anyone getting bent out of shape over a mere happy greeting.

I myself would rather be amused by snow men:

That's a bit of deco one of the neighbors has. I haven't done any Christmas deco this year, or the year before, or the year before..., but I've enjoyed observing the efforts of others. All this desire to decorate everything real pretty goes back to the ancient Greeks and Romans and their Saturnalia, anyway, so Christians can't take all the credit for it.

I say anything that is bright and beautiful brings joy. May your holidays, however you celebrate them, be bright and beautiful.

December 21, 2004

"Twin Symbols"
5:28pm

     

A few months ago Julia saw the pendant above in a favorite catalog, and liked it. I liked it, too. So she suggested we each get one. I just didn't feel right about buying two, even though I liked it equally as well. It wasn't so expensive that the cost was that great, I just didn't feel right about it.

The single pendant arrived and I soon forgot about it. Julia wore hers occasionally, and I continued to wear my old favorites. However a small surprise awaited me, a tiny bit of happiness despite a sad event. When I recently went through my Mother's jewelry, I found the very pendant still in its protective plastic bag!

I don't know if my Mother had though of me when she bought it, considering it for a future present. But I like to think she did.

The catalog describes this pendant thusly: "Symbols of power, cast in enduring bronze! The phoenix represents rebirth and immortality, rising from the ashes of transition and change. The “Chartres Labyrinth” is a medieval French symbol of a winding path toward illumination and empowerment." The phoenix is a special symbol to me. In addition, as I look at the labyrinth, it reminds me of a favorite mantra I have, "Return to the Center". It is an aid in focusing my thoughts inward. The path there might be winding, but therein is the source of illumination and empowerment.

I enjoy the golden gemmed items that were once hers which cost many times more, yet this small piece is a link to the shared interests of my mother and I. She also, in her own way sought illumination and empowerment. She encouraged me to think for myself in a world in which few rarely did. And finding this pendant is just another of her blessings upon me and my independant path.

Somehow I knew those months ago, that I didn't need to buy a matching necklace!

December 22, 2004

"Beautiful Sky"
5:55pm

The pictures in a Christmas card movie speak of the beauty of 'quiet spaces'. Fargo, North Dakota isn't known for anything spectacular, but the photographer made use of simple things like sky and trees to create a pleasing array of images. Seeing Fargo skies through his eyes made me appreciate the clouds tonight in Yuma.

December 24, 2004

"Visions Of Sugarplums"
7:07pm

I'm not sure what a 'sugar plum' is. Perhaps if they were encapsulated within a glass paperweight, they might look something like these:

Those are three paperweights that used to belong to my Mother. Actually, Dad had bought them, and he took most of them with him when he left. But he left behind these three, presumably because she liked them a lot. I like them, too.

I have now so many beautiful lovely things. The table is filled with the new arrivals, mostly brass bells and candlesticks. There was only one thing Julia and I could do. Well, there was the option of packing them away unseen in boxes. I didn't like that option. We needed a bookcase, anyway. We needed one prior to this increase in our material possessions. And now we really need one.

So that is our Christmas present to each other. We found just the thing at a large furniture dealer just outside of Yuma. The owner bought this set which proved to be too large for his house, but they were willing to sell the pieces individually. I could see Julia's eyes light up, too, with the thought of this rather tall and majestic bookcase in our house.

All our other furniture items will pale in splendour compared to it. The dealer first showed us a huge bookcase with glass doors in the fashionable 'stressed' style. 'Stressed style', that's for the rich. Our stuff has earned its stressed look the hard way. I didn't want 'stressed'. Metal bookshelves, planks on bricks and assembled crates, that's our usual style.

It will be nice to have one truly elegant piece.