We've returned from the hinterlands. As we pulled out of my parents' icy drive, the thermometer in the car read 12 degrees; as we crossed the bay bridge 12 hours later, it read 45. Welcome home. Despite the warmer weather, I still had to snuggle deeply under the covers of our own wonderful bed before I felt warm, maybe because I had left the thermostat in the house at 55. No matter how much I love visiting family, it is always comforting to sleep in my own bed.
Some snapshots of some of our favorite Christmas gifts:
Snow in Oklahoma - a record breaking 14 inches.
Learning to ice skate
Entering the OKC art museum, warm and bright, after skating
Enough snow to sled in Indiana
Watching a calf's birth
Puppies and cousins
Other favorite gifts: safe, uneventful travels, reading Scott Cairns'
Recovered Body (poetry as good as Eighth Day Books claims) and Debra Dean's
Madonnas of Leningrad (a woman with Alzheimer's recalls the WWII siege of Leningrad when she and others hid in the cellar of the Hermitage. There she walks from room to room to build a memory palace of all the works of art that have been removed to a safer location. A beautifully written, pleasant read, but slight, more of a novella), and unhurried time with family.
5 comments:
Welcome back! The books sound excellent, I'll have to search them out!
I have been so looking forward to reading more of your posts and have given you a sister in faith award since I so enjoy your blog and feel that I can learn a lot from you!
Happy New Year!
http://annebender.blogspot.com/2010/01/praise-for-family-celebrations.html
I'm honored, Anne! I look forward to passing it on, but how to choose?
Your face looks so familiar; I keep thinking our paths have crossed somewhere before...
Em, loving Recovered Body. "The beginning of loss was this: every time some manner of beauty was offered and declined, the subsequent isolation each conceived was irresistible."--from "The Entrance of Sin"
Thanks for parting with the book.
Hope your trip home was uneventful.
You're so welcome Emily! Thanks for sharing your gift of writing and your love for the faith. It's a wonderful combination!
I sadly must say that I have never been anywhere in life, not a traveler...someday, maybe. So, if you've ever been to Wisconsin, perhaps our paths may have crossed. But even if they haven't, I will dream that maybe someday they will and that would be wonderful!
Anne, I have been to Wisconsin - Madison and Milwaukee area when we were living in northern Illinois. So maybe... and maybe someday our paths will cross and we'll meet as friends! Great Lakes was one of our favorite duty stations. It was so easy to be Catholic there. I'd love to go back there.
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