I’ll play double day catchup tomorrow with Reverb, but today I want to keep up with my weekly play in the ongoing Scattered Life Collective’s invitation to sort through my week in retrospect. In Reverb this week we’ve talked about our rituals and this has become one of mine – I find it very helpful to take a bit of time and reflect and appreciate what’s been up for me during the week. So let me begin…
out the window: Winter is still over a week away, but it’s looking more and more like it outside. Today we had a dusting of snow. That’s how I like it – prettified without actually having to shovel. I’m pretty laid back with holiday decorating (with all things holiday actually) but I did put a wreath on our front door and put out a set of metal trees. They’re the kind of funky/primitive Haitian tin art I love and they delight me.
good things:
- Reverb14. I can’t say enough good things about Kat McNally and the prompts she’s gathered and the people who are playing along reflecting on our year as it’s closing and thinking about 2015.
- I’m glad that I’ve found a right-fit way to move through December and the holidays that’s low-key, stress-free, eschews overwhelm and welcomes what delights me. And so while I don’t do a great deal of decorating, I do love my greenery. This week my freshly-harvested box of mixed evergreens arrived and so I’ve made up large vases of scented wonderfulness. Next week I’ll add stems of red and white flowers to each vase and I’ll be ready to welcome in the solstice and celebrate Yule.
- A tiny bottle of fabulous honey arrived in the mail from Roxana of Illuminated Perfumes. It’s her 2014 Summer Harvest of Woodland Honey from their wild feral bees, and was a reward for contributing to her fundraising campaign. It’s utterly delightful!
- I love when the universe is on board with my plans. Today’s lunch from the neighborhood Chinese restaurant included a cookie fortune that reads: “Expand your business and expand your happiness.” Well okay then.
on the menu: Eggnog French Toast with Raspberry Sauce. I’m always up for breakfast for dinner, and let’s throw in some eggnog to make it seasonal.
watching:
I saw this and immediately thought of Amy Putkonen who blogs thoughtfully about the Tao Te Ching. I recently discovered the videos of The School of Life and am delighted by their quirky wonderfulness. This one is a short intro to Lao Tzu.
This week our PBS station rebroadcast a Nature special A Murder of Crows. I’ve must have seen this a dozen times, but I watch it every time. Love those smarty pants crows!
listening:
Every December artist Rebecca Brooks hosts a 12-day celebration of Mary on her blog recuerda mi corazon. While my connection to Mary isn’t religious, it is strong and I like checking in to see what various participants are posting.
While I was settling down to go through the links, it occurred to me this would be the perfect time to listen to Lo, How a Rose Ere Blooming. And now you can too…
favorite word of the week: Wunderkammer – a cabinet of curiosities.
on the wish list: This artist book by Kathy Durso Cabinet of Curiosities. A Wunderkammer!
out and about:
- Rebecka Ryberg Skött is photographer and collector of whimical things. She doesn’t post often on her blog, but when she does I’m always delighted. And this vignette made me smile. Snowmen in apothecary drawers always do.
- Gift Wrapping from A Beautiful Mess
- A few minutes of beauty choreographed by Yanis Marshall. Watching stuff like this makes me hope I was a dancer in a previous life, because how I would love to know I’ve experienced movement like this.
- Heather Eddy gives new meaning to the folded book. Check out her Pine Tree folded book.
- And just to round out the arts here, let’s have some poetry. The kind that makes me laugh. Ron Koertge’s Bad News About My Vocation.
And there you have it. A peek into my week. Now tag – you’re it. What’s been up in your world this week? What’s hiding in your cabinet of curiosities? Ever go moonlight skating? Misunderstood what your ideal vocation might be? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
Yes I have gone moonlight skating! I grew up on a lake and we would have skating parties when I was a child. It was so much fun. We had a tiny island where we would have bonfires and roast marshmallows. It was delightful. 🙂 Your post reminded me of that. Much needed after the nastiness of this week and the revival of some not so wonderful memories, so thank you for that. 🙂 I am so enjoying your blog, Deborah. It is a joy to read. 🙂
Oh what a fabulous memory Tracy – it sounds absolutely wonderful! And thank you for the kind words, I truly appreciate them.
I so enjoy reading your weekly Scattered Life Collective even though it takes me so long to get through it because I always have to click on everything! 🙂
The raspberry eggnog french toast looks soooo yummy!!!
I was captivated by the videos. I was surprised I had not seen the Lao Tzu video. Thanks for posting that. And the Yanis Marshall video had me mesmerized also wishing I could dance so freely like that. With the moonlight skaters, I felt like I was right there with them! Cool…
On the 24th, I am volunteering at a local B&N bookstore to wrap gifts while the money will go to low income youth bus passes so when I saw the beautiful gift wrapping post, Goodness, talk about the pressure!
Thanks for the glimpse into your week. As always, it is so fascinating. Have a great week!!
I’m glad you enjoy my weekly peek Elda. Your gift-wrapping volunteering sounds like great fun – and what a worthy cause. Double feel good! Wishing you a wonderful week as well.
A song about Mary I found out about recently is “The Seven Rejoices of Mary”, sung here by Loreena McKennitt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx2Mc5K9VO0
I’d not heard this before – thanks for the hedz up. It’s lovely.
I always enjoy seeing these snippets into your life. My favorite part of this post is the video you shared. It was interesting…I first started watching it without any sound…beautiful dancing and I was connected and then I turned the sound on…that dancing to the song…wow! That was extremely powerful and emotional for me. True beauty and depth of soul. I see a blog post of my own coming from that video. Thank you for sharing.
I keep returning to that video as well Michele. It’ll be fun to see you post about it – I’ll keep my eyes peeled.