π€« We’ve woken up to a still and quiet Sunday morning. This is just what the doctor ordered after a busy second half of the week. The sun is out, the sky is clear, there’s not a breath of wind. I am grateful for this feeling in the air (though pouring rain would have been a good excuse to just sit and watch a movie). β
π I saw this cartoon by Liza Donnelly and it made me ask myself, why do I anthropomorphize our Christmas tree? I notice that I do that each year. I donβt give it a name as Liza does in her cartoon, but I find myself concerned that it has enough water, and that it is looked after well, and about its sacrifice for our enjoyment through the Holiday season. Why do I do that, I wonder? β
π Over the last two nights Iβve enjoyed seeing all the houses lit up with Holiday lights while driving by. Each year there seem to be more and more houses joining in the fun. While definitely not as meditative as The Candle Light Ceremony from a couple of nights ago, I am experiencing the lights in a different way (as opposed to my “bah humbug, crass commercialism” perspective) - a letting in of joy and light as the days get shorter. β
From a corner of my iPhone Home Screen. A little festive fun created with the help of Festivitas created by Simon B. StΓΈvring.
The scene as we left the Candle Light Ceremony at my grandson’s school last night. Grades 3 and 7 took part last night, other grades will do their own Candle Light Ceremony through the week. Kindergarten, my other grandson’s class, will be on Sunday evening. It was a peaceful, meditative evening, recognizing the shortening days, the external darkness and the light within each of us, particularly the children taking part.
π§οΈ It’s just started raining, hard. Unless it eases up or preferably stops, which I hope that it does, this evening might need a Plan B, or some reworking of Plan A.
I need this song today as it is anything but how I feel. It helps to lift me.
Pharrell Williams - Happy (Official Video)
I seem to be falling a day behind the last couple of days. This is yesterday morning’s rainbow. There were none this morning, so hopefully I am caught up now. ποΈ
π Oh simple joys. I just found a jar of Marmite at the back of the cupboard. Marmite can no longer be found here on Maui, and I have not ordered any in a while. Iβm now looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. β
Yesterday morning’s rainbow π
A quiet beach on Maui’s north shore, strewn with tree stumps and the West Maui Mountains (Mauna KahΔlΔwai) in the background.
I caught a rainbow hiding out amongst the clouds yesterday morning. π
π Looking out over a ghostly lit landscape as the Super Moon casts its eerie light across the land tonight. β
No matter where I have traveled, it is the people that I have met and seen along the way that have made the journey. Yes, I have gazed out onto scenery that has moved me and stayed with me long after I have travelled onto new vistas. Yes, I have gone searching for solitude in nature, away from the busyness of everyday life and the concrete jungles of our modern cities.
ποΈ Some days I seem to be able to get things done with clarity and all the time in the world. Other days I feel as though I am stuck in treacle, every job feels hard and difficult, and little appears to get done. Today I am having both days in one! β
A faint, partial rainbow this morning. ποΈ
The trees across the valley from us lit by the rising sun, the light on them contrasting strongly against the dark storm clouds behind them.
Finished reading: Train Dreams by Denis Johnson. I didnβt know what to expect, picking up the book when I learnt that the new Netflix film, which I havenβt seen, was based on a book.
On one level a simple story of a manβs life, but also as I read it of his connection to the natural world around him. I look forward to seeing how the book was interpreted for the film. π
I have just gone searching back through my blog. It seems that I have written about migraines on a number of occasions. There is probably a reason for that - I get migraines with irregular frequency. I have another migraine right now. This migraine has come two weeks after the last one cleared, and that one lasted four days. I have no idea what caused this one. In fact I donβt have any idea what have caused any of the migraines that I have had since I was in my mid-teens.
Two days after Thanksgiving, the dinner leftovers all thrown in together into a pan and heated up look like goop, but taste ssssoooooo good. Dare I say better than on Thursday when they were presented beautifully with care and attention?