December - First Snowflakes

Dec 2012 Tiny, dry snow flakes are falling today on this gray day. It is finally cold as one would expect after a very warm November for southern Wisconsin. Some migrating birds gather in the bare trees by the yellow back gate to our neighbor Karen and Jeff's house. Aslan, my gray tiger, chirps at them from his post at the back window next to the red blossoming Christmas cactus that was once my Mother's. Surprisingly, a light pink holly hock still blooms out the back window and a few Buddhist reds maintain, as well as the parsley and Italian oregano in the garden beds. Some burgundy colored raspberries were still on the canes right up to the end of November! A lot of milkweed - which I LOVE! - came up by the driveway. They are so common, yet so lovely and other worldly. What would you expect for the food of Monarch butterflies? A couple of stalks with the pods split, spilling out their downy gift, were on the ground. I picked them up and waved them like a fairy wand, as the fluffy skirts lifted in a light breeze and wafted on their way. Lots of the pods are left and love to attach to people as they get out of the car! Behind my yard is a moped shop that has Christmas lights on an evergreen tree placed on their roof with a lighted moped mounted on it! In the night it looks like a large angel has alighted. I have recently rediscovered Eckhart Tolle (pardon a description of "New Age Guru"). I hope to get his book "New Earth" from Towneley for Christmas. He is very Buddhist in his approach and I'm working at staying in the NOW, which is working pretty well. Last night was a re-run of Wayne Dyer on PBS. One thing he said is something like - look around you and you will see the world that you have created is not what you wanted, but what you are. Another good thought from that program - Virginia Wolf said "Just keep putting the pieces together." This is good advice, as I have brought some of my stuff that has been so kindly stored in my sister Chris' basement up north since 2001 (!) when I left to teach in Istanbul. It must be sorted and stored. Since the house is pretty much full, I will have to make sense of the "pieces" and work at getting rid of some things which can only improve the Feng Shui around here. I just moved a bag of my skirts from yesteryear, that had landed for a day or two in the prosperity corner of the down stairs here, next to my built in buffet. The phone rang immediately with two massage appointments - Mel, my longest standing client and Al, another guy who has been coming back from the same era - 1994, when I first set up in business in my home on E Washington Ave. Going into the winter holiday season I am on low and slow, but have picked up a few small gifts and will make and decorate cookies to give again this year. I got a new box of cards at Target yesterday - a white dove on a blue background - with the message of Peace. I'm skipping a tree again this year, but have a lot of nice decorations that I will bring up to display later. The Christmas lights have remained in the living room - a festival of lights all year long!