Birthday Blob

My mother called what I write a “blob.” She asked me yesterday, “Have you written any more on your blob?” I’m still laughing.

And today is her 80th birthday! She just informed me that she is no longer responsible for anything she says because she’s going to play the “old lady” card from now on. One of the things I love best about my mom is her sense of humor and her ability to make me laugh.

Speaking of aging gracefully, to borrow a much overused phrase from Britney Spears “Oops!...I did it again,” I just got my hair cut. Again. To be fair, the last time was in September, but as you know, I’m always changing my hair. One day short, the next day long, I like being a brunette, trying out the whole red-head thing, curious if blondes do have more fun…

Back to the salon: My stylist also just returned home from vacation, a three week trip to Costa Rica and Guatemala. While in Costa Rica, she visited a coffee plantation. There, the owner asked her how old she thought he was. Taking a hard look, he appeared anywhere from his late 40’s to early 50’s, so she settled on the median age and answered 50.

He laughed and told her he was in his late 60’s. His skin was beautiful. “What do you Americans do with your used coffee grounds?” the youthful plantation owner asked her next.

“Um, compost or throw them out.”

“Not anymore,” he told her. “From now on, put your used coffee grounds in a lidded plastic container and while you’re in the shower dip your hands into them and use them all over your face and body as an exfoliating scrub. It’ll do wonders for your skin.”

My stylist tried it with great results and now Groom and I are doubling our pleasure in the shower by recycling those coffee grounds (um, the first pleasure is drinking our favorite beverage!) and applying them to our epidermises, epidermi? hides, pelts, fur. No, scratch that, trust me, you do not want coffee grounds in your fur.

I just thought I’d pass along that beauty tip ‘cause you know I’m all about the coffee, and the hair, and the shoes and the –

Whoa, it snowed here yesterday, did it where you are? We had a fun walk in the flurry and then Groom grilled surrounded by the cold, fluffy white stuff. He’s like the mail service; rain, snow, sleet or hail, it doesn’t keep him from the barbeque.

Happy Birthday, Mom, we love you!

Autumn Snow

Like most of the Willamette Valley, we woke up to snow this morning. After the sun came out to clear the sidewalks, Groom and I walked our cameras (they become very crabby if we leave them cooped up for too long). These four images were all taken within the same 45 minute period.

Since the opening of Holiday Market went pretty well, we’re back in the studio, finishing up a few pieces for when it opens again on Friday. Also sipping lots of hot tea. Hope you’re keeping warm, healthy and safe.

Decem-brrrr!

If you’re a fan of the Roman calendar, then December is considered the tenth month. Decem in Latin means ten and I’m quite confident the suffix –ber stands for the chill of winter. Decembrrrrrrr. However, if you’re more familiar with the Gregorian method, then December is the 12th and concluding month of the year.

December’s flower is - can you guess – Holly! Deck the Halls and all that mess. When I was a wee lass, a bully in school was named Molly. It soothed me to sing, “Deck the halls with bits of Molly, fa la la la la, la la la la.” However, my mother did not approve of my lyrical changes and pointed out the possibility she was bullied at home to be an aggressor on the playground. Mother firmly suggested I give her a Christmas card and show compassion.

Begrudgingly I obeyed and looked through the card selection spread out on the kitchen table and grinned like the Grinch when I found the perfect one. Inside the message read, “May you have the Christmas you deserve.” Fa la and HA!

Yes, I know, I’m just full of the Christmas spirit.

Would now be a good time to insert my weekly rant about clicking on the photos to enlarge them and then clicking the back button to return to the text, or should that be placed elsewhere?

Back to December, the theme of this week’s blog. In addition to a flower, the crowning month also boasts beautiful birthstones. Yes, plural, as in zircon, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and topaz. They seem to range in color between icy and blue, appropriate shades for the darkest month.

When I think of December, I conjure up winter wonderlands, Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas, nutcrackers, yulelogs, tinsel, fudge, presents, cards, hats and mittens, cocoa, warm fires, roasting chestnuts, gay apparel and men comprised of snow.

If you did enlarge, you’ll have already noticed that the snowman’s eyes are two aluminum cans (can you say “al-yu-min-ium?) and his mouth is constructed of nails. We call this one, Spitting Nails.

I think of ice and frozen things, of frost, shimmer, glitter and sparkle, and twinkling lights for the light deprived. As the earth rotates on its axis around the sun, we are spinning our way to the shortest stretch of daylight this coming Monday, the 21st. But then guess what? The days start getting longer, whoo hoo!

As I’m writing this, however, it occurs to me that all these images are relatable to those who live in the Northern Hemisphere while the earth’s tilt is most inclined away from the sun. But what about those occupying the Southern Hemisphere baking in the summer heat in Australia, India, Brazil, Thailand, Madagascar or Mozambique for example? Do they even have chimneys for Santa to get stuck in, or think of one-horsed sleighs to jingle their bells?

I’m trying to picture eating Christmas dinner as a picnic on the beach, watching Santa arrive on a surfboard, filling my stocking - hung by the hammock - with oranges and lumps of coal.

I was shocked the first time I learned that the United States was not the center of the world. Growing up, all the maps showed it that way, and I suppose some of that ethnocentricity still lingers as I celebrate the birth of a desert Child with turkey, pumpkin pie and a gift exchange.

And neighbors, speaking of pumpkins, Halloween is over!