I put olive oil in the soap dispenser today instead of dishwashing soap – there was a time I worried about my sanity but now when I read the Times Picayune and realize people shoot their friends for a domino game gone wrong and presidential candidates have so little to offer that the only thing left to discuss is their lack and the president is threatening his opponents as if they were children I just think to myself that no harm no foul.
We walked over to City Park today and saw the lights – the celebration of lights – but we did it on the cheap meaning we didn’t do what everyone else was doing and that is standing in line and paying – we just did walk by sighting of turtle doves illuminated in white glazed oak trees and sort of oo’d and awe’d at the stars, diamonds, and squiggles that hung from the dark trees and laughed at Santa being pulled by jumping alligators and the goofy loch ness monster that stuck out his red forked tongue – we did all this I tell you by walking down the street and then returned for some butternut squash soup with biscuits – life on the cheap – friends, wine, lights in darkness, and a desire to be dazzled still despite the jade shades on our eyes.
I’m now of the opinion that an opinion is something to lose, or at least be flexible with, because at 52 years old I must say that I have seen people illuminated in new light, I’ve seen people change and evolve who I didn’t think would, I’ve seen something that I first saw in my grandmother, that as she aged, her world enlarged.
We have a tendency to think about life as shutting down, of narrower circles, of an utter lack of retention in our mind, but actually I think it’s the opposite, with age comes a shedding of the unimportant and a sense of wonder and awe at what is present.
I always think of the day my grandmother who had never said a cuss word in my life put a pyrex dish on the table with a dessert and said, “Guess what this is called?” And I looked at her puzzled and she said, “Better than sex cake.”
She let go a belly laugh and had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. And I saw my grandmother in a new light.
The other day when I was visiting my mom’s grave, I looked over at where my grandmother is buried, and thought how lucky that I got to know her in my lifetime. She was truly a wonderful grandmother.
So today, remember life is short, but it’s wide and there are so many things and people that await you, still.
We went to Tin’s friend’s birthday party last night and Tin was about to burst he was so happy to be going to a party, going to eat birthday cake, he wanted to bring his clarinet and serenade her. Instead he ended up breaking part of her present off because he was so excited! Oh well. She made him a lovely menorah – which is just perfect – as frugality was stopping us from adding one more to our collection this year, so it came anyway – typical of how this whole year has gone – the universe (or in this case friends) provide.
I was reading an article written by a Waldorf teacher that talked about how adults don’t enjoy festivals and birthdays like kids do – obviously this was not a teacher in New Orleans because lord knows we know how to enjoy. However, I don’t think any of us enjoy exercise nearly as much as these munchkins – Tin now walks out of nursery and shouts PARK! as if it were a command.
Tin’s first bromance would of course be with a French boy:
I was walking the dogs through City Park this morning and looked up to find the bare tree filled with seasonal ornaments – cormorants!
These two are buddying around the lagoon and the black one has a pretty white feather in its tail and I haven’t seen but would love if the white one had a black feather.
It felt so good to be back in the park, it is a winter wonderland there right now with the rust colored cypress, the soap nuts all sorts of colors of orange and red, and a clearer vista across to the other side. Everyone is raving about the lights in the park this year as they have brought back some perennial light favorites such as santa with the alligators and a loch ness monster. But nothing is more lovely than the moss laden oaks and the towering cypress.
Well, at least his first arch:
Again and again. I just said this is unacceptable to me to the perpetrator.
My horoscope:
December 08, 2011
Taurus (4/20-5/20)
Today is an exceptionally good day to make a clean sweep of things — whether that requires cleaning up a dirty room or clearing up a touchy misunderstanding between you and a friend. A fresh start is possible if you just do the work. Roll up your sleeves and get going as early in the day as you can, because not all of your intense energy will last throughout the day. As long as you have the energy for the task, you will enjoy every minute of the effort.
Last night I forgot to put Tin to bed with a diaper. As I told Tin this morning, “Mommy wasn’t thinking.” He thought that was very funny, but Evan the alligator and Neno Medo did not think it was funny at all as they needed to be washed too!
