Drew’s father, Tom, is celebrating his 60th birthday today, so Drew and Asher jumped in front of the camera to send Tom special birthday wishes. Lots of love, and many happy returns!
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Season’s Greetings!
Last night, Grace came to us and asked if she could be in charge of our Christmas greeting this year. She said she had been working on a little something and she was sure that her fresh take on our usual Christmas card would appeal to Drew and me. It took a lot of rehearsal, but I think we finally got it down, see what you think.
Wishing you a lots of love and hope for a peaceful and joy filled 2010!
And so the shortest day came…
The winter solstice is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s a quiet passing of the shortest day and the entrance into a sleepy time of year, but it is also a time to celebrate the coming light. I grew up reciting Susan Cooper’s poem, The Shortest Day, for most of my childhood, and the notion that this magical day has been celebrated for centuries with festivals of light to “drive the darkness away” is so potent to me that I really do get chills thinking about this special night and the ancient practices associated with conjuring light and joy that have been preserved in one form or another through the ages. Though a bit of a Christmas cliche, this year, in the true American tradition of mixing traditions, I thought that I would share the 1897 letter from little Virginia O’Hanlon to the editor of The Sun, as a “modern” reminder of the magic of this season. In this cold dark time of year, when there are two feet of snow muffling all signs of anything green and living outside our door, a little faith, a little magic, and the optimistic glow of our cozy Christmas lights serve to remind me that, “He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.” Welcome Yule!
Dear Editor,
I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says “If you see it in the Sun it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?Virginia O’Hanlon.
115 W.95th St
Answer:
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank GOD! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
Hail to the Sunshine!
"Oh come outside, they said. You'll enjoy it, they said. They'll have to sleep eventually, and then we'll see who's laughing."
It's tough to walk in the snow, but so fun!
Our (much dryer) version of snow angels.
Drew up to his knees!
So…when do they call it a blizzard?
Would you believe me if I told you that we woke up to 18 inches of snow this morning and it’s continuing to fall at a rate of 2 inches an hour? Well, that is the honest truth…we are blanketed in snow, and the news just said that the last time Charlottesville had anything close to this was in December was in 1969. We’re doing well, Drew walked to the hospital this morning which he said took about 30 minutes and was really beautiful. We are fortunate to live close enough for him to walk as most employees are being forced to stay at the hospital and Charlottesville has called up the National Guard to pick up those that are scheduled to work and unable to come in. Drew is not on the schedule again until Wednesday, but he said that he may be forced to come back over the next couple of days to fill in on other floors of the hospital. We’re just happy that he can come home and doesn’t have to stay at the hospital tonight!
Here at the house, Asher and I are cozy and wide eyed watching all of the snow come down. It’s a virtual white-out outside of our window, and the only inconvenience that we’re feeling is on the part of our pets. Mable (our cat) can’t go outside as the snow is over her head and Grace is up to her shoulders so…we’re feeling that one out. The weather folks are saying that it will continue to snow until about 4pm today and then it will finally stop. Most of the major interstates have portions of the road shut down with reports of abandoned cars all over the road and people getting rescued after spending many hours in their car.
My brother Drew and his wife Meg and their son Jack left Virginia yesterday morning after a really lovely Christmas visit in an effort to get ahead of the storm. They made it almost to Asheville before getting stopped on the highway for three + hours and eventually getting turned away and having to sleep in a hotel. They left Virginia at 10am and finally made it to the hotel around 11:30pm. They were all troopers, it’s hard to imagine a 12 hour day with a dog, a 2 year old and a snow storm in a minivan, but thankfully they made it to a safe dry place and are now trying to make their way home again.
My first thought this morning was, thank goodness for this dry, warm house. Shelter.
Last night when we were still under the 1 foot mark
Graces braves the snow this morning
Our maple tree is getting shorter and shorter as the day progresses
ok, babies in sweaters are pretty cute.
We’ve had a quiet weekend…Drew’s been working and I’ve been going about the business of life with a 12 week old. 12 whole weeks (though interestingly, he won’t be 3 months until Friday?) of life with this child…can you believe that that little guy up there was inside of my body 13 weeks ago? I don’t think I can.
It’s beginning to look a lot like…
We took a look at the calendar and realized that between Drew’s work schedule and company, we had exactly one day to get a Christmas tree unless we wanted to wait until the week of Christmas. So…
Here’s a look at some old and new Christmas ornament favorites…
A yellow submarine, a gift from Ruth in high school when I was in the middle of my Beatles obsession
A blown glass bird from Mom
Jo Ellen gave this to us...This is Drew in 1981, an ornament made in daycare maybe? So cute!
This is an ornament that my aunt Vicki gave me from her collection. I *think* it was my great grandmother's.
A new favorite...a gift from Ruth, I just love this fat beaded little chick.
A new treasure! Mom gave me this tree skirt this year, I think it's really lovely.
Presents waiting to go out to family
A scene from the Advent Calendar. It's a little German street, and as the windows and doors open, everything gets decorated for Christmas.
And on this snowy day, a whistling tea kettle ties the morning together nicely.
I will put pictures up of the snow (we’ve got about 2 inches so far) but right now I’m pinned under a sleeping cat and baby, so those will have to wait. Happy Holidays!
