Signing Off with Gratitude TTFN

The blogging world is an interesting place to visit. I've been traveling this road for a short while, and I've made many friends. Thank you to the ones who have left encouraging and uplifting comments, which I have greatly appreciated and cherished.
One of the reasons we do different things, or do things differently, is to learn and experience other ways of looking and feeling. As one wise counselor put it, "And all these things shall give thee experience." What we do with the experience is part of the free will we have been given.
I have gained so many insights into myself by blogging, and the education has been valuable.
The one I want to share today is this: When I look at the quality of my life through blogging,
I see that I spend a lot of energy checking the computer several times a day to find out

• 1. If anyone's blog I follow has changed or been updated
• 2. If anyone has left a comment on my own blog

Instead of doing the work I need to be doing, which is simplifying, organizing, or creating, I am scattering my energy in other places--the black hole of the computer. So, for now, may I offer my gratitude to you for visiting, and may I extend an invitation to you to check out the other bloggers I have listed in the sidebar. They have made my life happier, more creative, and more contemplative. They also list wonderful links on their blogs to very interesting sites and activities. Most of all, I want to invite you to actively participate and engage with the real live people around you, who need your smile, your support, your presence.
I'm signing off for now, to put my life in order. May you feel a deep connection to humanity, and may you know you ARE love---and loved.
Marie

Charles Dickens "Things That Never Die"

I include this poem, not only because it is lovely, but because I think it is both timely and immortal. In this New Decade, I hope we focus on things that never die:
love, kindness, compassion, empathy, equanimity, acceptance, understanding, and service. Add to this list with your own wishes, hopes and dreams. Love to all.

These Things Can Never Die
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

The pure, the bright, the beautiful
That stirred our hearts in youth,
The impulses to wordless prayer,
The streams of love and truth,
The longing after something lost,
The spirit's yearning cry.
The striving after better hopes;
These things can never die.

The timid hand stretched forth to aid
A sister in her need,
A kindly word in grief's dark hour
That proves a friend indeed;
The plea for mercy softly breathed,
When justice threatens high.
The sorrow of a contrite heart;
These things shall never die.

Let nothing pass, for every hand
Must find some work to do,
Lose not a chance to waken love;
Be firm and just and true.
So shall a light that cannot fade
Beam on thee from on high,
And angel voices say to thee,
These things can never die.

Our Homemade Christmas

This year we decided to get out some UFO's (UnFinished Objects) for gift giving. John started a wooden chest for me several years ago, did most of the work, including the hand carving, but it got put away for any number of reasons, probably work and career, or house maintenance.
So, in the freezing month of December, with a hot cup of green tea, in his elegant workshop (the garage), he began the journey...again.
And he finished well before the last minute. Here is the heirloom on Christmas morn.


John is truly a professional perfectionist. He has rendered every detail with skill and precision, including the best brass hardware. He took the design from his favorite Saturday morning Guru, Roy Underhill, The Woodwright's Shop. When we placed the chest on the fireplace, I realized how much John had crafted for our house. In the photos below, you can see his collection of carved Santas, the Peace on Earth cover for the fireplace grate, but pay particular attention to the mantel itself....YES, designed and built by The Master Woodcarver living here. It is bird's eye maple, and behind the Santas you can get a glimpse of his own design carved there. Hopefully in his retirement, he can find more time for his craft. I do believe there's another boat in him. (Posting about his handcrafted canoes and kayaks will have to come another time.)











Thanks, John, for your thoughtful, beautiful gift which generations will treasure.

New Year with Walt Whitman

Song of the Open Road excerpt

By Walt Whitman 1819-1892

---

1
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.

The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill'd with them, and I will fill them in return.)
.......

5
From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

I inhale great draughts of space;
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.

I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me, I can repeat over to men and women
You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.

I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.
......

(The entire text of this lovely poem can be found in multiple places on the web. It creates a pause or space for contemplation of a New Year, a New Decade, a New World.
What do you want to create in the years ahead?)

Love to All, and Peace Be With You.

p.s. I had no idea Whitman was so controversial. Thanks to all who posted comments. I've had my first New Year's education. xoxo (I am sincere in my thanks.)

Christmas Card Zentangle wishes for you

Here are my Holiday Wishes for YOU. May you know your importance in my life, and may you feel appreciated. You have enriched me in ways you'll never know. I continue to be inspired by each of you, and have learned so much. I'm entering the season with a grateful heart. What better gift is there?
May you be blessed in the New Year.

LOVE TO ALL.

Dyeing for Christmas

You probably need to know the little five-year-old who prompted this project. Jonas is in kindergarten. You might understand more if I say he is the middle child, between two perpetual motion, high-kinetic-energy children. He has hated shoes and socks his whole life, immediately taking them off as soon as he's buckled in his car seat, carrying them into my house and depositing them in the shoe basket at the front door. So, when I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, and he answered, "I want some tie-dyed socks, Grams," I couldn't resist. I ordered wonderfully soft bamboo from Dharma Trading, and tie-dyed a family's worth. (If you're in Tennessee, you're invited to place an order, including all white, if you like what you see.)

Now, to show you the youngest constant motion child in the family, you'll see that I couldn't get her to hold still for a photo. These were all taken within one minute of each other. She is 2 1/2 years old, but the clothes are 18 month sizes, so you get an idea of how tiny this little hurricane is. She walks on her tippy-toes, but usually the toes turn under, like a toe-dancer.

Christmas Peace wishes

Doodling some wishes for Peace during the holidays. What if we kept that word in mind the whole season, and just inhaled PEACE, and exhaled CALM and LOVE. Think of the JOY we would be spreading! May these gifts of the holiday season be yours.
Love to all.