Too late for the Christmas cards that never went out last year (thanks to the shroud of viral misery that enveloped our home for the duration of December), and that's a shame; it's four matching red sweaters shy of family photo perfection.
Eat Your Heart Out, Olan Mills
We were due for a new family photo, and as luck would have it I was able to snap one of the four of us this evening when we were out walking -- or rather, being buffeted along. It so windy that by the time we finished the loop around the scenic sometimes-a-reservoir walking trail this evening (when I took this shot), we were all pretty wind-whipped. We looked a little dazed and none of us are smiling, but I think it still works, don't you?
From left to right: Em, Cal (standing on the railing) (he hasn't caught up to me in height... yet), me, Mr. Husband.
Too late for the Christmas cards that never went out last year (thanks to the shroud of viral misery that enveloped our home for the duration of December), and that's a shame; it's four matching red sweaters shy of family photo perfection.
Too late for the Christmas cards that never went out last year (thanks to the shroud of viral misery that enveloped our home for the duration of December), and that's a shame; it's four matching red sweaters shy of family photo perfection.
Once Every Five Years
I like days
with a snow-white collar,
and nights when the moon
is a silver dollar,
and hills are filled
with eiderdown stuffing
and your breath makes smoke
like an engine puffing.
I like days
when feathers are snowing,
and all the eaves
have petticoats showing,
and the air is cold,
and the wires are humming,
but you feel all warm ...
with Christmas coming.
"December," Aileen Fisher
View of our back yard, December 24, 2004:
View from our front yard, December 4, 2009:
It was Em's first ever experience with snow (she enthusiastically pronounced it beautiful) and Cal's second; and it was the second time I have seen snow in Texas since moving here in 1999. For a brief time, the flakes fell thick and fast, and we savored every minute that we could.
Cheeks were pink, fingers were stiff with cold, jackets and hats and mittens were wet. Smiles were big.
Forget 2012.
Sign me up for December, 2014.
November is Nice
Sometimes I like living in Texas. When I can step outside with my family for brisk walk in the evening without feeling like poultry on the rotisserie, it seems downright inhabitable.
November is the month that finally gives some relief to the insane heat and humidity. The air conditioner isn't laboring, rattling and groaning through the day, and sometimes I get to wear slippers instead of flip-flops around the house (squeal!). Now if only the mosquitoes would die off when it drops below 70, and we got just a little bit of snow (more than once ever 5 years) it would almost be perfect -- at least from November through February.
November is the month that finally gives some relief to the insane heat and humidity. The air conditioner isn't laboring, rattling and groaning through the day, and sometimes I get to wear slippers instead of flip-flops around the house (squeal!). Now if only the mosquitoes would die off when it drops below 70, and we got just a little bit of snow (more than once ever 5 years) it would almost be perfect -- at least from November through February.
Bedtime Prayer
Now I lay her down to sleep,
I pray she will not make a peep,
But close her eyes and rest her head,
And, just this once, remain in bed.
But if, instead, she stays awake,
I pray thee, Lord, my head not ache;
And when I hear a pitter-patter,
Lord, help me not to be mad at her.
Amen
I pray she will not make a peep,
But close her eyes and rest her head,
And, just this once, remain in bed.
But if, instead, she stays awake,
I pray thee, Lord, my head not ache;
And when I hear a pitter-patter,
Lord, help me not to be mad at her.
Amen
