ending and beginning {december 31, 2023}

My mom had a tradition of cleaning the house on December 31. It was an old wives tale that if you take a messy home into the new year, you will have a messy home all year long. So growing up that's what we did all day on New Year's Eve - take down the Christmas tree and put away decorations, clean our rooms, scrub the bathrooms, dust the baseboards, vacuum, and if there was time, straighten our drawers and closets. Looking back, I think Mom also used this as a ploy to make us look forward to going back to school. Smart lady!

After having a houseful for 11 days, my Chicago girls and their husbands are trekking back to the Windy City today, my son and his black Lab will return to Columbus on January 2. My Cleveland clan left on the 26th to spend time with my daughter-in-law's family. Just two people in the house? There will be an adjustment to the quiet but an appreciation for it, too. It's been a crazy, busy, wonderful family time. Unlike my mom, I will wait until January 2 to take down the Christmas decorations and clean the house at my own pace.

I don't make resolutions but I do have a small list of ideas that I'm taking into 2024: *Delve into Spotify to make playlists and fill the house with more music. *Take more photos. *Journal more regularly. *Get on the area's amazing bike trails more often. *Travel and explore. I bought the National Parks passport and I want to fill it with the passport stamps. It's always at the ready in my travel backpack. *I'm sure there will be other ideas popping up along the 2024 journey.

I'm grocery shopping today for my traditional New Year's meal, some kind of pork, sauerkraut, greens and beans/lentils. Hoppin' John is always good but T likes to grill so most likely grilled pork chops will be on our table, too. 

We have a few big events coming 2024: February will bring the birth of our second grandson; early spring will bring some house renovations; June...our niece's wedding in St. Louis. (I can get my NP passport stamped at the Gateway Arch!)

My New Year's wish for you ~ 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

santa tree {december 30, 2023}

For many years I put up a small 4' tree filled with Santa ornaments. One year the little tree looked really shabby so into the trash it went and for the next few years the Santa tree wasn't part of our Christmas decorations. 

This year, thanks to Little Grandson's ever expanding vocabulary which included "HO HO HO," the Santa tree was resurrected. While he was here, he would walk over to the tree, point at it and give a hearty "HO HO HO" with the enthusiasm that an 18-month old can muster. One of the sweetest Christmas memories of this year.

the friday feed: christmas cookies {december 29, 2023}

People talk about binge watching shows on Netflix or other streaming services. With the family in town, I've been binge cooking. 

It started a couple weeks ago with Christmas cookies. While baking the cookies, it hit me that Christmas cookies, at least the ones that I make, take more time - more steps involved. They're not like good ole chocolate chip cookies where you make the cookie dough, drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, bake, and done. No. My Christmas cookies need extra steps: chill the dough, roll into little balls, use rolling pins, unwrap a bunch of Hershey's chocolate kisses, snip dried cranberries into little pieces, chop white chocolate into little pieces, cut the cookies, make icing for the sandwich cookies. 

For the shortbread cookies, I couldn't find my cookie cutter so I used a shot glass...use whatcha got!

 

cheeky art {december 28, 2023}

My children's artwork has always been very precious to me. I saved a few pieces from their school days.

Now I'm getting some art gifts from Little Grandson. Last year's piece of Christmas art was his six-month footprint made into a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This year's Frosty the Snowman is his buttprint! 

Bless those creative teachers.

wordy wednesday: the full cold moon {december 27, 2023}

Photo Credit: Colleen Quinell/The Old Farmer's Almanac

The final full moon of 2023 illuminated the sky on Tuesday, December 26.  It's most commonly known as the Cold Moon—a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year when cold weather truly begins to grip us. (However, the last few days have been in the 50s. No complaints!).

The Mohican name for the December full moon is the "Long Night Moon,” and it refers to the fact the moon rises on the nights close to the winter solstice, which are the longest nights of the year.

Even though the sky had a thick cloud covering and the full moon wasn't visible, it was still nice to enjoy the quiet of a peaceful winter night.

 

my people {december 26, 2023}

My gang was here for Christmas! As new family members add to the numbers it sometimes becomes a juggling act to get everyone together. Since 2018, we have alternated between Thanksgiving and Christmas to have all the kids here at the same time and count our blessings that we get to share a few days together. 

Little grandson is 18 months and he was so intrigued by the Christmas tree. A toddler learns by touching so I put unbreakable ornaments at the bottom of the tree. I wanted him to explore and have fun and not hear, "Don't touch," and it brought a smile when  occasionally finding ornaments somewhere else around the house. Watching this little guy look at the tree lights with wonder and awe in his eyes brought a renewed spirit of Christmas delight to all the adults. He ran around saying "HO HO HO," and loved to put his finger in the nutcracker's mouth and then say, "Ouch!" This was his first year where he could really interact with Christmas and he was filled with pure joy and excitement. Needless to say, it was contagious.

Yep, so true. And same for dads.

Wish time would stand still to keep them here just a little bit longer.

merry christmas! {december 25, 2023}

I typically put the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. No Black Friday shopping for me. I love decorating the tree because our ornaments are a mishmash of precious memories: ornaments from my parents, from traveling, from the kids, from Little Grandson, from local artists, from when we were first married, from something that caught my eye.

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄

If you don’t understand why someone  puts their tree up early… sit with a woman. 

Sit with a college girl who just moved out & needs that comfort of what was home. 

Sit with a newlywed excited to make her home. 

Sit with a first time mama who sees excitement for the future. 

Sit with a second, third, fourth, time mama who sees the twinkling magic in her children’s eyes. 

Sit with a mama who’s slowly losing her nest as her babies begin to move out & she needs that familiarity. 

Sit with  a mama who has an empty nest & who’s excited for the kids & grandkids to soon fill her home running around that very tree. 

Sit with an elderly mama who as she stares into that tree in her final years, she is flooded with sweet precious memories of smiles & laughter from her family and friends. 

Every year I see the debate of “when’s the right time to put up your Christmas tree” .

The right time is when YOU want to. If it brings you joy then do it! 

As I sit here this morning staring into my twinkling tree, my mama heart is happy. There’s a peacefulness in the glow. It’s brought joy.

~ Author unknown

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

be the light {december 24, 2023]

I have driven past this store window countless times. Its creative window display changes constantly. Since it's close to the University of Dayton campus, I thought it might be a gallery for the Art majors, but it's not - it's a framing store.

Today is the last day of Advent. In Christianity, Advent is the period of four weeks leading up to Christmas. It begins on the Sunday closest to November 30 (St. Andrew’s Day) and ends on the Sunday before Christmas, which is Christmas Eve this year. It is a time of anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day.

Lighting candles on an Advent wreath is a common practice. The wreath has four candles, each representing one of the four weeks of Advent. A new candle is lit on each Sunday leading up to Christmas, each week with the candlelight getting brighter and brighter in celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Whatever your faith, be a light for someone. Just a little spark or twinkle or showing that you care can be enough to brighten someone's day. 

“You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone — any person or any force — dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates… Release the need to hate, to harbor division and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.”

‍~ John Lewis

3rd grade art and long time memories {december 23, 2023}

The treasures you find while cleaning out a Christmas bin...

My son was in 3rd grade, studying Christmas traditions from around the world. In this drawing he incorporated Christmas in France, a Christmas carol, his anticipation of Christmas morning, and what is most touching for me is the train under the Christmas tree. My dad collected Lionel trains when he was a boy. As we grew up, the trains were always around our Christmas trees. This tradition continued with his grandchildren: Dad would bring his trains up from the basement, set them up around the tree, and let the kids be the engineers. He taught them about putting the smoke pellets in the engine smokestack, dumping the barrels at the right place in the tracks, accelerating on the straight tracks and slowing down at the curves, and the favorite - making the whistle blow. Andrew loved those trains and I love that they were and are an unforgettable tradition in his Christmas memories.

the secret heart {december 21, 2023}

The Christmas tree in downtown Dayton has more than 50,000 lights but if you look closely, just a few lights really stand out. There's a heart on of the trunk of the tree - a heart to symbolize the spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness.  

 

the neighborhood tree {december 21, 2023}

Right after Halloween, the City of Kettering decorating crews are busy stringing lights at the Lincoln Park Commons, getting ready for the Kettering Mayor's Tree Lighting on the first Friday of December. As the decorations go up, a space in the plaza is readied for the arrival of the tree that will greet the Christmas season. It's fun to watch the space transition from its fall look to the bright lights of Christmas.  

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." ~ Larry Wilde

wordy wednesday: a star in the east {december 20, 2023}

Back in its heyday, downtown Dayton bustled with people filling the streets, shopping at the many stores, going to the theater, and dining at the many fine restaurants. Christmastime was magical with all the displays in the store windows, most especially the Rike's windows. Nowadays, people celebrate and cling to the wonder years of the Rike’s department store Christmas windows, making the trip downtown to see the remnants of the past on display in the Wintergarden of the Schuster Performing Arts Center, which is on the site of the former department store. Then they walk over to the Stratacache Tower to see Virginia Kettering’s train display. One thing is certain, Dayton values tradition.

But a mile away, one quiet, humble and reverent tradition sits in the peripheral vision of Dayton residents.

There’s a star in the East (east Dayton, that is) located at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Xenia Avenue, in the Twin Towers neighborhood. Each year, on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, parish members go through the laborious task of suspending this holiday landmark between the two towers of the church. The tradition has been passed down through at least 3 generations of parish families. 

There are no cranes or cherry pickers or specialized pieces of equipment used in this job. What may seem like an old fashioned way of doing things, it’s clear that this is more about the love and community of the St. Mary’s church family than it is a task. The morning of the job starts at 8:30 with a meeting in the basement for instructions, gearing up with tools, gloves and walkie-talkies. (Of course, doughnuts and coffee are an important part of the process). The ground team prepares the star and the guide wires to hold it in place as the teams in the towers are instructed via walkie-talkie to begin cranking the attached cables, in unison, raising the star evenly between the two. A team on the ground hold onto tails of rope on the bottom points of the star to keep it from swinging and hitting the church as it’s raised. 

On a balmy winter night, T and I took a drive to Xenia Avenue to see the star. Like many urban neighborhoods, it has changed. There were a couple guys walking down the street as I was taking some photos and as they passed us, one guy mumbled, "You know what street you're on? I could beat yo ass." But they just kept walking and that Christmas star just kept shining. I looked up at the star one last time, thankful that it warmed some hearts with a little Christmas spirit.

just for fun {december 19, 2023}

It's the Great Christmas Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

One lovely October day when I went to work at the farmer's market, six giant pumpkins sitting in a row greeted me when I came to work my afternoon shift. They brought so much fun to the market - oohs and aahs from customers of all ages, wide eyes and squeals of joy from the little kids, lots of questions about how to grow a monster pumpkin.

Long story short, I brought a monster pumpkin home. It was a big hit at Halloween - a few kids took photos beside it - and it brought cheer to the Thanksgiving holiday. December arrived, the pumpkin was still going strong and I didn't want to throw it away. One day, T was putting some Christmas lights on the bushes and I thought, "Why not?" Little grandson is going to be here for Christmas and it will be fun to take a photo of him by the Christmas pumpkin. It's also brought smiles to the neighbors, the mail man, and the Amazon delivery people. Smiling puts people on the right track and makes the world a more beautiful place. We need more of that.

“Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” – Marilyn Monroe

monday's mulling: one week until christmas! {december 18, 2023}

Wow...one week until Christmas. 

Rather than stressing over the list of things to do, I try to take time to focus on the joys of the season.

One of my favorite joys is the Tree of Light at Carillon Park. This tree towers 200 feet in the air and circles around the historical carillon bell tower, brightening the Dayton skyline from many vantage points. Every so often, I like to go to the tree around 10:00 p.m. It's very quiet and peaceful and walking in the fresh air is very calming. 

Little grandson is 18 months today. Christmas is going to be so much fun with him in the house! 

first flight {december 17, 2023}

 

Wilbur and Orville Wright spent four years of research and development in Dayton, Ohio to create the first successful powered airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer. It first flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, with Orville at the controls.

At Dayton's Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center this beautiful dome in the auditorium displays the constellation the night before the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk. Their efforts and innovations christened the dawn of powered flight, propelling the United States into the international lead in the race to the sky.

another one bites the dust {december 16, 2023}

After 30 years of countless spins, my trusty, well-used, well-loved salad spinner bit the dust. Yes, it is a one-task kitchen tool that takes up space in a cupboard, but no complaints from me. It does its job so well.

Lettuce, herbs, and other greens grow close to the ground and dirt, bugs, and other grit gets on them. The greens have to be washed before one can eat them; no one wants to have a little unpleasant or unexpected crunch in their salad! Rinse the greens in the basket and let all the residue flow into the sink. Put the basket into the solid bowl and give it a spin. The centrifugal force gently but powerfully flings the water off the greens. No towel drying necessary. It's an effective and efficient kitchen tool and I hope it's not too late to ask Santa for a new one.

 

the friday feed: hambone soup

On Thanksgiving, along with the turkey we also had ham on the menu. After leftovers were sent along the way and a couple of leftover ham meals, all that remained was the hambone. We needed a break from anything that had to do with ham so into the freezer it went. Fast forward a few weeks, in anticipation of the gang being here for Christmas and needing as much freezer space as we could get, it was time to use the hambone in some soup.

This was a create-as-I-go soup.

Put the hambone in a pot with some leftover chicken broth and bring it to a boil to flavor the broth. Let the broth cool, take the hambone out, remove the meat, and add back into the broth. I went through my pantry, freezer, and veggie bin to find whatever ingredients were available to put in the soup: an onion, 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 6 baby Yukon gold potatoes, a can of rinsed cannellini beans, spinach, the rest of a bag of corn, thyme and bay leaves. Let everything come to a gentle boil and then simmer until veggies are tender. At first I didn't add any salt to the soup because of the ham and chicken broth but it did need a little bit of salt after tasting it.

The ham was a honey-baked ham and some of the sweetness made its way into the soup. A pleasant surprise.

Next up...turkey carcass soup!

joy, balance, peace {december 14, 2023}

In this joyful season of list making, shopping, decorating, baking, wrapping presents, getting ready for the family to fill the house, I get a little stressed and have made a point of going to yoga a couple times a week. As I'm driving to the studio, I'm thinking, "You should be doing this, this and this instead of going to yoga." When I'm at the studio, that hour is mine to move, breathe, and be in the moment, being grateful that I took this time to decompress and find a little balance. 

Take a little time for you to find joy, peace, and balance during this holiday season.

Namaste.

wordy wednesday...rizz {december 13, 2023}

Rizz is Oxford's Word of the Year for 2023.

I've never heard of the word.

If you're asking what "rizz" means, you're probably a generation or so older than Gen Z. (That would be me). But don't feel too left out: There's even a chance that you have rizz without actually knowing what rizz is. 

According to the Oxford University Press, “Rizz is a colloquial word, defined as style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.” As for the word’s etymology, OUP says it’s believed to have been taken from “charisma”, much like fridge derives from refrigerator.

Rizz is a term that has boomed on social media and has potential as a term of lasting cultural significance or providing a snapshot of social history. Rizz even beat out “Swiftie.”  The OUP says rizz hints at Gen Z's growing impact on society.

Photo: Getty Images

back home in ohio {december 12, 2023}

From the city that never sleeps back to quiet midwestern suburban life.

Except it wasn't so quiet in the neighborhood. My neighbor has been nursing her huge tree for quite a few years and she made the decision it was time for it to go. For four hours, the tree people trimmed, cut, loaded logs, put branches through the wood chipper, raked, used their leaf blowers, and ground the stump. It was mesmerizing to watch the men climb the trees with their saws and piece by piece watch the giant of the neighborhood fall thud  by thud to the ground.

To add to the day's excitement, the leaf pick up truck went through the 'hood in the afternoon, sucking up the big piles of leaves raked to the street. It's almost hypnotic to watch the trucks slowly hug the curb while the guys swish the vacuum over the leaves.

monday's mulling: 'tis the season to sparkle {december 11, 2023}

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style,

In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas…

Delta terminal at LGA. The trees are decked in the Delta colors.

New York Public Library

No room on the sidewalk...put the tree on the roof!

Grand Central Terminal

Peninsula Hotel...the stairway to Christmas

Celebrating one last Christmas at the old JPM Chase building before moving across the street to the new one.

Bryant Park

Rockefeller Center..."This isn't a fairy tale. It's New York City." ~ Alex Finn

One last NYC Christmas tree before going home.

transportation hub art {december 10, 2023}

One of New York’s newer subway lines, the 2nd Avenue Subway, opened on January 1, 2017 after significant delays and budget overruns. Construction originally began in 1972 but was placed on hold in 1975 because of the city's fiscal crisis, and didn’t restart again until 2007.  The new 2nd Avenue Subway runs under Second Avenue in the Upper East Side from 65th Street to 105th Street, with three new stations at 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street.

Chuck Close is the mosaic artist who designed 12 separate mosaic portraits at the 86th Street station. Close created them to reflect the diverse subway riding population.

In the C Concourse at John Glenn International Airport, Columbus, Ohio-based Donato’s Pizza brought together more than two dozen artists to create a 42’ long mural to celebrate the region’s cultural diversity and to illustrate the belief that “Every Piece Is Important.”

Two different cities in two different states with different artists celebrating a common idea, their regions’ diverse populations. As the Donato’s mural says, “Bringing people together is a lot like bringing different ingredients together on the perfect pizza." Both add richness and flavor to our lives.

Photo: PMQ Pizza Magazine