creative forces

Blog# 53…January 2016

One Christmas is so much like the others that I can never remember whether the year the cat knocked over the tree in the middle of the night was before or after the year the raccoon licked the whipped cream off the trifle, outside the back door because the frig was full.   The warmth of people we love, the melancholy of missing the ones, alas no longer with us, everything glittery and buttery and excessive, Scrooge and Bing Crosby, it all gives us a sense of permanence.

Now it’s over and we’re back to old clothes and porridge (as my Scottish great grandmother apparently used to say).   I’m always tempted to go small - eat and drink less and appreciate some subtle and simple things around me so here goes…

We always make devilled eggs for Christmas Eve in memory of our dear friend Natalie who used to arrive with a platter of them in tow - no matter how many she brought, they all disappeared in a wink. This year we opened one of our boiled egg to find twins…seemed they were probably a lucky omen of some sort, maybe from Natalie.   Before anyone else had a chance, with a smirk, Julia and I  et them.  That’s not a typo btw, I listened many times to A Child’s Christmas in Wales and Dylan Thomas’s language has crept into mine.

Having a good book to read over the holidays is always important to me, and this year it’s A Strangeness in my Mind by Orhan Pamuk. Set in modern Turkey, it follows a young boy from the hills of Anatolia into the bustle of Istanbul. Pamuk’s style is precise and descriptive (I sometimes feel as if I’m watching paint dry) but right now I find the detail somehow comforting and relaxing.

Other small things further from home…customers at a coffee shop in Austin Texas have their mornings brightened by the designs created in the frothy milk by  barista John Ingham. He has a large repertoire and often performs to order.

                                                

Lauren Rapp, in Washington DC makes tiny chairs out of found objects (like ice cream sandwiches!).  She's part of a 365 project where people make or do something different each day of the year.

A love of vintage furniture led her to make her first chair and she's never looked back.

I’ve consciously kept my blog from descending into personal trivia - you’re not interested in the latest concoction I’ve made from leftover turkey - but I’ve indulged myself a bit in this one, feeling the need to lighten the mood as we enter the new year.  There’s lots to be serious about and I’ll be going there d’rectly (as they say in Cornwall).

No sign of our Iraqi family yet.  We’re very lucky to have an Arab speaker in our group so we're getting to know each other through telephone conversations, reassuring them that we're here to support them when they arrive.  As for the family, they’re preparing by learning English and being alert for the government interviews that will precede their approval to come to Canada. Stay tuned.