Peace

The snow falls softly

Through the dawn

While we keep 

Our covers on.

We look outside

When we awake

Sipping steaming tea.

All is quiet when

At dawn it snows 

Let this peace

Please stay with me.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all you have to do?

Let me tell you this, my friend: I feel that way too.

Maybe we should take a breath and clear our busy minds,

Remembering that those we love want with us to spend time.

Gifts and cookies are very nice as well as decorations,

But just being happy with each other is a stunning revelation.

The Christmas season is supposed to be one of peace. Yet how many of us actually feel peaceful? I'm struggling just as much as anybody with that concept. We seem to have created a season of stress and chaos instead of joy and peace. There are expectations we put on ourselves and others that cause us to feel overwhelmed and inadequate. It seems as if this has become a time when over abundance is what we strive for. If you buy into what the media, both mainstream and social, tell us, sugar cookies with colored sugar on them and a nice meal of perhaps roasted turkey and vegetables isn't good enough. No! Your cookies must be elaborate works of art, that turkey dinner needs ten fancy side dishes with it. Your Christmas tree must be color schemed and the gifts underneath it need fancy bows and rhinestones! Ummm, how does all this lavishness relate to Christ? He had the humblest of beginnings, and as far as I can tell from my limited time spent in bible study groups lived a humble life trying to spread the message of love and peace. Yet here I sit early on Christmas Eve morning in the soft glow of my Christmas tree thinking of everything I "must" do today to be ready for tomorrow. There is no quieting the voice in my head telling me to get moving and get it all done. I think many of us struggle with this every day of the year--the feeling that we need to do and have more--and during this season even more so. Yet when I look back on the past, I don't remember the food, or how the cookies looked, or the bows on the gifts. I remember the feelings of being loved, and having enough, and the inner peace that comes from that.  As I sit here by my tree which is decorated with a mixture of decorations both hand-made by us over our lives and store bought (some that were my mother's and graced my childhood trees, others were gifts), I wish for you a peaceful, loving Christmas. May you also have enough.

Christmas Frenzy

Frenzied days and sleepless nights

We all twirl round and round

Rushing through our daily tasks

Feet pounding on the ground.

We try to fit in all the fun

Alongside all our work.      

We rush and go without a break

Risking our common sense and peace,

Take the time to sip some tea

And savor some cookies or cake.

Christmas comes then Christmas goes

Do we enjoy it while it’s here?

Or before it’s over do we start to plan

Everything we will do for next year?

         I feel like the time goes so fast between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.  As if somehow time speeds up, and the hours have fewer minutes in them.  With all the things I want to do to make things special for those I care about in addition to all the regular tasks I do every day, I can barely find time for relaxing, reading, writing, watching a movie, or playing a game.  This year I find myself needing to choose between things that are on the same day and I can’t possibly do both.  I want to do them all but of course I can’t be in two places at once.  I am sorry I have to miss any of them!  I also find that I am so tired that I must turn down invitations because I just can’t have an event to attend every single day or evening.  Such is the quandary of the person with a life full of family and friends.  How lucky I am to have to choose between things to do, even if I feel extra stressed by making that decision.  I can’t imagine if I had no invitations, no concerts to attend, no friends to hug, and no family to care for. I don’t think that situation would be stress free, I think I would feel empty and on edge trying to fill up my time.  I hope I never find out how that would feel; I hope I always have people around me to have fun with, and care about.  The people in my life are the reason for merriment, cookie baking, gift buying, and decorating; to share with others is my favorite thing about Christmas.

Holiday Thoughts

Time is passing so quickly and we are now into December!  I kept meaning to post on here but somehow things just didn't work out that way. A broken iPhone, broken refrigerator and all the general busyness of life kept me away from this.  I did, however manage to compose a few poems for my Facebook page.  So here they are with a few thoughts about each one.



When everything is said and done,

And things are figured out,

You'll find it's who you see each day,

That really, truly counts,

All the anger will subside,

We'll live our lives as we must,

Love your family and your friends,

They're the ones that you can trust.

**I wrote this one the evening of the election, before watching any of the results coverage.  I confess to being unhappy with the results and removed the post the next morning as I was finding it hard to feel the way the poem suggests.  Now that we are a few weeks past that and trying to move forward I can say that I do feel that way again.  However, I have much concern about what will happen in the future in our country.  Hopefully there are enough sensible heads helping to keep things going in a positive direction.**

Thanksgiving Ditty

May your turkey be moist 

And your stuffing be yummy 

May you have enough food

To fill up your tummy

May goodness surround you,

Your loved ones as well,

And thankfulness fill you 

To make your heart swell.

**So I skipped ahead to Thanksgiving because that seems to be how things went, we recovered a bit from the election and suddenly it was time to prepare for the feast.  We had a very nice time, although tinged with a bit of sadness from missing Alison. Her sudden death the end of August has left the family feeling a bit off balanced.  Seeing my brother and his kids making their way forward through the grief of losing his wife and the children's mother is as heartbreaking as it sounds. The holidays will be  especially difficult for them. Still, we were all glad to be together for the day.**

Are you making turkey soup?

Or shopping 'till you drop?

Perhaps you're watching football

Or wielding broom and mop?

Perhaps you're working at your job

And helping others out

Or maybe you are reading?

Well whatever you're about

I hope this day's a good one

And you get some time to rest

Don't forget that in yourself 

Some time you should invest.

**This was written the day after Thanksgiving, on so called "Black Friday"".  I did not go near a mall, and never do. Since I host Thanksgiving every year, I take that day to rest and putter around the house cleaning up from the big event and putting away the holiday dishes, silver, pots and pans. I also take some time for myself and work a nap into the afternoon since I'm exhausted from all the preparations. I wouldn't change a thing, though. I love hosting Thanksgiving! The leftovers are nice, too!**

Thanksgiving's over

The feast is done

Just turkey soup remains

The rush has started

With the shopping and stress

Of Christmas and New Year's again

Shouldn't we pause

And take some time 

To enjoy everything we plan?

To consider the meaning

Of the season we love

Before it all comes to an end?

**The Monday after the Thanksgiving break is a tough one for me. Getting motivated and returning to work are challenging  enough but then thinking about getting all the Christmas preparations started feels overwhelming.  It all seems so rushed knowing that the biggest holiday of the year is bearing down and there are only 4 short weeks in which to shop, wrap, decorate, send packages and cards, bake cookies, attend parties and concerts, visit friends, and prepare for another family gathering. Yes, I host Christmas dinner as well. It's easier with Hillary and I do enjoy having everyone here.  So, I try to slow down and simplify and enjoy all the things that make this a meaningful time--extra time with family and friends, and thinking of how Christmas came to be in the first place through the birth of Christ. It's not easy to avoid getting caught up in the frenzy of this season, but it is important to try because daily life is stressful enough without adding unnecessary and unreal expectations to it in the name of Christmas. It's supposed to be a time of peace.  I'm trying. I hope you will too.**

Halloween Thoughts

Here are a couple of Halloween themed poems from my Facebook page, followed by a couple thoughts about the holiday. I hope you enjoy them.

Many moons ago

I was a kid,

Trick-or-treating on Halloween

Is what we did,

It wasn't done before

Nor after,

Just one day

Was all we asked for,

Now towns seem to

Change the rules,

Some don't have it

In their schools,

The whole thing is 

Now so complex,

When are the kids coming?

Just guess your best!

****************************

It was early in the morning

With the water running warm

When the creature stalked its prey

And a new fear was born.

The unsuspecting victim

Began to wash her hair,

Looking up she saw it

And it gave her quite a scare.

Cowering in the corner,

No weapons at the ready

She struggled to be calm,

To keep her breathing steady.

With one eye on the creature

She grabbed whate're she had,

The menacer soon realized 

The only option that it had.

It fast began retreating

Back from whence it came,

Our heroine amazed

That her washcloth saved the day.

-----------------------------------------

Halloween is a strange holiday. It has become an excuse to let your weird show and collect candy. Some people love the scary aspect of it; I prefer the cuter side. Little kids in cute costumes are delightful, teenagers and adults dressed as zombies or the Grim Reaper are not. It has also gotten to be oneof those  things that is celebrated for more than just the one day. There are community events, parties, school celebrations and some schools not celebrating during regular hours. One  thing is for sure: either you're into it, or you're not. I could do without it. Now, on to November!

9/11 Remembered

It is a day that shook us up as a nation. Living here, 50 miles from NYC, and about an 8 hour drive from the other points of impact, it was and is tough to avoid all those horrible images. I admit that I can only look at them on the tv or in print so many times before I cannot look any more. Because I watched it as it happened and those raw images are forever embedded in my memory. What I also remember are the events of my personal day. 

It was a day like any other, at the beginning of the school year. Hillary had just started her second year attending our town's middle school. That morning I drove to the school and dropped off some of her supplies that I didn't send on the bus with her. Since I still had nearly an hour before reporting to work in the kitchen of one of our elementary schools I went back home. I turned on the news and saw what I thought was old footage of the early 1990's attack on the World Trade Center when a car bomb exploded in the underground garage. But the news anchors were the (at the time) current ones. The time was a little past nine and as my brain tried to process what I was seeing and hearing, the second plane hit the second tower. My mouth gaped, my stomach froze, and I struggled to comprehend what I was seeing and hearing from the tv. All I could think to do was go to work, although I called my husband first because where he worked there was no tv and generally too much noise to hear the radio. He was, of course, shocked by what I told him. 

When I got to work, the ladies that I work with were trying frantically to get in contact with their loved ones. L's oldest daughter lived in Manhattan, and M's husband worked there. At the time, cell phones were not as ubiquitous nor as advanced as they are now, so it was more difficult to contact people. They eventually were able to get in touch with them, but leaned on each other throughout the day as events unfolded. Although staff members were aware of the attacks, the principal did not want the young children told. Our custodian turned on the big screen tv in the lunchroom and as I did my job filling the vending machines we watched as the towers fell, people ran, and reports came in about the Pentagon and the crash in Pennsylvania. I recall seeing staff members in the hallway crying, hugging each other. The children were as they usually were. As we left work that day, the skies were eerily silent. Generally there are jets on their way to and from NYC and area airports, as well as the occasional single engine plane or helicopter. Only birds were flying that day and in the next few days to come. Our town lost a paraprofessional from one of our elementary schools that day on one of the flights, neighboring towns lost citizens who were employed in offices at the towers. Most towns around here have 9/11 memorials. Most also sent first responders to help in the aftermath. I don't know about other parts of the country, but in this area, the impact was huge, and is felt keenly to this day.