Month: December 2012 (page 2 of 3)

We Must Look for the Good

I am not sure about writing this, I don’t know if it is a good idea to put my thoughts into words over this situation. I can’t seem to think about what exactly it is that I want to say. I am sad beyond measure for what happend at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday morning.

There came a point this weekend where we had to step away from the TV and the internet and get out of the house, I couldn’t watch it anymore, I have cried, I have been angry, I have felt sick. Mr. Michie took me to the movies to get our minds off of things and we watched a little Birthday party come in to see The Hobbit, they were about 8 or 9 years old and I thought, Birthday parties, there is something that will never happen for those little people in Connecticut again.

This story has affected both of us, we have not been sleeping and have had nightmares, in which the faces of those young children are replaced by the faces of our own students. I keep thinking about how frightened they must have been, how awful their last moments were. And then what if it happened here? I pray that Angels were with those children, that they protected them from the worst, that they surrounded them with love.

I look at our Christmas decorations and think of those little souls who won’t see that, who won’t be waking up before sunrise to see if Santa Claus has come, who won’t be giggling again, playing on the playground, swinging their legs from their seats, those little children who won’t be coming home.

Not only the children but also the adults who won’t be coming home as well. They all set out, thinking this was just an ordinary day. It was Friday, they had weekend plans, they had Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, homework to do, it was just any other day.

But it wasn’t, this one stone dropped in the pool and rippled, this one decision made by this person, a choice we might never know the answer too, has changed the course of all of their lives forever.

I am always saddened by loss, but somehow the loss of children, of a sweet innocent being, a life wide open, a flame sputtering out is one of the saddest losses of all. I can’t comprehend  why someone would do this.

One of my favorite movies is an older movie called, Where the Heart Is, it stars Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. After Ashley Judd’s character is beaten up by her boyfriend and her children abused by him she moves in with Natalie Portman and Judd asks Portman, “What do I tell my children about what happened?” To which Portman replies: “You tell them that our lives can change with every breath we take… and tell ’em to hold on like hell to what they’ve got: each other… You tell them we’ve all got meanness in us, but we’ve got goodness too. And the only thing worth living for is the good. And that’s why we’ve got to make sure we pass it on.”

We must pass it on, tell someone you love them, smile at a stranger, listen to someone, ask someone how they are and mean it!

I pray for those children and the school staff who lost their lives, I pray for their family and friends and classmates. I know it is not an easy task but it is times like these that we must walk in faith, all we can do is pray, is offer comfort, is offer hope. We must still believe in miracles, still believe that good exists, that Love abounds. We must have hope that a brighter day will dawn.

Our Day

Mr. Michie and I each went our own ways yesterday to run errands and do a little Christmas shopping before we met up again to see, The Hobbit. It was wonderful, Peter Jackson has done such a fantastic job of tying everything in so far, the links between this and The Lord of the Rings was very nicely done.

While I was getting ready, Mr. Michie snapped this on his phone, I thought it was cute, so I am posting it. I love that he will set up a little scene and take a picture. This is a mini Yoda from a Happy Meal we have had for ages, he is a “magic 8 ball” Yoda and lives in the kitchen:

The sunrise:

An afternoon snack, the strawberry jam filled snowman for me and the chocolate praline fudge cake for Mr. Michie:

Dessert:

 

The Whole Story


I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.  ~Andrew Wyeth

Frosted

Last night there was a fog “as thick as pea soup!”, as they say. The visibility in some areas was non-existent. We were lucky we could see the bus coming. We got home and the candle glowing in our window was a welcoming sight!

We stayed bundled up last night. Mr. Michie graded papers and I worked on a scarf I am knitting while talking to my sister (via Skype) and listening to Christmas music in between.

The fog cleared in the night but the dampness combined with the cold air has left a glorious frost on everything. All the trees and plants and rooftops and grass was covered in a sparkle of frostiness this morning, all highlighted by a blue gray sky.

Even the cobwebs along the fence posts were crystallized. It was like something out of science book, watching crystals form and grow. The frost shot off of the branches in sharp little points, like iced needles.

The world was magical this morning and I am blessed that I got to see it.

Christmas at the Cottage

I thought I would share with you a little taste of Christmas in the cottage. Shot with an 8mm app on Mr. Michie’s phone. I was trying to keep the camera slightly jumpy and a little off skew, to mimic old home movie reels from the 50’s and 60’s.

Enjoy!

Winter Greetings

It was a little warmer today, but the look of snow is in the sky. One of my favorite movies is on, The Family Stone and the lights and candles are lit in the cottage.

The dryer is humming away in the background, it is just a quiet Sunday afternoon. We are catching our breath before the new week begins.

Gummi Bears

Gummi Bears in all their edible and watchable glory must be in the air this week as not only did I see the extremely talented Alicia Keys sing this on Jimmy Fallon:

I also saw this “candelier” on the Colossal Blog site:

Compiled with over 3,000 acrylic Gummi Bears this chandelier made by Kevin Champeny, is pretty wacky. You would have to have the right house for it to fit in, I know, but there is just something extraordinary about this glowing piece of “art”.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

It is cold outside. The windowpanes were frosted this morning when we woke up, but the sunrise was gloriously greeting us as we headed to school. The sky was filled with pinks, peaches and hues of lemony yellows. It quickly turned into a violet gray and began to get darker and darker.

We arrived at school and I went upstairs to the Art department to get ready for our second day of exams, I had to run an errand at the front of the school and as I went downstairs and headed for the door the sky had gone from a violet gray to a charcoal white and snow was billowing down in great puffy pom-pom shaped balls.

I felt like Lucy from “Charlie Brown”, I wanted to dip my head back, lift my face to the sky and stick my tongue out and catch them. It lasted for only an hour or so and unfortunately didn’t stick, but it made my morning.

I have been listening to Christmas music all day today in the cupboard and I thought I would share an album I really like with you, enjoy!