December's Days

It's the last day of the year, and the last day of December.  Around our house it feels extra celebratory because it's K.J.'s birthday eve.  This month we lit a numbered candle every night and read a Christmasy story as we counted down the days until Christmas.  The first two weeks of December were spent in semi-lockdown, but we were able to abandon filling out forms to leave the house on the 15th.  That gave us a sense of relief that we still feel when we go out now.  

Even though we couldn't do Christmas gatherings in the usual ways, we still had a really festive month.  We've learned how to connect with others safely, we sang Christmas carols and enjoyed the Parisian Christmas lights, drank chocolat chaud, and FaceTimed with family.  We watched Christmas movies all December long, and it was all in all very merry. 

December 1 - The countdown to Christmas begins.

December 2 - Golden Leaves in Paris

December 3 - Cozy Vibes

December 4 - Power Outage, Peanut Butter Sandwich by Candlelight

December 5 - Christmas on the Champs-Élysées

December 6 - Discovering New Christmas Stories

December 7 - Helping Post Christmas Cards

December 8 - Afternoon Walk

December 9 - Steeple at Sunrise

December 10 - December Roses

December 11 - Selfies with my Boy

December 12 - Pop of Color

December 13 - Gingerbread Cookies

December 14 - Rainy Day Walk

December 15 - Another Moody Walk

December 16 - Bible Study Meet-Up

December 17 - Sunset Skies

December 18 - Our Christmasy Grande Rue

December 19 - Fancy French chocolates have the flavors printed on them.

December 20 - The Beautiful Faces of EIC Rueil's Zoom Church

December 21 - Another Dr. Who Ornament for the Tree

December 22 - Our First Bûche de Noël

December 23 - When will it just be Christmas already?

December 24 - Christmas Eve Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board

December 25 - E received a journal from each of her parents.

December 26 - A Boxing Day Farewell to Friends who are Moving

December 27 - Christmas Tea with Noreen

December 28 - The First Time I've Found Ranch Dressing in France

December 29 - I spy two boys who stirred up the pigeons.

December 30 - Chimney Pots

December 31 - Presents for K.J.

May your new year be filled with hope.

If you like walks and bird-watching...

On the first of December K.J. wanted to go on a morning walk.  I wanted to go with him but wasn't quite ready so he said, "I'll go now and walk clock-wise around the park; you come when you're ready and walk counter-clock-wise, and we'll be sure to meet."  And so that is what we did.

It worked out well for us because it gave us each some moments walking alone and also some time to spend talking.  In these pandemic days, these are our dates.

Since I was meeting K.J., I didn't bring my earbuds along to listen to music or a podcast, and my walk through the town and the misty morning park was quiet.  The silence is good for my soul.  I've been reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis with E for school, and you can see how much emphasis monks in that time period put on quiet and withdrawal.  I can't help but think we need times of silence in this world of constant access to information even more than in those 15th century days  

My quiet mind gives space for me to notice the gold-domed tops of the trees hanging on to their leaves amidst all the bare branches of the crowd.

I spent some time watching this black bird fly low over the water the week before, and a quick Google this morning told me it was a cormorant.  I asked K.J. to walk toward him so I could take a picture of him in flight.  Ever the good photography assistant, he obliged, and it was satisfying to watch him spread his wings and dive into the water for a morning swim.  

There's a gaggle of geese (how fun is that to say?) that live in our park, and we got a big kick out of watching them wander to the pool in a line, jumping in one after another in an orderly manner.

Here's our cormorant friend back for his swim.

And the award for farthest traveled goes to this seagull who flew in on some salty breeze.  

I was happy I brought my big camera with me because there were some spots I'd been wanting to take pictures of that my phone can't quite capture, like the steeple of the church framed between these two trees and the rooftops of our little town.  We've had a string of cold days since just before Thanksgiving, and you can often see smoke billowing up out of a chimney or two.  This was a perfect walk to welcome December.

Signs of Spring

I learned many things while living in England, and there are many ways living there changed me.  One of those ways is my knowledge of flower bulbs and awareness of the new green shoots peeking out of the frozen earth.  They're a sign that even on the coldest, darkest days things are happening in the dark.  During the short winter days in North Yorkshire, I learned to keep time with the coming spring by watching first the snowdrops, then the crocuses, and finally the daffodils arrive.

I'm not sure how the planting of all these bulbs everywhere began; it feels like a vast conspiracy of flowers to an outsider like me.  It's not just that people have them in their gardens.  They are everywhere!

And it doesn't stop with the spring!  But we'll leave the bluebells for another time.

This morning there are great big fat snowflakes drifting down outside my window.  But Sunday night as I walked to my door after church, I noticed some green shoots peeking out of the flowerbeds, and I got excited.  Because spring is coming.

"Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light."

- Theodore Roethke -