Day 27, Another Year Over

Day 25, Merry Christmas

Christmas, circa 1972

That's me on the floor in the red dress.
I loved that red dress. It was velvet and bright red.

May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmas wishes come true!

Day 24, Christmas Eve

Day 23 A Look Back

The holidays are hard. It's not easy to make everyone happy. There is too much pressure to make it perfect. Too much stress and not enough time. Too much of everything. I feel like I'm barely keeping it together, ready to burst into tears or run for the hills at any moment. I want my kids to experience the magic I remember from childhood. I'm sure my parents must have been under the same kind of pressure, but they made it look easy.

I never knew.

I hope my kids don't see the cracks. I hope they remember the miracles. I'll take a minute here and now to remember the best moments from this year. The ones that make me smile the hardest. The ones that help me keep it together for just a minute longer....











Merry Christmas to you all and may 2010 be as bright and shiny as a new penny!

Day 21, Morning Sky

I live my life in growing orbits,
which move out from the things of this world.
Perhaps I can never achieve the last,
but that will be my attempt.
I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for a thousand years.
And I still don't know if I am a falcon,
or a storm, or a great song.

--Rainer Maria Rilke (tr. Robert Bly)

Day 20

Day 19

Impatiently waiting . . . .

Day 18

1 week until the old man arrives . . . the stockings are hung by the chimney with care and two little boys had better beware! Best behavior!!!

Day 17: The Light of Friendship

I joined this challenge today. A photo from the archives and gratitude for the friendships that sustain me. . .




" Light and darkness. Darkness makes us feel that we are nothing and can do nothing, that we are useless. Light makes us feel that we are everything, that we can do everything, that we can become everything. " --Sri Chinmoy

December Views, 12

HOLIDOG

December Views, 9

Lunch with a friend = $16
Parking and coffee in Montclair = $10
Seeing the world through her eyes = priceless

Day 8

Day 7

The New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Show
my favorite thing to do every year to get in the holiday spirit




Now in its seventeenth year, visitors to the Holiday Train Show get a birds-eye view of nearly 150 miniaturized five borough landmarks (including the Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Terminal, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the Bronx's own Yankee Stadium) that are brilliantly recreated entirely from natural materials like twigs, seeds, tree bark, and berries. More than a dozen model trains, from late-1800s steam engines to modern high-speed passenger trains, make their way throughout the recreated landscape.

December Views, 4, 5, and 6

Away for a long weekend so I have to lump them all together . . .

4





5






6

Day 3

I had to share a little piece of this gorgeous day. It's almost 70 degrees here in New Jersey today. A small gift from Mother Nature before the cold of winter. Blue sky, bright sun, happy day.

Day 2

Day 1