News Trend This Powerful Gift|Actual

This is the tree where he sat and watched us walk by.

Ranger had posed at the same place earlier this fall.

Just as before, what I noticed first was a silent movement in the darkness.

A flurry of black shapes flitted across deep shadows.

I thought I was seeing a cluster of autumn leaves blown across the grass.

But wait. There was no wind.

In the split second that my mind pondered the contradiction, the fluttering darkness rose up from the ground and lit on a low branch of the nearby tree.

Soundlessly, Without so much as a hint of a whisper.

My skin burst out in a thousand tiny prickles.

And that is when I knew.

My owl was back.

Or more correctly, I was back to walking in the cover of darkness. Through the long days of summer and early fall, Ranger and I enjoyed our walks during the extended hours of daylight. Since we turned our clocks back last weekend, and the days grow shorter as the solstice draws near, our afternoon adventures veer closer to twilight. On this particular day, we'd left home later than usual and darkness had fallen completely.

My owl was just where I had seen him three times last winter, apparently still thriving on this schoolyard hunting ground.

He - or she - perched silent and still on the branch as we quietly walked past, oblivious Ranger with his nose in the bushes on the other side of the drive, me tingling from head to toe and trying to still the pounding of my heart.

My owl never moved.

As I walked on, still in a state of mystic shock, I pondered the fact that although I have had my fair share of wildlife encounters, I've never experienced anything so exhilarating, so mystifying, so profoundly spiritual as the sightings of my owl.

And I thank God for this powerful gift.

* * * * *

For more stories about my owl, read these:

Vast and Beautiful Mysteries Of Life

Burung Hantu

The Third Time

News Trend Lighting Candles|Actual

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Last weekend, I drew up plans for a simple sconce made from pallet wood and set my husband to work. I'm happy with the finished effect.

Walking through this world has been wearing me down lately.

There is darkness.

There is hate.

There is a never-ending sense that we are all swimming upstream against a torrent of negativity and evil and no matter how hard we try

to smile

to bring a kind word and a positive thought

to love one another

our efforts come to precious little.

I feel tired. Maybe you do too.

Let's give ourselves permission

to slow down

to enjoy quiet comforts

to feel a little bit afraid.

But we must never stop.

Because we are making a difference.

That's why we are tired.

Changing the world is hard work.

Our task is not to give up. Nor are we asked to burn down the wicked world overnight.

What we can do - what we must do - is light a candle every day and let our tiny flames chase away the darkness.

Let's be honest. I'm obsessed with candles and you'll find them burning all around my house. But I love most to keep one or two lit in the hallway, just inside the front door. And I imagine that every time I open my door, a tiny bit of light slips out into the night.

* * * * *

My project was inspired by this tutorial. Thanks for the great idea!

News Trend White Christmas|Actual

The decking of the Streicher halls is officially underway. Today's progress:

^ I'm feeling so much white this year. With my ubiquitous paper snowflakes. A pair of fuzzy sheepskins, and white candles for dayz, the room is slowly capturing that pure and simple Christmas spirit that I crave.

^ Last January, I was inexplicably inspired to buy three strings of paper lanterns. I'll confess I had absolutely no idea how I would use them but their white simplicity spoke to me.

Today I pulled them in from the garage and showed them to my third-born, who took one look and created this scheme of three curving lines. Just exactly what I needed.

As the afternoon progressed, my table full of mostly white baubles and bangles slowly emptied until just this item remained: a tiny white box of bold mini bulbs. Just this one splash of color, I told myself, will take this igloo look to the next level.

Pour them in a bowl,

spill them across a shelf,

string them from a doorknob.

But you know what? I couldn't do it.

Nothing looks cuter to me than those tiny ornaments tucked into that perfect, tidy - and yes, very white - storage box.

Looks like I'm headed for an all-white Christmas this year.

News Trend Brain Food|Actual

It's not much to look at, but I'm telling you, this stuff works miracles.

On my busy teaching days, my brain gets quite a workout. Driving from house to house to house, I meet with my students for intensive sessions that cover a lot of material at an aggressive pace.

Fractional exponents

Abstract equations

Rationalizing denominators

Completing the square

Linear vectors

Circular permutations

Between delivering lectures, working examples, troubleshooting homework problems, and administering weekly quizzes, my cerebral cortex wears itself out pretty quickly.

In order to make it through the day, I need a lunch to nourish those overworked synapses, and I have found the perfect cure.

PCC's Perfect Protein Salad totally does the trick. Living up to its prideful name, one serving of this magical stuff - typically wolfed down with a compostable plastic spoon behind the wheel of my car in the store parking lot - restores my clarity and sets me right for my afternoon sessions.

And on the days when I am really feeling ruffled, I grab a second serving to eat - all calm and collected - when I'm back at home.

Both my brain and my stomach thank me for it.

News Trend Coming: Week 1|Actual

Festive lights peek through the trees and remind me what's coming.

What a wild Thanksgiving weekend.

I cooked and served a full turkey dinner twice: once for the family and again for friends.

Drove more than 150 miles for teriyaki and sushi.

Ferried my daughters back and forth to the mall all times of day and night for their Black Friday shifts.

Walked my shivering dog through windstorms and cold rain.

Watched the new Gilmore Girls. Twice.

Bit my nails through several football games and suffered as my teams lost more than they won.

Washed more dishes than you could shake a stick at.

Come Sunday night, I was thankful...But worn out.

It wasn't until everyone else went to bed and I had a few moments to rest and reflect that I remembered that this day - this night - is the first Sunday of Advent.

Christmas is coming.

Not the shopping-for-gifts, pictures-with-Santa, deck-the-halls kind of Christmas. Though that season is racing toward us at breakneck speed as well.

What I remembered is that God's gift of peace, power and majesty to all the world is coming, once again, Baby Jesus in the manger is whispering to me, "I'm coming," and my heart leaps with joy.

All the busy-ness of my Thanksgiving weekend disappears in a snap, and I am

refreshed

rejuvenated

resplendently excited

for the coming of Christmas.

News Trend Timeless Thanksgiving|Actual

Clockwise from the top: green bean casserole, acorn squash, dressing, turkey, cranberry sauce. I didn't grow the vegetables in my own garden, but otherwise, this is pretty much the same meal that Clara used to serve me.

As usual, during my Thanksgiving dinner today, I thought of my grandmother. She and my grandpa hosted most of our holiday meals as I was growing up, so her table set the benchmark in my brain for how Thanksgiving is supposed to look, taste, sound, smell, and feel.

Good food prepared in simple style.

A table set with pretty pieces.

Generous helpings and lots of plate passing.

Comfortable conversation.

And a hostess who puts everyone at ease.

I never realized before how much I try to walk in my grandmother's ways, but one look at my holiday table proves the depth of her impression on me. And I think that if, just once, my grandmother could join us, our Thanksgiving feast would make her feel right at home.

There's only one lebih jelasnya she would probably struggle to understand.

Let's call it...The Instagram effect.

News Trend Prince-ly Presents|Actual

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. -Newton's Third Law

My bookshelf is filling up with copies of the Prince.

The exchanges began almost two years ago

I had just restyled my family room bookcases and shared the story here in these pages.

You can read the original posthere.

In one of the photo captions, I mentioned that I'd love to have a copy of The Little Prince in Spanish, affectionately known by my high school self as El Principito.

Little did I know that a lovely Spanish lady would soon read those words. But so she did, and the kind and generous Mónica reached out to me and offered to send me a copy.

I said yes in a heartbeat.

Once I held that adorable muchacho in my very own hands, I wanted to return the favor. Monica had told me that her daughter collectedThe Little Prince books in different languages, and since I was soon on my way to Vietnam. I decided to make it my mission to find a copy for her there.

Alas, no Vietnamese Princes were to be found. So I settled for a TaiwanesePrince, which I discovered at an airport bookstore during my layover in Taipei. Off it went to Mónica's hija in Spain.

A few months later, on a shopping trip to Hoi An. my daughter came across a copy of the Vietnamese version and snatched him up for me. Eventually, that Prince made his way to España as well.

This past summer, Mónica and her family holidayed in the south of France, and thoughtfully purchased a copy of the French Prince for me.

If you would like to send me a book from your country too, just ask. I'll certainly say yes.

He arrived in my mailbox just this week, along with a gingerbread house ornament and a sweet Christmas greeting from my dear Spanish amiga.

I'm thrilled to add another volume to my rapidly expanding collection.

I'm delighted to have such a special friend and interesting, international ritual.

And since my third-born will soon be moving to South Korea, I'm already planning my next Prince-ly present for Mónica.