News Trend Today|Actual

"It'll be alright when the morning comes." - Hall & Oates

Early morning view of the Shoshone River in Cody, Wyoming, just east of Yellowstone.

As expected, I woke up this morning feeling perfectly normal.

No, I'd go so far as to say better than normal.

Construction, reflection and other forms of organized chaos greet the day in Singapore.

Ready to get on my game, organized and rested, I tackled the first day of school after Christmas break with equal parts I-missed-this-lovely-routine and next-stop-is-spring-break.

And even though last night - the night before the first day back - was the absolute rock bottom of my annual emotional cycle, I knew my funk wouldn't last.

Sunrise over the South China Sea near Danang, Vietnam.

Sometimes, a good night's sleep makes all the difference in the world.

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend Christmas Fulfilled |Actual

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful."

- Norman Vincent Peale

When I was young, I used to prepare for Christmas as if I were making a month-long forced march up a steep, unrelenting mountain trail. Chores, obligations, and foot-long to-do lists weighed down my every step. And when I finally reached the mountain-top high of the season on Christmas Day, I felt like I had just a moment to admire the view. The day was over in a snap, and at midnight, I had no choice but to leap from the summit, falling back to earth with a bone-crunching thud and a litter of credit card bills.

This makes me sad, for this is not how Christmas was meant to be.

Or maybe the season of Christmas is like a rose. In early December, tightly furled buds appear and slowly grow to maturity within their closed petals.

I now understand that the month of preparation - called Advent - is meant to be a joyous affair in its own right. Rather than a death march; Advent compares to a peaceful hike up a mountainside where my expended effort is offset by immediate satisfaction as well as mounting excitement over what is still to come.

Rather than packing all the festivities into a brief 24-hour pause on December 25, I now celebrate Christmas Day as the high point of the twelve-day-long festival of Christmastide. The joy of the season plays out slowly and satisfyingly over the days, and I can take the time to breathe and relax and soak up the experience.

Those extra eleven days feel to me like a ride back down the mountain in an aerial cable car.

I'm still enraptured with the glory of the mountaintop high while slowly and almost imperceptibly, the cable car carries me through the forest tree tops and flurrying snowflakes toward the solid ground - still far below - of everyday life.

On Christmas morning, the petals finally open to reveal the layers and ruffles of a perfectly formed blossom. But on that first day, we get just a glimpse of the flower's full potential as it has yet to completely unfold.

Just as the Twelve Days of Christmas draw to a close, the feast of Epiphany arrives on January 6.

That's today.

This day, which celebrates the three kings' visit to the newborn baby Jesus, marks the resolution of the Christmas season. As my family celebrated tonight with homemade soup and one last round of simple gifts, I felt the cable car of Christmas gently bump down at its landing point. I heard the doors whoosh open, allowing me to disembark in peace; I smelled the sharp scent of pine still in the air, fainter than before but still crisp and clear, reminding me that the gifts of Christmas are mine to take with me as I step off into the new year.

The full Twelve Days of Christmas allow our rose to bloom luxuriantly, petals fully rolled back in its abundant glory, playing out every moment of its indescribably beauty until at last we are satisfied, and the flower gently fades.

This -this - is how Christmas is meant to be.

I'm glad I finally learned.

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

And Epiphany too.

News Trend Happy Twelfth Day Of Christmas|Actual

"There's only now, t here's only here

Give in to love  o r live in fear

No other path, n o other way

No day but today."

- Idina Menzel

This year, instead of making New Year's resolutions, I adopted a New Year's theme.

Resolutions, as we all well know, are rules that take the shape of fussy dos and don'ts, often particular, picky and difficult to perform.Three weeks in, we've broken them all and once the guilt wears off, the whole exercise is blessedly forgotten.

A theme, by contrast, is a unifying idea that provides inspiration and guidance, priority and direction.

Simply put, themes are to carrots as resolutions are to sticks, and I personally can get excited about that distinction.

So. My 2016 theme did not fall from the sky on January 1; it's been growing in my head for the past few months and finally came tumbling out in fully formed sentences:

This is the point in my life when I am no longer content to wait for things to happen.

Though my life is good, my head and heart are full of dreams and I want to make them all come true.

I need to find ways to bring my dreams to life without using my modest finances as a barrier, or an excuse to delay.

No one knows how much life lies ahead of them. I want to use every minute I have, and when the day comes that I've run out of time, I want to look back with no regrets.

There is no day but today for making my dreams come true.

Yes, I know this sounds very Eat, Pray, Love, and while I'm most certainly in favor of roaming the world and eating pasta, my theme also has repercussions on a much smaller level.

Take today, for instance.

Months ago, I read about a genius idea for marking all those ubiquitous white charging cords and power blocks that lie around our post-modern homes with little snippets of washi tape, so that each person in the household can sort out one another's property.

Well. my charging paraphernalia is constantly intermingled with my daughters' accessories, and I own several rolls of washi tape. The project would take zero dollars and five minutes to complete, and would save me at least that much time every single day of my life.

Still, many moons have passed, and I've never bothered to make that simple task happen.

Until today.

There was nothing special about today. As usual, I ran across a stray cord on the kitchen counter, puzzled over whose it might be, and then thought for the millionth time about that washi tape idea. But today, as I laid down the cord and began to move away, the words of my theme rang out in my head:

No day but today.

Fast forward a few minutes, and the job was done. I cannot describe the satisfaction and pleasure I feel every time I notice the little polka dotted tags on my gear.

Yes, they do make my life easier.

But much more importantly, they remind me that my theme for this year is powerful and good and true.

There really is no day but today.

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend Getaway|Actual

"What's it like up there? How's it feel up there?"

- The Music

As the rhythms of my holiday celebrations reverberate through the Twelve Days of Christmas, I find that I am sorely in need of a break.

And when my second-born suggested that we head up into the mountains to look for some snow, the perfect opportunity was presented.

Along with my fourth-born, we set of on a New Year's Eve afternoon getaway.

^ We cruised up Highway 2 toward Stevens Pass, a very familiar route, and decided to turn off on all the mysterious side roads that we have up till now ignored in our mad pursuit of the Pass.

Impetuously, we veered off the highway just before the tunnel, toward Money Creek Campground. The campground was firmly locked down for the winter but just beyond, we found golden sunlight, quiet lanes and friendly snow folk to greet us.

^  A few miles further east, we wandered around Skykomish. The closest incorportated area to Stevens Pass, I've always assumed Skykomish is nothing more than a gas station along the main road. Surprisingly, we found a viable little town there, with a library and a small grocery and plenty of well-stocked woodsheds.

If I had an extra hundred grand lying around, I would scoop up a little house there in a heartbeat.

^ Turning the car downhill as the afternoon shadows lengthened, we made time for one more adventure which turned out to be my favorite one of the day. Little Index, another blink-and-you-miss-it mountain town afforded showstopping views of nearby Mount Index, a fantastic old trestle bridge, and icicles to die for.

* * * * *

We watched the last sunset of 2015 as we rolled back into town. While much of the world was gearing up for the biggest party night of the year, my daughters and I leaned back into the quiet calm of a day spent exploring in snowy mountains.

We didn't need a party. We'd already had something much better.

A getaway.

This song is about a different kind of getaway - even more powerful and profound than mine.

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend Imagine|Actual

My daughter in Vietnam She is not the bride.

Imagine that your third-born baby girl lives all on her own on the other side of the world, 7028 miles away from you.

[I know. That alone is a legitimate mind bender, am I right?]

Now imagine that her employer somehow neglected to arsip the necessary paperwork, and her visa has expired.

Imagine that her boss calls her to inform her of this fact, and tells her that as a temporary condition of the renewal process, she must leave the country immediately.

Imagine that she takes this in stride, figuring that in her considerable network of Southeast Asian friends and acquaintances, there must be someone who could take her in for a week.

But as phone call after email is sent and returned, all her options fade away and her employer suggests she wait out the week in Laos.

Laos.

[You do not need to imagine this part because you know for a fact that Laos is not a reasonable place for a young white American woman to visit on her own.]

So imagine that you step in and say to your daughter, Wait. Are you comfortable with that plan? And she says No. Not at all.

So you wrack your brain trying to imagine another solution and then bingo. You come up with a brilliant idea.

Me in Malaysia.

Now, imagine messaging your best Malaysian friend and two-time host out of the blue on a Saturday morning, saying I need your help. Please Skype me ASAP.

And he calls and you say, Hey, would you please let my daughter come and stay with you for a week...Starting tomorrow?

Imagine watching his face as this request settles into his brain. Deep in thought and justifiably bewildered, he rubs his head, blinks hard a few times, takes a deep breath and says, Yes. Of course. Don't worry.

Imagine the overwhelming relief that immediately floods your soul.

* * * * *

And now remember, as you rarely do, that

he is Muslim and you are Christian.

He is from Malaysia and you are American.

His skin is the color of coffee with cream and yours is pale white.

But you know that none of those differences affect this situation one little bit.

Because this is not a matter of

religion or

culture or

racism or

white privilege or

global terrorism or

violence in the Middle East.

This is simply a matter of two friends who share one world and help each other out.

And please, imagine with me how amazing our world would be if we could always live this way.

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will live as one.

News Trend Do You Remember?|Actual

Earliest known picture of my mom holding baby me.

When I show her this photo, she remembers.

I spoke to my mom on January 1. My birthday.

Four months had passed since our last contact. She can no longer use a phone, so our conversations are few and far between..

And during that time, her mind has obviously traveled much farther along the road from this life to the next. She tried to participate in our conversation and although her comments were mostly unintelligible, I knew she could understand perfectly well what I was saying.

Do you remember? I asked her, over and over again.

Do you remember the big sleet storm on the night before I was born?

Do you remember how the roads were covered with ice, and it took you hours to make the twenty-minute drive to the hospital?

Remember how people were crawling along the icy sidewalks outside the hospital on their hands and knees, since walking upright was impossible?

Remember how the admitting area was decorated with balloons and streamers, and all the staff were wearing party hats and blowing noise makers? And when you asked if they were celebrating the new year, they smiled and said no, this is all for you...We're celebrating your new baby?

And do you remember how in the first day of my life, I caught a cold? And I had to be put into isolation and the only people who were allowed to touch me were the doctor and you?

She remembered.

I know my mom loves the story of my birth and I know she loved hearing me tell it to her once again.

* * * * *

One of the cardinal rules of care for Alzheimer's patients is to never ask Do you remember.

Because Alzheimer's patients can't remember. And asking them to do so only frightens and confuses them. Not a good move.

But my mom does not have Alzheimer's.

She has advanced Lewy Body Dementia and sadly enough, she can often remember her life with perfect clarity. In many ways, this is far worse than forgetting, because my mother has a pretty clear picture of how far she has fallen. There are moments when the grief for what has been lost overwhelms her and that is a very hard thing for a daughter to bear.

But there are other times when - with a little prompting - my mom can remember the joys of her life, and I consider it my sacred privilege to take her back to those moments whenever I can.

Do you remember, Mom?

News Trend My Grow Buddy|Actual

After another long December of picking endless sodden, rotting leaves off my precious houseplants. My brain suddenly fired up.

My wild assortment of succulents, cacti, and tropical types thrives all year... But sometime around Thanksgiving, the class collectively begins to falter. And by January, the whole lot of them looks tired, worn down, and sorely in need of two weeks in Mexico.

The problem, so obvious to me now, is a lack of sunlight.

Winter months here at the forty-eighth parallel are not exactly bright and shining. Can't hardly blame my growing babies for shutting down and turning to mush under these dark and dreary conditions.

And once I saw the persoalan clearly in my brain, the solution popped up alongside of it, just like that.

A grow light.

I need some artificial sun to bring my green things back into equilibrium.

From there, it was a quick leap to amazon.Com and ten minutes later, I had picked out a perfectly suitable light.

Now there were a lot of grow lights to choose from, but most of the features showed up in each description, and the prices were consistent. So I just let my instincts take over and choose the particular product that spoke to me.

And it wasn't until after I placed my order that I realized my new Grow Buddy light was specifically designed for marijuana enthusiasts.

Yep. I bought a light for growing weed.

Now that she's all set up and pouring her sweet magical growing light all over my plants, who crowd around her aura like sunbathers at Cabo. And honestly, my new Grow Buddy's roots as a Mary Jane jump-starter is nothing more than a marketing pitch.

But to tell you the truth, every time I glance over at my new lamp's weird purple glow, I have a silent little laugh with myself.

And now that it's legal to grow weed here in Washington, I'm seriously considering buying a marijuana plant to add to my collection.

Just for fun