"The Winner," says me

 

A Doctor Seuss tree. How clever. It lives in a Eugene, Oregon neighborhood where all the houses decorate big time for Christmas.

 

A Revolving Door Weather Trip.

Friday brought with it weather like an entertainment show where you don’t know what’s behind each of the doors presented to you.

Rain at 11 o’clock that morning, with me driving through it to an appointment.

At 12, I had a tailwind so strong my raincoat beat like a pup tent the climbers of Mt Everest were fighting to assemble.

By 1 o’clock, sunshine as I drove to Michael’s—and I ran, comfortable as a ferret in a hammock, into the craft store in a T-shirt. (I’d say I was wearing only a T-shirt, but I was also wearing pants, shoes, and socks.)

It sprinkled outside Hobby Lobby, but leaving the shopping area, driving down Gateway Blvd. squeezed amongst droves of vehicles, B-Bs of miniature ice balls bounced off the hood of my pickup like welders sparks pinging and rolling.  It was hailing!   

That lasted about five and ¾  minutes. And driving to World Market the sun came out. Leaving that store, a vision of perfection in the form of a rainbow, spread itself across the sky,  a complete arc. I think the weather was breathing a sigh of relief.

As I was creeping out of the parking lot, my head was spinning as I tried to take in all of that monstrous, the highest I had ever seen, complete arc of neon orange, yellow, red, green, blue, and purple. I would have applauded the rainbow God, but I had both hands on the steering wheel. Within a couple of minutes, the southern end faded, and it was only half an arc, but I had seen it. (You know a rainbow would be a complete circle, but the earth obscures half of it.) But I had seen the top half. And it was positively magnificent.

How does science do that?

Rain, shine, sprinkle, hail, wind, and a rainbow, Oregon's weather was so tired after Friday that it turned cold on Saturday, leaving us shivering under a quilt as we watched TV. And my chickens, after a summer of roosting on the roof of their house, haven’t got it that they can go inside; they used to, but now they look like drowned rats.

I guess I will have to put them to bed tonight. I don’t want them to freeze their tail feathers off.

I am writing this on December 21, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. From now on, the days will be getting longer. Yea!

Happy Solstice, and that means Christmas is coming up in a few days. I am wishing you a good one, a Merry one, and a Blessed one.  And remember, the world is brighter because you are in it.💗💗💗💗💗💗

"We Need Joy as We Need Air"

 

“We need Joy as we need air. We need Love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share.”— Maya Angelou

“Men, it has been said, think in the herd, it will be seen they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly one by one.”—Charles MacKay

I believe we are the ones recovering our senses. Okay then, we can joyfully come together and love one another, have joy, air, water and treasure the earth.

And now celebrate the great high holiday which is Christmas. How about a gift? It’s the time of the year for giving. At the grocery store this week, the lady in front of me was hesitating, looking at the item display screen, finally she took out a little card of clear balls with something colorful inside, and gave them back to the checker. (For grandchildren?) Next, she took out a package of incontinence pads. I saw that she was holding a 50-dollar bill. She looked at the screen and sighed.

“How short are you? I asked.

“Five dollars.”

“I’ll cover it.”

Even before she finished thanking me, the man behind me, held a 5-dollar bill over my shoulder.

We thanked him. Wow, she got a gift and I got a gift. I handed her the 5 dollars, and everyone went away lighter.

And sure, we like getting a package all wrapped up in pretty paper and tied with a sparkling ribbon. (Can you believe we didn’t have cellophane tape when I was a young child living in Illinois? We used stickers with lickable adhesives on the back that depicted Santa’s face, or other Christmas scenes.

Momma couldn’t talk for a week after all that glue. (Not.)

First, she addressed the Christmas Cards, licking the envelopes and the stamps, then she wrapped the presents licking stickers to hold the paper together. (I’m sure twine preceded ribbon, and nothing sticky held the paper. I have a distinct remembrance from childhood that George Washington Carver, a black inventor, created the lickable glue on postage stamps using peanuts. Google says although he made many products from peanuts, they don’t think postage stamp glue was one.  Rats. I’ve believed that my whole life. Although the teacher who told me that might have been as reliable as Google. Who knows. A glue made from peanuts would have made Carver a rich man, but he wasn’t. He wouldn’t have been concerned about the money, though, for he passed opportunities for it. His passion was service to humanity.)

While looking for a Christmas gift for you guys, I needed something digital, so I checked out a digital card site I had used a few years ago and had forgotten its name. After a little sleuthing, I found it, and just looking through the Christmas cards jarred my Christmas Spirit.

I love the techniques some cards use, where a brush swipes across the page, filling in line drawings with color. That technique has enthralled me since childhood. I just asked Google if Disney perfected the technique, and they said “Yes.” Then, explained how he did it.

Here is one card for everyone. 

Click on the picture to start the card.

 

For your very own surprise card, click on this picture from our last Christmas. Can you guess what is in the long, humongous box? It was a surprise for me from my daughter. ("Some" assembly required.") 

 

 or click on joshappytrails@gmail.com

 

P.S. Peaches the Pink Party Poodle decided to pontificate today.

Miracles and joy are pouring from a broken pinata..  Look up. .💓💕💖💗💓See how marvelous you are.💓 I love you. 💓💓💓💓💓. 

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