It would be the 16th day of Christmas, would there be such a thing, and my tree sits, post-festivities, on my curb waiting for the yard waste truck tomorrow. I'm not especially forlorn about this as I am thankful that someone will come and haul it away to be chipped up and recycled which means I don't have to figure out how to dispose of it.
My decorations came down last night and were neatly packed away, the job about 90% complete as of this writing. It didn't take too long, and by the weekend my house will be back looking it's usual January self. I've repeated this putting up and taking down pattern now for many years and plan to continue it for many years to come. As an empty nester, it provides an annual opportunity to think about the joys of my Christmases past, when my kids were small, then bigger, now biggest, and what a fun and goofy family I have.
There is a clear glass ball ornament with Tip's pre-school photo secured on the inside with cotton balls, Kate's high school photo from her junior year in a gold paper frame with a tassel, a dozen handmade needlepoint squares from an college friend in California, a few hand embroidered ornaments that I did myself many years ago, a white ostrich-feather poof I bought at the Dickens Fair in Sacramento when the kids were 8 and 10 and they had their photo taken with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, a wooden cruise ship commemorating the family's cruise to Alaska for the grandparents' 50 anniversary. There are four handblown glass ornaments from the 50's given to me by my mom and formerly hung on the Christmas trees of my own childhood. And many others, mostly handmade, or wooden, or straw, or silly, like Santa on a snowboard. And the German Santa puzzle, 500 pieces, which Tipton actually tackled again this year, with contributions from anyone passing through, and was completed before New Year's. I liked that we did that.
So, onward with 2008, and only 11 months until my lovely Christmas house comes together again.
I can't wait!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
It was a dark and rainy night - a Treatise on Grey
Well, it is here in Seattle, dark, and no sun forecast from now until January 17 except for a tiny speck of yellow found on the 10 day forecast for Sunday - see below:
See that tiny little speck of yellow on Sunday where it says "Mostly Cloudy"?
You ask, how do we manage without sunshine? The answer is complex - many of us feel that sun is just, well, over-rated. We who live here like to think that each day offers the calm and serenety of different shades of grey: from dark dark threatening charcoal to pale hazy-moist blankets of fog. What shade will we have today, we ask - and aren't the trees and grass looking exceptionally green?
Many years ago when I was working as an interior designer, I attended a 3 day color seminar in San Francisco. It was a fascinating entre into the ways color affects us as humans and I actually remember much of what I learned. Among many other things, we learned how color is used to influence human behavior, from marketing hotels, restaurants and cars, to subduing mentally ill patients and prisoners. But back to grey -
Evidently, I learned, studies have shown that grey is the color that most influences creativity. Artists working in a room painted grey somehow feel more of a creative urge and are more productive. Architects and other creative professionals often paint their spaces in shades of grey with equally beneficial results. Greys (with mauves and teals) were big colors for interior design back in the 80's - perhaps you socio-political types can weigh in on that.
So, in mulling the propensity of grey all around us in the Pacific Northwest, I might venture to say we are an exceptionally creative lot - and whodathunk our weather might be partly responsible?
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See that tiny little speck of yellow on Sunday where it says "Mostly Cloudy"?
You ask, how do we manage without sunshine? The answer is complex - many of us feel that sun is just, well, over-rated. We who live here like to think that each day offers the calm and serenety of different shades of grey: from dark dark threatening charcoal to pale hazy-moist blankets of fog. What shade will we have today, we ask - and aren't the trees and grass looking exceptionally green?
Many years ago when I was working as an interior designer, I attended a 3 day color seminar in San Francisco. It was a fascinating entre into the ways color affects us as humans and I actually remember much of what I learned. Among many other things, we learned how color is used to influence human behavior, from marketing hotels, restaurants and cars, to subduing mentally ill patients and prisoners. But back to grey -
Evidently, I learned, studies have shown that grey is the color that most influences creativity. Artists working in a room painted grey somehow feel more of a creative urge and are more productive. Architects and other creative professionals often paint their spaces in shades of grey with equally beneficial results. Greys (with mauves and teals) were big colors for interior design back in the 80's - perhaps you socio-political types can weigh in on that.
So, in mulling the propensity of grey all around us in the Pacific Northwest, I might venture to say we are an exceptionally creative lot - and whodathunk our weather might be partly responsible?
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The Value of Sleeping in on Saturday and Ikea
Ahhh....Saturday morning.....my new memory foam mattress cover (a Christmas gift from mom), no alarms set on the clock radio (on workdays 2 go off - ten minutes apart, both 1/2 hour later than real time - future blog post), flannel sheets....dozing.....reading....dozing.....heaven....coffee ready downstairs...God bless auto-brew.
And She's up! Lorraine is coming by in a bit and a trip to Ikea will ensue. We're always up for Ikea - the store of my people (actually, the store of the people west of my people but we speak the same language and my people - Swedish Finns - don't have their own store, at least not one I can drive to today). Not sure what I need from there today but pretty sure there will be something. Lorraine is redesigning the office space in her kitchen - I am providing design assistance and general knowledge of all things tasteful. This will serve two purposes: first, the always-enjoyable time spent with Lorraine, and second, avoidance of the large pile of bills, bank statements and paperwork currently located on the floor near my own desk.
Sleeping in on Saturday and Ikea - a procrastinator's paradise -
And She's up! Lorraine is coming by in a bit and a trip to Ikea will ensue. We're always up for Ikea - the store of my people (actually, the store of the people west of my people but we speak the same language and my people - Swedish Finns - don't have their own store, at least not one I can drive to today). Not sure what I need from there today but pretty sure there will be something. Lorraine is redesigning the office space in her kitchen - I am providing design assistance and general knowledge of all things tasteful. This will serve two purposes: first, the always-enjoyable time spent with Lorraine, and second, avoidance of the large pile of bills, bank statements and paperwork currently located on the floor near my own desk.
Sleeping in on Saturday and Ikea - a procrastinator's paradise -
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