Polaroid Lessons.

In The Mood.

A sampling of my favorite songs of the season:

 

*Any of you that ever hung out at my house in T.C. know the serious LOVE I have for this song.

*We grew up listening to Johnny Mathis. Absolutely THE best. (Thanks dad).

*My friend Claudia Schmidt opened for Eartha Kitt a few years ago at some Mackinac Island gig. Her (Ms. Kitt’s) set props included a hot pink chaise lounge and a strapping young 20 something delivering champagne throughout the show.

hmmmm.

The Grotto

I took Ewan to The Grotto last night here in Portland to see their amazing array of Christmas lights.

The Grotto is a religious sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Sorrowful). It is nestled into and upon a cliff. Some of the scenes at The Grotto are impressive- some are strange. It is all very Catholic.

Example:

There is this cool meditation chapel at the top o’ the cliff- actually hanging right over the edge. It is all glass and very still and very quiet.

Neat right?

Well, in the glass structure of the chapel is another glass structure- which holds a life size- life like- Kim Cattrall “Mannequin” style Virgin Mary. It is really weird. She has alabaster skin and blonde (real human) hair.

Now we all know the likelihood of Jesus and those disciples being white guys with long flowing hair is – well,

it just-  isn’t. 

Same deal goes for His mom.

But I am not here to quibble about such things- merely someone’s interpretation…

aheam…

I was raised Catholic and spent my Sundays going to church. This religious background I was given, lovingly by my parents- acted as a springboard for all of my other thoughts on existence, religion, why we are here…ya know- light stuff.

I CONSTANTLY challenged my poor mother on her beliefs- offering little facts that i’d picked up along the way like:

“Did you know in the middle ages priests could sell indulgences Mother?

People, if they were rich enough could buy their way to salvation?!!!” 

Yeah. That was me.

I like to think that my questioning mind coupled with the unanswerable stuff of the universe- led me to seek out further information on the grand “WHY?”.

I have spent a chunk of time studying other religions- visiting Ashrams, Temples. For a while I considered myself a Religious Pluralist- believing in the commonality of religions and their mutually existent truths.

Also acknowledging in the same breath, that this idea of commonality seems to apply to religion both as a- “manifestation of seekers” (on one end of the spectrum) -and also as ” tool of oppression”. Simultaneously existing. Simultaneously confusing- if ya let it be. 

If Vishnu and the Virgin can co-exist in my mind why not the rest?

Can I be appalled by religion and intregued and in awe of it -all at the same time?

The answer… WHY NOT.

Ewan and I walked into the church at The Grotto and we listened to the choir sing- and it was beautiful- and I cried. I cried for the sweetness of the moment, my son at my side- another Christmas season upon us. I shed tears as I realized that the pocket of forgiveness in my heart can and should be dipped into. This forgiveness is what allows me to focus and be moved by the architecture and the organ music (not the wrongness of the crusades). It is this forgiveness which allows for hope that the conflicts in the world and in our lives can be transcended. I am serious. Sentimental- and Serious. 

All those years of church going and grumbling and fighting with my mom over the relevancy of the advent wreath or the infallibility of the pope-

All of her efforts are still very appreciated. I acknowledge the importance of faith and of believing in something beautiful- and this is really a gift from my mom. We might have different ideas on what we think is beautiful- but hey- Love is love.

And I do LOVE my mother…

Look at how cute she is:

So- Mom,

I enjoyed my very Catholic moment. Thought you would like to know. Maybe because it reminded me of you? But mostly because I was reminded that faith and love are real- despite all of the other crap….

well, at least for me.

Love you.

Chet Baker Day 2.

Chet baker had a heroin problem. In this video he has no front tooth. Some sort of brawl? Decay?

A mystery.

He died from falling out of window in 1988.

Another mystery.

Chet Baker Kind of Day.

In my search to feed a Chet Baker need I came across this:

which led to this:

and some of this:

The guy piecing this stuff together is onto something soooo sweet-  really.

Jolly Green Giant

In case ya didn’t know-

The Jolly Green Giant just turned 80…. 

“Ho, ho, ho..”

He’s got fans- 

Here is his very own flickr group.….*

Days of Domesticity

We’ve been crafting and sewing and cooking-

It is wet out there. 

Some of the stuff we’ve been up to:

These are the stamps we had made for our letterboxing adventures. We haven’t been on the hunt for a couple of weeks BUT I thought they deserved a mention. They’re just so cool.

Aaron revealed Gary’s secret identity the other night. 

Gary is magic.

 

 I’ve been teaching myself and my E man to sew/embroider… kind-o fun.

Ewan really digs it- These two he did ALL on his own…

 

Embroidery = love.

Look at this lady’s stuff…..(maybe some day). WHOA. 

Last night’s Scrabble game (Aaron won- ONLY because he “bingoed out”- I had no clue about the 50 point possibility of using all tiles in one turn… UNFAIR- BUT now I know). 

XO.

Just Because.

Thanksgiving

I cooked the whole meal (Aaron did help a little). My first turkey. Everything tasted just LIKE THANKsGIVING.

Whew. At least I know I can do it. sheesh.

I couldn’t help but think of my mom and that by age 31 she probably had 20 turkeys under her belt- well on her way to perfecting the multitasking of such a FEAST!!! 

Friends came over- Ewan played the wii….

We ate,

rolled around afterwards- bloated and content. We were motivated enough to play some scrabble…

moving from chair to couch- eventually we all gave up.

It was a Thanksgiving.

And I am Very Thankful- for many, many things.

XO.