Merry Christmas And Happy Hanukkah

"Today, may you be filled with an immense sense

 of inner peace, unity, joy and happiness."

~Eleesha

The Soulful Pathway To Christmas:

Soulfully Inspiring You In The Days Leading Up To

 Christmas And Beyond!

From Our House To Yours...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

And

Mood: HAPPY/GRATEFUL

~Me :)

 

Meowy Christmas And Happy Pawnakkah

"December is full of the light and love
 that you can bring into your life. 
You can chose to be stressed or you can choose to let the small stuff go and be peaceful this holiday season.
 It really is a choice you make."

~Eileen Anglin

It's Christmas Eve, which traditionally is a bigger deal in our house than Christmas Day is! We have our traditions on snack foods, and board games. We watch our favorite holiday movies, and rag on politicians. This year there is a little bit more to complain about than most years, but also this year we are celebrating the season a bit different than we usually do. You see, as of the time of this post, Alan is in bed with a fever of 102.3 from a head cold, passed along by an inconsiderate coworker! I can feel it, it's coming in my near future, I should be in a feverish haze within 24 hours! Weeeeeee!

Alan and I were both sick with colds last year too! It's our second Christmas in our new house, and it's the second year in a row that we will both be suffering from head colds. LOL. I guess that is just our new tradition! If so, so be it! We have always had weird traditions, so we are just going with it! Christmas might be delayed but it's not like that stopped the boys from making holiday videos for your festive viewing pleasure!

So now, without any further delay, we present...

MEOWY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY PAWNAKKAH

Starring... 
The Brothers Gordon 





I love my boys!

It doesn't really matter how you say it,
 the most important thing is to mean it!

Peace On Earth 

Mood: Happy/Grateful

~Me :)

 

 

It's Festivus For The Rest Of Us!

"It's not about presents, but it is about your presence. 

Therin lies the spirit of the holiday season."

~Julieanne O'Connor 

It's the day, before the day, before the day. You know the day... Christmas Day. And this year, Hanukkah falls on December 25th as well! It is truly a fun holiday season, but before we even reach those two very important observances, we reach today, which just happens to be Festivus. You know... "for the rest of us!"

Grab Your Pole 

And

Let The Airing Of The Grievances Begin!

Okay, so those weren't my grievances, but trust me, I have a GIANT one and it's name is...

DONALD JOHN TRUMP

I don't have a Festivus pole, but believe me, I will have one by next Festivus, should humanity live that long, and I will have about 365 different grievances to air on this blog. Maybe in a video.

 So be sure to comeback next year, on December 23rd, again should humanity survive Donald Trump's presidency,

 and we will get it all out together! 

If you have any grievances to share under the holiday wreath,

 feel free to leave them in the comment thread!

 Be respectful!

Mood: Silly/Happy

~Me :)

 

Art About Town: Sacramento... Untitled Fountain, By David von Schlegell

"Untitled" Fountain By David von Schlegell

300 Capitol Mall

Sacramento, California

"In the Haunted House of life, 

art is the only stair that doesn't creak."

~Tom Robbins

Sacramento has a ton of public art! Now that I live so much closer than I used to, I plan to spend a lot of time photographing all the amazing art around the city, and getting to know Sacramento the way we got to know San Francisco! It was through all the trips around San Francisco, looking for different pieces of public art, that I grew to appreciate the city for all the unique neighborhoods, and districts. Each one is truly a feast for the eyes, and has provided me many days of happiness, getting to know how fun and interesting a place it can be! I am hoping for the same experience with Sacramento!

I first noticed this sculpture the day before Thanksgiving, when Alan and I drove to Old Sacramento to see the lighting of the Christmas Tree. It was dark outside, and I did the night photo you see below, while on the run for the freeway. It was a rushed photo, but I liked the way the colors and lights danced around the photo, so I decided to keep it, and post it along with the better lit daytime photo! When it is operating, the sculpture is actually a beautiful fountain, and the plaque reads...

"Remember that the meaning of life is to build

 a life as if it were a work of art. 

Start working on this great work of art called your own existence. 

Remember the importance of self discipline, study the great sources of wisdom

 and remember that life is a celebration."

Dedicated to the children of Sacramento

Capitol Mall Venture

August 8th, 1985

~Abraham Joshua Heschel

To read a little more about this beautiful fountain, click here.

 Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Goodnight Autumn, Good Morning Winter

"Accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief."

~Kahlil Gibran

The Prophet

Autumn whispers a loving goodnight, at 2:33 AM, PST,

 and the Winter Solstice says good morning with a cold soft kiss. 

"To make a perfect season,

 love everyone without reason."

 ~ Debasish Mridha

 

"I think that to one in sympathy with nature,

 each season, in turn, seems the loveliest."

~Mark Twain

"Wilted or in bloom, taking or lending daylight,

 the world transitions."

~Richelle E. Goodrich

Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, 

And A Little Poetry For Every Day

 And now...

 The Last Leaf Of The Day

For 2016

Leaf Of The Day

December 21st, 2016

Mood: Quiet

~Me :) 

Holiday Gifts You Don't Have To Dust

"Everyone wants a Christmas tree. If you had a Christmas tree, Santa would bring you stuff! Like hair curlers and slut shoes."

~Janet Evanovich

Visions Of Sugar Plums

It's the last full day of autumn, and I bet you thought I would be dwelling on it, right? Nah. Donald Trump received his Electoral College win yesterday, so there are bigger things to grieve than the passing of autumn 2016. Needless to say, I am, and probably will be, grieving a lot of things in the coming months, which is why I am just going to let the bitterness of winter absorb the painful feelings, and the sleepless nights. By spring I will be all brand new again, and ready to deal with a steady heart and mind... at least that is the plan.

 I guess we will see.

 But for now, today, we are just five days away from Christmas, and I am enjoying that! The tree is decorated with pretty decorations, every day Mr. UPS brings a gift to wrap, and I have started baking for the holidays! Apple Cinnamon cookies, Chocolate Chip cookies, and Mincemeat Pies! I am probably going to fix a bread pudding or two before the new year as well! Baking cookies for Alan is one of my favorite things to do. He is an amazing husband who loves me... I will never understand exactly why... because he could have done a lot better! Anyway, he does, and for that I am thankful to God and Santa, hell  I am even thankful to the Easter Bunny, just in case he deserved some credit, every single day! 

I was thinking about how happy my husband makes me, when we were at the Tilden Park Carousel about a week ago. The place is all decked out for the holiday, and all the ornaments on the trees reminded me of a Christmas past with my love! I had a great time doing photos, and enjoying the ride back to my lovely Berkeley. It is so gorgeous there, and it was a very clear night so I had a wonderful view of the bay and the city! San Francisco at Christmas time is a treat for the eyes and the soul! Some of the ornaments on the trees at the carousel, reminded me of times he and I have spent in San Francisco during the holidays, so I snapped a few pictures to share...

It's a beautiful holiday season. Our celebrations are small and intimate, but we are thankful for who we are, and our little furry babies! We love each other, and we try treat others the way we want to be treated. More than once this year I have found myself becoming someone I don't care much for, so to a certain degree I will be spending a good part of 2017 learning my way through this new world we are entering. There is no map. There are no classes, so I may not do well, but I will try to do the best I can.

Fair Enough?

If I could ask Santa Claus for one thing this year, it would be for him to help me understand how Donald Trump could possibly be our president? But that's not a simple question is it? Maybe there are some things neither Santa, nor God can bring you. Finding your own piece of mind on our own. I suppose. So, I guess that means I don't really want or need anything for Christmas, but if I do find clarity in a pretty box with a shiny bow, at least it's a gift I won't have to dust!

 Leaf Of The Day

December 20th, 2016

Don't Forget To Come Back Tomorrow 

To See My Last Autumn Photo Of 2016!

Mood: Grateful

~Me :) 

Autumn Is Practical Magic

"The smell of burning firewood and the molding of organic, earthy substances reminded her of jumping wildly into the enormous leaf piles of autumns pas and she suddenly wished that it was appropiate for someone her age to do such a thing."

~Abby Slovin

Letters In Cardboard Boxes

Autumn Is Practical Magic!

 Autumn is slipping away, and piece of me always dies with it. While I always feel emotional about autumn passing away, this year carries a deeper sadness than most years, because this has been a very emotional three months! The leftover emotions of 2015, settling into owning a home and all that goes with that. The election. The unbelieveable fear and pain the election's aftermath left me with. The cancer scare. 

But there were also some incredible moments of joy as well! The time spend with Alan on this vacation was absolutely perfect! We had a blast! The awe of seeing Yosemite for the first time! Finding out that our house has gained enough equity, that we can finally get our bills under control, and breath a little easier, maybe even begin some real renovations! All helped to balance my feelings!

It was a bittersweet autumn!

Like the dark leaves and the vibrant colorfull ones, it all blended together in a beautiful fateful tapestry.

Autumn is a whole life, lived in just three months.

And I will be lonely for it, until it is rebirth in September!

Until then...

"Squeeze your eyes closed, as tight as you can,

 and think of all your favorite autumns, crisp and perfect,

 all bound up together like a stack of cards.

 That is what it is like, the awful, wonderful brightness of fairy colors. Try to smell the hard, pale wood,

 sending up sharp, green smoke into the afternoon.

 To feel the mellow, golden sun on your skin, more gentle and cozier and more golden that even the light

 of your favorite reading nook at the close of the day."

 ~Catherynne M. Valente

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland

In A Ship Of Her Own Making

Leaf Of The Day

December 19th, 2016

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

 

 

Late Autumn Sunsets, And The Moon

"Tell me the story... about how the sun loved the moon so much that she died every night... just to let him breathe... ."

~Hanako Ishii

This is the last sunset photo I plan to take of autumn 2016, and what a stunning sunset it was! The view from Grizzly Peak, in the Berkeley hills, is always breathtaking, but in autumn and winter it is especially gorgeous! I am hoping I will be able to get back up to the peak before the end of the year... yikes... less than a couple weeks from now, and perhaps do some more photos, but I am not sure it will be possible! Some along the coast would be great as well, we will just have to see. Time, weather, and Fibromyalgia permitting, I will be in all my favorite haunts, snapping photos! I know it does my soul so much good to get out with the camera. I step out of a reality filled to the brim with fear and doubt, and step into a reality of endless hope and beauty! 

And look at the amazing moon

 that rose just a little later in the evening! 

Black And White

Original Shade

 "Many solemn nights

Blond moon, we stand and marvel

Sleeping our noons away"

Basho Matsuo

Japanese Haiku

"The autumn leaves blew over the moonlit pavement in such a way as to make the girl who was moving there seem fixed to a sliding walk, letting the motion of the wind and the leaves carry her forward. The trees overhead made a great sound of letting down their dry rain."

~Ray Bradbury 

Fahrenheit 451

Leaf Of The Day

December 18th 2016

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

 

Transitional Seasons

"I have an affection for those transitional seasons, the way they take the edge off the intense cold of winter, or heat of summer."

~Whitney Otto

How To Make An American Quilt

I HATED 2016! Hated it's guts! We lost so many fantastic artists this year, and my personal life had some harrowing moments, including a cancer scare, and the world of politics lost it's FUCKING MIND! Sorry, I used that word again, jeeze, I have probably said that word more this year then in any previous year of my life. It's been a long, frustrating year, but like all frustrating things, or even really good things for that matter, it will pass. In fact, it will pass in about 2 weeks or so! I can't wait, but I wonder, as I sit here, why am I in such a hurry? I have NO idea if 2016 will be such a bad year, compared to what might happen in 2017!

I still can't see my life a year from now. It hasn't gotten any better since the last time I mentioned it, so that is just all a blur. But when I looked at this abandoned bird's nest sharing a tree, with a dying leaf of autumn 2016, it kind of made me smile. It's in the transitional seasons that I tend to think things through a little better. Winter is cold, and I am in a great deal of pain during winter months from my degenerative arthritis. My Fibromyalgia bothers me, regardless of what the weather is outside, but my mood is better in autumn, and I kinda like May as well, but for much different reasons.

Transitions get you from here to there... duh... right? So maybe I should not fret so much about not being able to see down the road. Life moves you along, and we make the choice to move along with it, or not. Right now, I am seeing more hope in my personal life then I did a few months ago. And that hope occurred in a transitional season, autumn! We found out the equity in our home  is building at a very nice pace, much better than we had hoped, and as more and more people move east from the Bay Area, the more new growth is seen in the Central Valley's economy. This year, in the Central Valley was quietly transitioning from 2016 to 2017 and there is a lot to look forward to!

So maybe I don't need to look so far down the road.

It will get here... when it gets here. 

Don't fret about the cold, spring is only 3 months away!

Leaf Of The Day

December 17th, 2016

Mood: Okay

~Me :)

Altamont Fog Part Two... Days Of Black And White

"Photograph is a reality so subtle

 that it becomes more real than reality."

~Alfred Stieglitz

Foggy days, that puts that soft glow on all the colors around you, are some of my favorite conditions to do photos. Sometimes it can be so early in the day, and so foggy, that you don't really see the color around you, and I used to really enjoy taking color photographs that had the appearance of a black and white photo but wasn't. I still enjoy that a lot, but I find with my photograph that a lot of what I notice, and see around me, has a lot to do with my mood. Fortunately yesterday I was able to see the color through the fog, but I also noticed the beauty of the world in black and white, and decided to convert the photo to black and white. I was lucky, it was the best of all worlds! 

Leaf Of The Day

December 16th, 2016

Mood: Quiet/Okay

~Me  

Altamont Fog Part One... The Last Of Autumn Color

"There is October in every November and there is November in every December! All seasons melted in each other's life!"

~Mehmet Murat ildan

Alan and I had business in the Bay Area yesterday, so we went by way of the Altamont pass, and on any given day this time of year, you will have to deal with December fog! It was mostly light, and well on it's way to burning off, but it made everything look so beautiful! I first noticed it last year, when I occasionally went to work with Alan on Sunday nights! The next morning the fog on the way home really spoke to my creative side. I took a number of lovely sunrise fog photos, and was pleased with the results.

 I wish I could get out and do more photos like this, but now that Alan is working in the Central Valley, Monday through Friday,  time for photography is completely different! Because of my Fibromyalgia, driving myself around in foggy weather isn't always feasible, but on the days I can get out, I enjoy it very much! I had a good time doing the photos as we drove, I love the challenge of doing photographs on the run. I have less time to think about the shot, so I rely more on instinct. 

Yesterday, I did one set in color, and one set in black and white, based on the scene and density of the fog. I am hoping to be able to do more photos along the Altamont before the end of the month, but we will have to see. There is a heavy storm due in later today, and that will have an affect on the trees and leaves, so I may just stay local. Winds in the Bay Area are supposed to gust to 50 miles an hour in some places, so like I said, we will just have to see! But for now, the photo above is from part one of this series, in a couple days I will post the black and white photos!

Stay Tuned! 

 Leaf Of The Day

December 15th, 2016

Mood: Creative

~Me :)