THE tree for proud prairie people

Here is the delight of my day, yesterday and today. We crossed a frozen creek and a rocky pass, then climbed a prairie ridge to get to this beauty. The quest to get her was exhilarating. The aroma infusing our house is, to my nostrils, heavenly. The cause we contributed to when we paid for the privilege of hiking and chopping, righteous. Oh, I'm a zealot about so many things...including this kind of tree. The humble cedar/juniper is the tree for me. Always has been. Locally grown, fragrant, zero environmental impact to harvest...probably there's an environmental benefit to harvest, because (thanks to the birds) there are too many of them interfering with the prairie landscape.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
Thou tree most fair and lovely!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thou tree most fair and lovely!

The sight of thee at Christmastide
spreads hope and gladness far and wide.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
Thou tree most fair and lovely!

130-in-one!

Oh, the delight of watching little hands work on this fun project when I came home from work yesterday. Henry taught me the ropes with ease and confidence and we completed the circuits for this chirping bird. Then I made sugar cookie dough and yogurt and we listened to more of Analise's Advent Journey.

Today's the day to get down the Christmas decorations, get the house ready for our tree and bake cookies! We are being remembered by so many dear friends with cookies and kind gestures and words that I really long to return the favor.

Peace of the Advent season to you!

desk work and daddy love

A little desk work for a sunny day.

Boy loooooves Daddy.

this is thirty-eight

I'm thirty-eight tomorrow evening. There's a baby growing in me, doing a lot of kicking, but you can't see the belly very clearly. (We always have trouble with this camera at night. Daytime shots are simply the best. So maybe Joel will take another picture that I can post tomorrow). I enjoy my birthdays and try to make sure each one includes a solitary walk, if possible. Two years ago I walked twelve miles for my thirty-sixth birthday. What a walk and day that was. I was quitting the chaplaincy position (that I later resumed at 40% time) that I had held for 6+ years, and wanted to commemorate this transition by walking the route I had driven so many times before. I felt liberated on my journey. And dehydrated. I didn't take any water with me, and that was a mistake. But it was a joyful journey and that's what I feel on my birthday. I can say with Gerard Manley Hopkins, "...for all this, there lives the dearest freshness deep down things." Birthdays, delights and struggles all come and go. But, above all, there is still life. I am so thankful to have this life to live. And I feel blessed to be carrying another child. An amazing gift on my thirty-eighth birthday eve.

meanwhile...

While Aunt Libby and I sewed Advent calendars on Saturday, Henry and cousins painted their faces. He wanted me to photograph these faces for future reference-- in case he needs to remember how he made white circles around his eyes, a lightning bolt on the forehead, and white fangs below the mouth. I love the toughness and tenderness of my boy. We have been listening to an unfolding Advent story, The Advent Journey of Analise, and enjoying it.