Month: December 2017

Sunday Comics

bobbibowwomanLeave a comment

Christmas Eve is my Christmas

bobbibowwomanLeave a comment

IMG_9594

As families grow, change, and blend…some traditions have remained the same.  Since the boys were 10 and 12, we’ve claimed Christmas Eve as our Christmas.

Early morning breakfast of sensible and clearly non-sensible foods followed by a lively gift exchange with some jumping up and down and gratitude expressed.

IMG_9572

IMG_9038

After gifts are given, we dash off to the bowling alley for our “Christmas Bowl.”  Yes, you read right.  We bowl every Christmas Eve.  It is as funny as it is fun.  We cheer for each other and there is the tiniest bit of competition.  (I mean there are awards – teehee).

IMG_9053

Cousins help each other, especially if little ones are just learning the ropes.

IMG_9639

After bowling, there’s Christmas spaghetti for lunch.  More laughter, good stories, and play.

IMG_9637

Families pack up in late afternoon and head out to other homes for other celebrations.

For Robert and me, it was a very good Christmas.  We feel lucky to have family and friends near and stay connected (Marco/Polo) with those far away.  Merry Christmas.

IMG_3928

 

Sunday Comics

bobbibowwomanLeave a comment

Christmas Spirit

bobbibowwomanLeave a comment

iceskating

PVC “Walkers” for novice skaters.   What a clever idea.

Today Robert and I had lunch out and then took a stroll to see the new tent in town.  Salem (Oregon) decided that it needed a skating rink at the waterfront park.  From the outside it looked like a huge white turtle-shaped tent.  Inside, it was all a buzz with music, laughter, and the soft scraping of blade against ice.

It brought me back to ice skating as a child on a pond near our home.  Very different, of course.  My experience could have been a template for a Norman Rockwell painting.  The air, so cold.  I navigated my skates with a wobble and could never get the hang of skating backwards.  But it was such fun.  Once I got into a glide, it felt like flying.

The tent today was filled with very loud music and so many people.  Did I even try to skate?  No.  But I loved watching those brave enough to do so.  Everything was different about my experience as a child and this big beautiful tent full of strangers.  Everything, except the crackle of excitement that filled the air.

Thank you, Salem, for this bold experiment.  You made my day and you gave the city a wonderful winter experience.  May this year be the first of many for the big white tent.

Making Puns

bobbibowwomanLeave a comment

IMG_9548

Recently my nine year old grandson, Jack, has taken an interest in Linda Silvesti’s wonderful sketches with puns.  He wanted to give it a try.  So, with pen and paper he went off to make a sketch.

This guy, he explains, has confused his shoe with a taco.  So, he’s wearing the taco and just put his shoe in the microwave.  “Where’s my taco?” he questions.  He imagines a can eating his taco not realizing the taco is on his foot.  The can, wanting the taco is a

CAN-NIBAL !

So there we have it.  The beginning of a new pun-ner.  (He told me to type this.)

Sunday Comics

bobbibowwomanLeave a comment

 

News vs Hallmark Movies

bobbibowwoman3 Comments

It’s important to be informed, I tell myself, as I read various articles and tune in to PBS or the BBC.  Don’t turn away…keep involved.  There is a lot to be discouraged about in the news with conflicts, natural disasters, and those disasters of our own making.  Sometimes I’m overwhelmed.

So there’s the Hallmark channel where you know what will happen in the first three minutes, the comforting archetypes showing up time and time again.  Sometimes I do long for a happy ending where everything turns out right in the end.

But the world is more complex than that.  No one is all villain or all heroine.  The villain never knows he or she is in the wrong while our heroes often slip off their perches.

I’ll keep watching, listening to and reading news, because I think there’s a responsibility I have as a citizen of the world.  I also try to remember that there are people and organizations doing great things with their power or money to make this planet better.

Still….the pull of fake conflict and the perfect ending.  It’s not real.  I know it’s not real.  Yet sometimes I just need a break.

Sunday Comics

bobbibowwomanLeave a comment

https://twitter.com/HatfieldAnne/status/938516490415992832