nor'easter

 
i woke early to a surprise snowfall . . 

and managed to get out to the courtyard for photos before the paths were shoveled.

at the green market . . 

a delicious blood orange which cricket was interested in . . 

perusing the gaza kitchen cookbook by laila el-haddad while having poppyseed pound cake from the bread alone stand.

after dinner christmas cookies . .

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while i was traipsing through the courtyard snow, kathy, warren and adam were walking through the palm and lychee orchards of his landlord's backyard . . 

under bougainvilla . . 

jackfruit . . 

bromeliads . .

elk horn fern . . 

kathy captioned this photo: "no snow here!"

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meanwhile, in london morgan attended a lunar new year celebration:

and a birthday party for their friend merlyn.

walking milly

zuzu doesn't mind having pluto on the window seat with her as long as she can lounge in her special cat bed from meow parlor. here she was actually starting to play with his tail.

it had been awhile since i walked milly. 

it was nice to be out again with her. i feel myself still taking things slow from being so sick with the flu.

the wind was blustery today . . we were headed to the river park, but it blew so fiercely that we changed direction.

treat time . . 

birthday celebration

janet and i visited sevilla to celebrate her birthday. she almost chose another place for dinner, but then remembered how much she enjoyed our local spanish restaurant. (it's always very busy when we walk in, with everyone laughing and talking.)

mariscada with green sauce, grilled octopus and mixed vegetables sautéed with garlic . . all so delicious.

unwrapping the indigo shawl i thought would be a lovely gift for her . . 

and which she adores . . 

it was a beautiful . . 

and fun, cold winter night.

dinner with chanda and greg

raviolis from rafetto's with a salad . . 

chocolates and cookies for dessert.

christmas cookies on valentine's day

the christmas cookies look so pretty in their glass jar. my mom bought this for me over forty years ago . . yesterday i was missing her so much . . yesterday i was missing seemingly everyone and everything . . so much.

yesterday when i was missing so many and so much i kept thinking of those who've lost everything . . 

what is home?

what is home:

it is the shade of trees on my way to school

before they were uprooted.

it is my grandparents' black-and-white wedding

photo before the walls crumbled.

it is my uncle's prayer rug, where dozens of ants

slept on wintry nights, before it was looted and 

put in a museum.

it is the oven my mother used to bake bread and

roast chicken before a bomb reduced our house

to ashes.

it is the cafe where i watched football matches

and played--

my child stops me: can a four letter word hold

all of these?

mosab abu toha (born 1992)

snowstorm morning and life in florida

it's a snowy morning . . it was coming down fine at first, but is now fast and furious and thick. it probably won't last long, and the ground isn't cold enough for it to stick . . but it is very pretty.

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i finished up the last of korrina's christmas cookie dough that was still in the fridge. the vanilla was very flaky and i couldn't get as many cookies from it, but the gingerbread was still quite moist (the added molasses in it helps). 

baked in time to have with a cup of decaf coffee for a facetime call with morgan. we watched an episode of ted lasso (season 3, episode 9) and caught up on news. morgan was making a small fold up sewing kit for harley's mom's birthday which is tomorrow (and still recuperating from a cold visit to madrid which they thought was going to be warm and sunny! but of course madrid was so beautiful it didn't matter . . ) and i watched the last of the snow fall outside my window. sadly, it stopped by 1 pm. 

amazingly enough, i finished my moving forward wrap and blocked it! the yarns are am's (oysters and purls) alpaca/corriedale in indigo and january colors, blue-faced leiscester/merino in indigo; moel view welsh mule in indigo; and humade twist in color homer-at-sea. needle sizes used were 4 and 5.

i spent the rest of the day sorting through old paperwork and then walked home with greg from trader joe's where we met after he got off work. i've been thinking about this article today, the feeling of losing snow.

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while i was feeling so melancholy because we no longer get such heavy snowfalls, kathy was enjoying the sunshine by adam's landlord's pool . . ah, the florida life!

tibetan new year and more photos from spain

if i understood correctly, the songs and dances are performed specifically for the new year and for special events such as the dalai lama's birthday.

singers from the local cultural group . . i think the host said it was their first time performing the piece.

the gong exhibit was one chanda experienced in the spring and summer, but which i hadn't seen yet. 

"finding stillness within anger . . "

the gongs were chosen by different musicians . . 

a docent explained the procedure and then attendees could take a turn. it was very crowded so we decided to pass on trying it during this visit. we went downstairs for a cup of tea before heading home (chanda went to the library at school which was just a few blocks away).

it's a very beautiful exhibit and i look forward to returning. i think the children gathered around her were excited about taking a turn with the gong. 

it was a fun event . .

walking home . . 

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morgan sent a few more photos from madrid:

we always admire the tile/pavement work in european countries . . 

more antique stores . . 

cute little tuxedo cat . . 

tuxedo cats seem to be popular in madrid.

delicious looking food . .

morning walk and morning poem and photos from spain

 
7 am walk to the french pastry shop . . 

cricket investigating the crumbs . . 

a book of william wordsworth poetry morgan gave me for christmas, purchased from his house in the lake district where they visited in the fall with harley and her family.

owl calls

there was a boy - ye knew him well, ye cliffs

and islands of winander - many a time

at evening, when the stars had just begun

to move along the edges of the hills,

rising or setting, would he stand alone

beneath the trees or by the glimmering lake,

and there, with fingers interwoven, both hands

pressed closely palm to palm, and to his mouth

uplifted, he as through an instrument

blew mimic hootings to the silent owls

that they might answer him. and they would shout

across the watery vale, and shout again,

responsive to his call, with quivering peals

and long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud,

redoubled and redoubled - concourse wild

of mirth and jocund din.

by william wordsworth (1770-1850)