Not on this list are all the good book discoveries I made this year. That’ll be the subject of another post.
(Late to the) Game Changers:
I’m starting out with things I’m sure you already know about but that have been revolutionary to me. Both of these things I knew existed, of course, but I had no idea how much I have needed them in my life.
Small Habits:
Family Habits:
Television Shows:
Pandemic-specific Coping:
There is so much that could be said about the pandemic, so much opportunity for reflection and deep thoughts, but this is not that. This isn’t even a list of things I’ve been thankful for in the midst of the pandemic. No, this is just a two-point list of things that came to mind that have made how it has to be a little more bearable.
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The celebration looks a little different this year, but I, for one, am thankful for the quiet day. I’m so in love with these kids and so unspeakably thankful that I get to love them and be loved by them. Happy 11th to Ian, and happy 9th to Clara.
]]>Guys. I have been wrapping presents for two days straight. My dining room table is a fright, and I have blisters from the glue gun on both my thumbs. But I’m chuffed, as the Brits would say, at how the packages turned out. I am obsessed with making these felt birds (patterns from Downeast Thunder Farm). I started with making them into ornaments with all the embroidery details, but one blue jay took me hours, and Jason wisely talked me down from that. Instead, I pared it down to the basic shapes and colors and hot-glued instead of sewing, and I really like the graphic look.
]]>The making continues, though I’m running low on ideas for pictures. There are only so many pictures I can take of the kids at the kitchen counter or dining room table, head bent in concentration. Ya know?
]]>Winter solstice. Christmas star.
We ventured out to Holmes Lake this evening to catch a glimpse of this once-in-a-lifetime celestial sight. I was surprised–though, of course, I shouldn’t have been–at the number of people scattered on the hillside (all socially distanced) to see the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. It felt really special to share the experience–it felt like a cool community thing, which we all know have been so few and far between this year.
I had heard different things about how long it has been since this Saturn-Jupiter togetherness has happened, so I looked it up. It seems that conjunctions happen about every twenty years (the last one was in 2000), but the planets haven’t been this close together since 1623 (Galileo was alive then), and the last time such a close conjunction was observable was 1226. So, yeah, once in a lifetime (although Ian did remind us that if we missed it this time we would get to see it in heaven).
I can’t get my mind around the size and scope of the universe. I mean Jupiter is 551,073,816 miles away right now and Saturn is 1,006,731,903 miles away; those numbers are so big they are basically nonsense, and tonight we could see those planets with the naked eye. I. am. in. awe. And as much as that truly staggers my imagination, that’s nothing compared with the idea that the God who made Saturn, the Word who made Jupiter and who made you and who made me “became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Look, I don’t know if the Star of Bethlehem was, as some astronomers have theorized, a rare conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. But tonight’s star (planet) gazing was a sweet reminder that “the true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). And so we wait–with so much hope and anticipation–for Jesus to return. Come, Lord Jesus.
]]>So much making happening today.
]]>Each year one of my favorite DPP pictures is of my book club because my book club is my favorite. This year has been…you know…different. When the pandemic began we tried Zoom for a couple of months and then all summer and into the fall we found a lovely outside spot. Now it’s cold again and harder to gather in person, but figuring out how to make it work so that we get a couple of hours together–however that looks–is so very worth it.
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We studied birds earlier this year, and we have all become pretty big bird nerds. We took a ride to a lake near Fremont and saw red-tailed hawks, cedar waxwings, cardinals, robins, juncos, blue jays, northern flickers, downy woodpeckers, and chickadees. Yesterday, we didn’t see any of those, but we did see a bald eagle, blue herons, and either a golden eagle or juvenile bald eagle (also we learned that you can only age bald eagles up through age 5; once their feathers turn completely white on their head they are “older than 5”).
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