Christmas Spirit

This is a hard thing to say but I have a love and hate relationship with Christmas. I love it. I truly do. But there are moments and even some days when I hate it.  Those are the days when I feel that I am totally behind in my preparations, when I feel that my list of things to do will never get done (it never does), when I worry about traveling in bad conditions (our families are not nearby) and when everything else in life is preoccupying me.

Maybe that's why I love the movie 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' with Chevy Chase so much.  I can really identify with his attempts at creating a perfect Christmas for his family.

One solution is definitely to try and do less.  I suppose scaled-down preparations, fewer presents and a less grumpy mother at Christmas could be a gift. :) Also to concentrate on what's truly important.

We do have our tree up now and it is exquisitely beautiful--I think our nicest yet. We go and cut our tree down each year, a tradition started a long time ago by my Mom and Dad.

Somehow we managed to find the time amid school projects, commitments and my husband's insane work schedule to cut our tree down on Sunday.

The decorations aren't quite finished so the boxes are still out. My elves go to high school during the day.

Did I mention that my elves are pretty?

Actually pretty goofy. :)

I own over 1200 Christmas songs.  (So you see that I do love Christmas.)  I listen to all sorts of genres.  Here's a song that I keep playing lately.  It's by a Canadian country singer named Jessie Farrell.  The song is called 'Christmas in My House'. The message is a good one for people like me.

Another song that I really love is by American singer/songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter. It's called 'Christmas Carol' and it's from her album 'Come Darkness, Come Light'.  There's a sad undertone to it but it's really quite beautiful. It's a song about trying to reconcile her sense of Christmas as an adult with fuzzy childhood memories, commercialism, environmental change and world events. I couldn't find a video of it  but here are the lyrics and I encourage you to buy her song and listen to the lovely lyrics along with her soothing voice.

The week before Thanksgiving Day 

This town puts up its old display 

Streetlights hung with candy canes and bows 

The earlier it gets each year 

The scarcer is my Christmas cheer 

I guess I just like taking these things slow 

I really don't remember much 

Of Christmases growing up 

Except the year the Beatles came to play 

On my record player that came from Sears 

That White Album filled my ears 

In 1968 on Christmas Day.

I haven't been to church since God knows when 

I'm not someone who usually attends 

Truth be told there's just two wishes 

On my list every Christmas 

Peace on earth and a snow storm now and then

Now I pray that peace comes in our time 

It's hard enough to keep from crying 

When every bit of news just breaks your heart 

The same old stories, same old songs 

We dust them off when Christmas comes 

And for one day we just try to do our part 

And around here winter seems to come 

With rain and mud and bits of sun 

It's not exactly Currier and Ives

I don't mind cold if it brings snow 

Alberta Clippers come and go 

But a dusting would make everything all right

Perhaps a Christmas eve from long ago 

Delivered Christmas day with knee-high snow 

It's something lost but not forgotten 

Like candy hidden in a stocking 

That makes me every year wish it were so 

Because Christmas is for children's joy 

For every single girl and boy 

That's the truth we come to understand 

But the memories that don't let go 

Like Beatles songs and falling snow 

Can make us feel innocent again 

And maybe next year we won't go insane 

When they rush to hang the bows and candy canes 

Because peace will shine in me and you 

From Bethlehem to Timbuktu 

Even if the forecast is for rain 

Because peace will shine in me and you

From Bethlehem to Timbuktu 

Even if the forecast is for rain

Here's hoping that you find whatever makes sense to you as the Christmas spirit in the days ahead, no matter what is happening in your life or the world around you. ♥

It Snowed

I guess sometimes having trouble sleeping can be a good thing.  Look what I saw outside at around 1:00 a.m. last night?

It snowed, it snowed

It snowed last night

Everything is sparkling with diamond light

The road is bare

It's four feet high

Honey, let's play hooky

'Cause it snowed last night

Get your hat and coat and bundle up real tight

Hitch up that sled and we'll take a ride

Everybody's happy

'Cause it snowed last night

Well, how merry, how bright

The snowfall turns the

World into a lovely sight

It snowed, it snowed

It snowed last night

Honey, let's play hooky

'Cause it snowed last night

And when the sun dips out of sight

We'll cozy up by the fireside

And just before we close our eyes

Wish upon a star it snows again tonight

Wish upon a star it snows again tonight

Wish upon a star it snows again tonight

Those are the lyrics of a beautiful song by young Canadian singer Meaghan Smith. If you don't know her, I encourage you to have a listen. (Not only is she an award-winning singer/songwriter, she's also an artist.)  Her new Christmas album 'It Snowed' is available on iTunes and other places.  I love traditional holiday music but it's nice to hear some new songs once in a while.

We didn't get four feet of snow, but it's a start. :)

P.S. For anyone who lives in Canada:  I just noticed that Meaghan Smith's song 'It Snowed' is the free Single of the Week on iTunes! Enjoy! :)

My Boy

My daughter Emma made this beautiful video yesterday of our backyard starring my huggable boy, Meeko.  I just love her video.  With the garden, the birdfeeders, our dog, the music...I feel that she caught so much of what is important to me and I told her so. ♥

(The lovely song is 'Mango Tree' by Angus and Julia Stone, a brother and sister duo from Australia.)

Maple Leaves & Music

It's a good thing that I did my leaf paintings a couple of weeks ago, as the leaves are falling so quickly.  I've made my maple leaf painting into a print and it is now available in my Etsy store.

On Saturday, I was having a cup of coffee while staring out the front window and the leaves were falling like giant red, orange and yellow raindrops.  There was no wind.  They were just letting go, one after the other. It was really quite extraordinary to watch.  It was very cold the night before and I guess they woke up and said 'That's it for us. We're out of here.'

Meeko and I went for a walk this morning.  He really seems to enjoy this time of year.  It becomes more interesting with leaves covering the ground everywhere and I think the smells must be different in the cool, crisp air. He is an alert, curious dog. While we were in the park, some municipal workmen arrived to put up the wooden frame for the outdoor skating rink.  I guess if I needed confirmation that winter is coming soon, that would be it.

I've mentioned before that I love music and I was really lucky to see two fantastic concerts in the past week.  I don't go to a lot of concerts so to see two of them in three days was crazy and wonderful.  I saw the English band Mumford & Sons on Thursday. And then I saw The Civil Wars on Saturday night. Both concerts were absolutely amazing.

Mumford & Sons played in a huge venue (where the Montreal Canadiens play hockey) but managed to fill the big space with warmth, enthusiasm and heartfelt singing, guitar and banjo playing.

The Civil Wars played in a smaller venue but it was just perfect for their beautiful, spare music.  Two voices and a guitar.  They filled the room with their wonderful harmonies.  They also have a nice sense of humour and had a lot of fun with each other and the crowd. If you don't know them, I encourage you to give them a listen. They are getting all sorts of attention and press lately and have just announced a whole bunch of new concert dates. They also brought an incredibly good young band from California as their opening act:  Milo Greene.  The audience actually gave Milo Greene a standing ovation at the end of their opening set. You should have seen their faces.  It was a special moment.  When The Civil Wars came out afterwards, they joked that Milo Greene had obviously not received the memo about opening acts being supposed to suck.  :)

Well, I need to put some music on and get back to work creating more Etsy prints.  I'd like to work on a painting or two as well. Enjoy your week.

A little blue sky

Well, for sanity's sake, I had to put a new post up so I didn't keep having to look at the moody photos of my last one!  If Mother Nature isn't going to supply the blue sky, I will do it myself.

This painting is quite unusual for me.  There isn't a lot of detail.  It is more impressionistic than many of my works and I really like the way it turned out.  It's no place in particular--just a happy, sunny spot in my head.  I can imagine plopping myself down in the middle of the field and watching the puffy clouds go by.

It's actually the print rather than the original painting showing in both photos and I think it has turned out quite well.

Here is the print in a simple white frame:

I am working hard at getting my things ready for my Etsy opening.  There's a lot of time involved in taking photos, adding shop information and assembling mailing materials. Plus, I tend to be a perfectionist in the way I do things and would like to have everything just right before opening. :)

*  *  *  *  *

I listen to a lot of music.  Songs get stuck in my head according to what's going on in my life and what I'm doing.  Here's the song that been playing in my head this morning:

As I've been writing this post,  Mother Nature has decided to send the real blue sky. Hurray!  :)

Joni and Leonard and Light

As I continued working on my Muskoka morning sunrise painting today, I had my beloved iPod Touch playing.  I think it may be wrong to love an object as much as I love that sweet rectangular music box. There are some days when Shuffle can send you the weirdest, most disconcerting choices (let's say, for instance, the chorus of Hawksley Workman's Addicted as you are driving your daughter somewhere) and others when it can be in absolutely perfect sync with what you are doing. Today was one of those perfect sync days.

As I painted the clouds and the rays of morning sunlight breaking through them, two songs played in succession--first Joni Mitchell's Cotton Avenue:

 A red sun came rolling down a grey sky 
And the frogs and dogs and night birds then 
Started up singing sweet country lullaby... 

And then this one:

The birds they sang 
at the break of day 
Start again 
I heard them say 
Don't dwell on what 
has passed away 
or what is yet to be...

Ring the bells that still can ring 
Forget your perfect offering 
There is a crack, a crack in everything 
That's how the light gets in.
 (from Anthem by Leonard Cohen)

Oh Leonard, your lyrics and sense of timing are beautiful.

See a video of Leonard Cohen singing Anthem here.