On Ice

It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.

John Burroughs, American naturalist and essayist, in Winter Sunshine (1875)

My first foray onto ice and I didn’t make a spectacle of myself – relief!

Sew Day

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

Albert Camus, French Algerian philosopher, and Nobel-prize author (1913–1960)

One of the familial expressions that guided my upbringing is “Discretion is the better part of valour.” I wondered about its origins today as I wrote to cancel a meeting due to an ice storm that’s hitting the city. With icy streets, it’s best to be sensibly safe than imprudently perilous. Google revealed that Shakespeare’s coward Falstaff is the first to use the expression in Henry IV, Part I. In fact, he says “The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life.” While Shakespeare may have intended the expression to be tongue-in-cheek, I am very happy to be sitting in my rocking chair looking out the glacial windows.

An email arrived later in the morning from one of our favourite quilt shops to alert customers that it has closed today due to the icy roads and freezing rain. They urged, “Make it a SEW day!” I heartily approve the resolution as I continue to be warmed by the sight of the 350 “fabric hugs” created by the St. John ‘Sew & Sews’ for shut-ins and others needing comfort. The sanctuary overflowed with their display before being distributed to seniors homes, a hospice and children’s aid society. Their care and concern for others uplifts my heart.

You should be dancing, yeah

Life is like a disco ball . . .
No matter how the music changes, you just keep dancing.

Unknown

Greeted by a giant disco ball how could patrons to the annual fundraising gala not know that an entertaining evening was in store?? Movers and shakers filled the spaces, and some of them even danced. Big band sounds, swing dancing and melodious female blues delighted almost as much as the free-flowing prosecco. A good time was had by all.

Display Candy

Christmas is like candy: it slowly melts in your mouth sweetening every taste bud, making you wish it could last forever. 

Richelle E. Goodrich, American novelist and poet in Smile Anyway 

Our gift shop sparkled with new window displays this evening. The twinkle lighting and curlicue stencils create an enticingly lovely presence along the sidewalk, looking very much like a sugary confection. Such cheery displays are visual candy for these old eyes.

Nostalgic for Christmas Catalogues

May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas eve.

Unknown

The Christmas catalogue on Mom and Dad’s kitchen table filled me with the warmth of nostalgia. I fondly remember hours spent leafing through the Eaton’s catalogue, folding page corners as markers and making my wish list for Santa. 

A very similar gleeful sensation filled me five decades later as I eyed the Embossing Rolling Pins that “let you press detailed, seamless designs into rolled-out sheets of dough, embossing deeply so that pattern stays crisply defined, even after baking.” Can you say, “new toy”? ;-)

Sweet Joy

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American writer and poet (1883-1931)

Santa’s cookie elf has hung up her apron, stashed her cap, and thrown her striped socks in the wash. Collapsed on the sofa with a whiskey in hand, she is happily content that another successful Cookie Walk is complete.

Every permutation of butter, sugar and flour seemed to be present on the bountiful tables.

The financials have yet to be calculated, but the sugar-fueled enthusiasm of our patrons certainly indicates our success. The cookie elf team beamed throughout the day, reflecting back the joy on the faces of our customers.

We’ll be back again next year! Stay tuned!

Ho ho ho! :-)

Being Best

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.

St. Jerome, biblical scholar regarded as the most learned of the Latin Fathers (c. 347–419)

I was tickled to read the subtitle of our church bazaar sign when Mom and I arrived to set up the Cookie Walk tables. Based on customer reviews, the Melrose Cookie Walk is indeed ‘the best’ in town. Yet while revelling in a moment of gleeful pride, the responsibility of maintaining our ‘gold star’ status percolated through my mind. And so the oven was fired up again tonight to produce a few last batches of heavenly sugar to add to the bounty of tomorrow’s table.

Fingers crossed that we host another great event – and remain "the best".

Stay tuned. :-)