new shoes

ok, so i got them a couple of months ago, but wasn't caught up with my projects and didn't write to tell you.

my old running shoes wore out, and at the end of the summer season i got a very handy coupon for a spiffy new pair of salomon XT wings.

even though you wouldn't know it today (twelve degrees and wearing extra clothes) i'm running a little faster in them; a sixteen minute mile on average.

before you go all unimpressed, yes, i AM aware that decent runners can do eight minute miles and hardly break a sweat. even in good condition i'm a sucky runner, so sixteen minute miles are a big step up for me.

here's my hat!

flask Christmas

presenting for the year selections from the flask Christmas album: daily download available from now until 1 january.

flask Christmas

bread

yesterday was the 21st of december, the day of the winter solstice, the day that the days bein to grow longer again.

and i can really use more daylight.

i decided to spend the day baking; i have a bread that i bake on the solstice day or when i'm asking special blessings. i call it "apple raisin spice" but it's more than that. it's heavily fruited with -yes- apples and raisins, but also with apricots and plums and sometimes currants. instead of water, i use for the liquid ingredients apple cider and dark amber maple syrup. the zest of a lemon is in there, along with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and a little black pepper.

all of these ingredients carry the traditional symbolism of ancient kitchen magic: they ask blessings of protection, prosperity, health, happiness, and love.

and so the baking of the bread is a prayer offering. with every added ingredient i think of what it symbolizes, and with evey turn of the dough, stirring or kneading, i consider carefully the prayers i wish to carry to those who will eat the bread.


it is hearty bread, heavy, substantive, and sweet.

so may you have what is substantial and sweet.

three views of a punchbowl

when i unwrapped it, i thought it was a small and ornate punchbowl.

what it turned out to be makes a lot more sense; you know perhaps that i am a lighter of candles.






when i say "i'll light a candle for you", i mean it. sometimes what i mean by "i'll light a candle for you" is "i'll keep a candle burning for you night and day until i know that you are safe."



like everyone else in my family, when my sister does anything, she does it to excess. right now that means that if it's glass, she'll paint it.

so i have this cool new bowl to hold my candle now. today i took some pictures of it; one so you can see the paint, one so you can see the glow, and the third one i just like because the light spreads and grows.


lighting up the darkness, you know?

wind

i kept watching bits of other people's homes go by my window, and decided to park my car on the leeward side of the building.




of course i had to go outside and take pictures, because i'm insane. a few miles upwind they clocked winds officially at 88 MPH, and i'll tell you that fully braced against it, i wasn't able to stand.