Imagery.

I love to drink a cup of coffee in the morning. My favorite thing is to watch the cream cloud and fold in from the edges of the cup. Sometimes, I think I can see something in it. Like an image of a sasquatch. But it's so fast, it's difficult to identify. Or sometimes it's an image of the sun, so I turn my face really quickly so I won't go blind. This morning I didn't have a round cup, so it was a little harder to see, but, I think it was this:

An image (from google images) from the movie Koyaanisqatsi, which is a Hopi Indian word meaning "life out of balance." It is a really great film that is worth watching.

Stopped in for a photo at Jubilee!

If you don't already have it.

This album rocks! Your tree and garland will be happy as you swing around them in gladness to this amazing music. And you will smile. All year long. Don't think you are the weird one out when you feel an urge to slip it on for a few happy tunes this spring either. It's the Sufjan Stevens Christmas album. It's so good!

Christmas Past.

I found this file while looking for photos...one of my favorites. Click the images to read. It's pretty funny. My Christmas card from '05, the year I was homeless for half of it. Katrina had left no available apartments in Jackson. I was living with friends. It was fun, but a tough 6 months. I hope I never forget the feeling I had when I got the home I have now. All the fun of fixing it up (THANK YOU!!! Mom and Dad!) , and how my sister and I had prayed for the right price, and God made it available in all of His perfection (THANK YOU!!! Father!). I went from living, literally on friends' couches to having an entire house. It was/is great.

I really miss my Sony.

I had a sweet Sony camera, and then, it quit. First, lines formed across the screen and across photos. Then one day, the screen was black. Don't leave your camera in the car. Or it will surely go. I left it in the car, during the hot summer and the cold winter. I did not know.

Holiday Message From Buddy.

gfhhhhhhhhhhhhioppppppppppppppppppppppp

This Ain't Aunt Edina's Green Bean.

So you won't have to pucker up this year when she comes at you with those hot pink lips and coffee breath, waving her heaping spoon at you, to see if you want another serving of her frightening concoction. Since you lied and told her you liked them so well that you had already finished them from your plate before you even got to sit down. This year you'll have your own. "Right back at ya Edina!" with a smile you'll say. This recipe kicks and it's so easy. I got it from the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.

MAKE AHEAD

prep: 42 minutes :: cook: 12 minutes :: chill: 1 hour

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds green beans
1 small purple onion, thinly sliced
1 (4-ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

• Whisk together first 5 ingredients.
• Trim stem end of green beans, snap into thirds, and steam until crisp-tender (10 minutes). Immediately plunge into cold water to stop cooking process. Drain. Pat dry.
• Combine beans, onion, and cheese. Toss. Cover. Chill.
• Pour oil mixture over bean mixture and chill 1 hour before serving.
• Toss in walnuts just before serving.

Christmas Time's a Comin'!

And, I can't wait! You'll even catch me in June jammin' to these great Christmas tunes. Here is a "best of" list. For your Thanksgiving road trip or just to help you get your Christmas spirit flowing early! All available on iTunes:

Amen : : Take 6
Blue Christmas : : Elvis Presley
Christmas Time's a Comin' : : Del McCoury, Doc Watson & Mac Wiseman
Christmas Wrapping : : The Waitresses
The First Noel : : Yellowjackets
Good Morning Blues : : Ella Fitzgerald
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas : : Hem
Last Christmas : : Wham! (for nostalgia only)
Merry Christmas, Baby : : Christina Aguilera Featuring Dr. John
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer : : Billy May
Santa Claus : : Sonny Boy Williamson
Santa Claus Is Back In Town : : Jonny Lang
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town : : Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers
Silent Night : : Emmylou Harris
Snoopy's Christmas : : The Clumsy Lovers
Soulful Christmas : : James Brown (loves ya!)
The Little Drummer Boy : : Etta James
This Christmas : : Donny Hathaway
What You Want for Christmas : : 69 Boyz, K-Nock & Quad City DJ's
White Christmas : : Diana Krall

Virginia Taylor.

I found a photo album when I lived in Nashville from the early 1900's. It belongs to Virginia Taylor, who was 6 and 1/2 in 1935, and lived on 2112 Irving Ave. S, in Minneapolis Minnesota. The book is full of family photographs, friends from Camp Lake Hubert, her counselor, Constance Lane, Connie the nurse, the cabin she stayed in. Fishing with her father, cousin, Bill and Rex the dog on East Twin Lake, Susan's cottage there. It goes on and on. Each photo with a description, and list of where and who.
About a month ago I decided to google (sorry purists, I know "Google" is a proper noun, not a verb) the address, and see if there was still a home there. And, there was. I sent the current resident a letter, asking if she knew Virginia Taylor or her relatives. Yesterday, I got a letter back from her, and she was very curious too, and asked if her house, which she described to me was in any of the photos. I looked when I got home, and I did find several photos of family members, including Tippy, the dog posed on the front porch of the house. Perhaps I shall return them.

image: photobooth.net

Everybody Wang Jung Tonight.

Some synchronicity for a Monday: As mentioned in an earlier post, my sister and I are pretty consistently on the same thought wave, though it's frequency and significance varies. But, this one was pretty fun, so I thought I'd share:
We found out late last week that she and Jay would not get the early adoption referral they had hoped for, so I bought her a book, Parenting from the Inside Out, to read, in hopes that it would help pass the time as well as help prepare them for Elyza. Saturday, I went to the post office to mail it to her. And, tonight, I had a voicemail from her thanking me and telling me that just yesterday, her friend Cochet, had called to tell her about this great teacher at her child's school. She as a parent as well as her child had learned a lot from the teacher, and she recommended Courtney check out her book. Her name is Mary Hartzell but that she could not remember the name of the book that she had written. Today, after opening her package from me, she saw the name Mary Hartzell on the book and after doing a double take on who the package was from, called to hip me to this latest. hahahahah. Dang, quit stalking my mind, yo. hahhahha, just kidding. Hope ya'll enjoy the book.

"When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’ve first begun."

Usually, I can hardly sing this part, especially when it gets to the part about, "no less days...than when we first begun." This is the final verse of Amazing Grace, and my most favorite.
A few weeks ago, a lady I know, told me that her daughter was getting married at the end of October. Somewhere on the coast, I think she said. I've heard that it rains and showers frequently on the coast. And, after almost a full week of heavy rains here, it came to mind, that it could possibly rain at her daughter's wedding. I don't know her daughter, but I suspected there was only a small chance that she would prefer rain at her wedding, and felt several urges throughout the 3 days prior to it, to pray for beautiful weather. Not that the music would be great. Or the guests would all be able to attend. Or that the priest would say the right things. Though I hope all these things were true as well, it was only an urge to pray for this, nothing else, but that the weather would be perfect for her/them.
I didn't think about it after that, until I saw the lady again a few days ago, and of what I can remember of our brief conversation about the wedding, she didn't talk about the music, or the guests, or the priest. She talked about the weather! She said briefly that she was glad to be barefoot on the sand, something about dolphins in the ocean behind them, and went on and on, saying three times how beautiful the weather was.
I can't tell you how much my heart smiles, that our Father in Heaven would reveal His love for us in so many ways great and small. And, I can't wait until we can praise Him in the never ending daylight.