What a way to begin a new year …
Watching the Rose Parade after missing it for several years. It, and the surroundings, have really changed (so what did I expect?) since the year three friends and I camped out on Colorado Boulevard overnight in front of a small diner in order to have curbseats for the parade. No way is that diner still there, and no more curbseats … all mammoth bleachers now. Oh well …
“Die Fledermaus” had been George’s and my New Year’s Day ritual for oh so many years. We had the Covent Garden Opera version from back in the 70s … but I’ve told you all about it before. This year I watched “Jumangi”, the original one with Robin Williams. Part of Mark’s family tradition is a new (to Paul) movie every year. I will watch “… Fledermaus” by myself later.
I’ve begun planning for next holiday season. Preparations take me longer now, as does getting things done, than they did in the past. I hope to get herbal preparations (maybe elderberry jelly or rose hip jam), the spinning, and some knitting done ahead of time. I’ve even got one of the games for the next radio club party ready. I hope I don’t forget it all by next winter.
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Snow began Christmas Eve followed by clear and sunny followed by snow followed by ground fog followed by clouds followed by fog followed by rain and wind …
Part of the normal winter was the melting followed by icing. For several days I have automatically put the truck into 4-wheel low to come up what we call the K-Bar hill. It’s rather steep and narrow.
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While reading the new mystery I learned a lot about London during the war. I had known about moving children out of London into the country. I have a friend who was sent to a farm in Cornwall. He talked about the loss of access to his Mother during those years and became very close to her after the war.
I had not heard (or read) that London was nearly stripped of dogs as well as children. Those that could be moved were sent to the country like the children. The others were mostly put down. The rational was they might signal hiding places if the island were invaded. Mark said he would have preferred to keep them as lookouts to warn of strangers.
And I learned about 5” bath water allowances and slimy soap and about how to fix runs in ladies hose. I remember my Nana had a special little hooker tool to do just that. I may still have it somewhere.
Thinking about what I am learning from the “light” reading I do, it dawned on me that in the past most authors wrote about what and where they knew, or they wrote “history” such as at a minimum three hundred years ago. Now at least some of them seem to choose an era and a location, learn as much as they can about time and place, and set their story based on what they learn. As a result, I am reading what might be called “historical fiction”, even though I lived during that historical period, and learning a lot about what was going on in other places as I was living that history.
And still some of it seems so current. On page149 of the paperback I’m currently reading it says … “They learned to read the morning paper without weeping.”
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I have one old and one new challenge in knitting. I never learned how to do “steeks”. That is where you knit in the round and then cut the knit piece where you want to do sleeves or other openings. The thought of purposely cutting knitted material sort of frightens me.
The other is “brioche” knitting. I had never heard of it until I got an announcement from the fiber store in Ashland that there is to be a class. The fee for the class is $195.00 … so I will have to find another way to learn.
Oh well …
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So to start the year …
What is important is not so much how long you live as whether you live a meaningful life. This doesn’t mean accumulating money and fame, but being of service to your fellow human beings. It means helping others if you can, but even if you can’t do that, at least not harming them. Dalai Lama
Blessings of a New Year and ‘til next week …