firsts

Finally, finally I got out my first, newly-received-as-a-gift sewing machine. It makes a mean straight stitch, let me tell you. Pretty exciting. Looking forward to finishing my 1914 dress.

Another first: rutabagas. Scaly and earthy-looking, not as peppery as turnips. That's what I hear, anyway. I have yet to eat them, but they look great and rustic on my sideboard.

And another food first: tarts. The great thing about tarts is that you make them in a tart pan. Mine (and I think most) have scalloped edges and are shallow and just look cool. So I made a blackberry one, and then a smaller one with honey curd that was delicious in a sweet almondy crust.

geckos

I just wanted to anounce the recent acquisition of a new lizard friend that is not a dinosuar and that is actually real and not an acrylic painting from my head. It's Calvin the leopard gecko! If you haven't met him, you should, because he's great. He doesn't look leopardy yet because he's young... so right now he's mostly orange with black markings. He has a log-cave and some rock structures in which he likes to hide, or crawl around on if he's feeling spry. He also has a jungle-leaf plant which he crawls up into sometimes, hiding. He eats live crickets (sorry crickets) and they must be delicious to him because he eats a lot. I'll put a picture here at a later time. Maybe I'll even paint a picture of him.

Pets are fun, but sometimes I feel bad about them. There is a difference, though, between caging a wild animal and having a pet that was born in captivity. The second doesn't know anything different; the cage and immediate surroundings are its world, and that's all it knows. And so the animal can enjoy its life. It would be amazing to have a wild animal for a pet, like a squirrel or chipmunk or something, but it already knows about life on its own and it would be too sad to contain it. I found a wild snail once and put it in a jar, but I either killed it or it went into hibernation or just lost its will to live... poor Cecil the snail.

bits and pieces

It's 2008 today, and seems an appropriate time to examine life. Socrates said that "The unexamined life is not worth living." That's a pretty strong statement, and it compels me. Ask if you want to hear more on that subject.

Christmas was fun with my family - ALL of us together for a day. We were pretty lazy all day, but it's good to have some days like that. I think i had several great naps that day.

My mom and sister Em visited last week, which was fun. A visit to O'Betty's was a highlight for them. Can't go wrong there. Then my dear friend Rachel came for a day, which meant a lot as she lives in the Chicago area. It's such a gift to have a friendship built over so many years... it gives lots of opportunities to show grace to each other. And faithfulness.

Then there was the turkey fiasco... please read my friend Andrea's explanation of that epic tale. She explains it well. I'm not really feeling at peace with turkeys much now. I have my own turkey problem taking up the majority of my little fridge, but it's looking hopeful that it soon may be out of my life. Lesson learned.

I just found a little poem about the moon that I had learned while living in Bolivia... I've been trying to remember it, but couldn't. Then I remembered that you can find just about anything on the internet. Amazing. So here it is (part of it, anyway).

Luna lunera, cascabelera,
ojos azules, boca morena.

Last night I accidently ended up at the waterfall; I think some unseen Force must have brought me there. My heart had had no peace all day. Running hard through the field by the birch trees didn't help, even playing the piano for quite a while didn't bring any release, and I felt more frustrated and sad than ever. It's wanting to say everything at once, but being stopped by some stubborn wall of fear. Well, problem not solved, but the falling water must have done something. I was reminded of being alone with God. And of courage. More on that later.