Catching Up: Into January afore February's over

Here's a couple miscellaneous photos taken in early to mid-January. Feels good, I'm only a month to six weeks behind now. Kind of looking forward to catching up to now instead of looking backwards all the time. I expect my stories and photos will be a bit different, for example tomorrow I go to a DFL convention. Don't care for politics much any more. So it might be fun to tell a story about something I used to be addicted to. Maybe I'll tell a few stories about my job with the Red Lake Indians and the extra curricular activities I do. And so it goes.

So our friends Derrick and Rachelle went away one week end in January, so we found a key under the mat after we went through the bathroom window. We sat down and made ourselves comfortable. Well, not as comfortable as home, they live in a cottage, we live in a cabin. AND, that is not a Lazy Boy.
Barbara thinks I'm funny saying we went through the bathroom window. She doesn't believe what I'm writing here. Hmph.

Didn't anybody tell her?

Didn't anybody see?

Sunday's on the phone to Monday,

Tuesday's on the phone to me.

~Lennon/McCartney

Poor old Cinnamon was sure glad to see us. Poor puppy was starving for affection. How do you like my sweat shirt. It says Electoral College. You see I went in 2004. We made history when one of us voted for John Edwards for Prez instead of John Kerry. That never happens. Long story, maybe I'll tell some day. We got up and left when we realized they didn't have a shower.
Well, Rachelle and Derrick came home unexpectedly after we discovered they had no working shower, so we went home. But before we did, we bought twin cameras about the size of a pack of cigarettes if I recall how small that is. Hmmm, maybe smaller. A pretty cool Canon to shoot. So the first shot is of Barb taking her first shot of me.
Back in my Lazy Boy where I belong. I am looking at the photo of the photo you just saw. Isn't that weird? Taking photos of someone taking photos has always baffled me, kind of like a fun house mirrors. How many images deep could one go anyway?
Skip ahead a week or so. Here's Cynthia Ann and Barbara Ann. Married to brothers. Knew each other before we knew them. First they were friends, and now they are Sisters-in-law. Phew, I'm getting confused again.
Lining up in the kitchen. Barbara and Alex wear hats.
Johnny Jim ponders why he is so much larger than Lizette. Probably that camera stuff, or is it done with mirrors.
Now where was this person who took this photo of me. Angles, channels, views, slants, positions, perspectives, curvatures, visions. Mirrors. Cameras. Cameras have mirrors, and this Mirrors has cameras.

You're...

My Friend,

my companion,

through good times and bad

my friend, my buddy,

through happy and sad,

beside me you stand,

beside me you walk,

you're there to listen,

you're there to talk,

with happiness, with smiles,

with pain and tears,

I know you'll be there,

throughout the years!

Let Me Out of 2009 and these #*%^% Holidays

CELEBRATE!

Barbara has a birthday 'twixt Christmas and New Years on the 28th. Kind of a crummy time for a birthday so close to Christmas, you know presents and all. Don't think she minds it now so much, as she buys her own gifts as I don't dare, and that's a great gift to her.

So Barbara invites two friends and husbands along, don't remember why, but the husbands can't make it. This bums me out of course, because now I have to go to dinner with three intelligent and attractive women. Oh drat! But ya know, like the trooper I am, somehow I suck it up and don't complain.

Anyway, Barbara gets to choose her poison, and she chooses Tutto Bene. The women love this, me not so much. They don't care, I'm just the designated driver. And here we are, well...they are.

Coincidently, these two great women friends are about the same age as our two daughters. Barb doesn't look old enough to be their mom does she? Not quite on Rachelle, for sure on Tonya.
I tell them to look friendlier, and they do. I just had to show this pic as it is so very rare that a woman, let alone three, will take a suggestion of mine. Happy birthday Barbara Ann.

Happy happy birthday

to every girl and boy.

Hope this very special day

brings you lots of joy.

Hope the birthday presents

you get from Mom and Dad

make this very special day

the best you ever had.

~Written by a local Minneapolis musician named Jim Hobbins.

(From the Twin Cities children’s show, Lunch with Casey. Roger Awsumb as Casey Jones, brought joy to children all over Minnesota and the surrounding area. The show is long gone, but Casey will be beloved forever.)

31 December. Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot?

Heck, I don't know. I can't remember, so how can I forget? Well, the older we get seems the less we do on New Years Eve. We used to do parties, then did dinner and a movie for a while. Last year my brother John came up to Brother Gregory's and we shot off fireworks and jumped in the snow at midnight, a kind of crazy tradition my brothers have come up with. This year, we stayed home and watched Dick Clark finally look old. We watched a movie too, and just kind of relaxed and waited for a new decade.

Midnight, January 1, 2009. Me with camera. Two brother bookends, then wives, then niece Jennifer and Barb.

Couple seconds after Midnight, January 1, 2009. Second verse, same as the first...almost. Same characters, Barbara with camera.
About 10:30 PM, December 31, 2009. Barbara and girl kitty Bandita. They don't make it to midnight.
About 10:33 PM, December 31, 2009. Little Princess Bandita (soon to be Queen) and Barbara. I, on the other hand, make it to midnight and beyond, although fading in my Lazy Boy.

12:30 AM, January 1, 2010. The late stayer-upper, Michael and Tomcat Makwa.

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want. Happy New Year all.

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

Christmas Eve & Dayzed 2009

In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar in his Julian calendar established December 25 as the date of the winter solstice of Europe.

I ain't much for Christmas. Lots of reasons that you can guess and I won't go into. Coincidental is it not, how we seem to have the same symbolic celebrations - by different names - over time and space? And so it is the eve and day of a mid-winter festival known in my culture and time as Christmas, just a few days after Solstice.

Good reasons for having a mid-winter festival. Across time and space, these gatherings have value for emotional comfort, having something to look forward to at the darkest time of the year. This is especially true for those of us who live north of latitude 45 degrees. (We're at 47 degrees 30 minutes) The depressive psychological effects of winter on meself and lots of others are experienced as coldness, tiredness, malaise, and inactivity. This is S.A.D. is it not?

Insufficient sunlight sucks! I read somewhere that "the short winter days increase the secretion of melatonin in the body, throwing off the circadian rhythm with longer sleep. Exercise, light therapy, increased negative ion exposure (which can be attained from plants and well ventilated flames, burning wood or beeswax) can reinvigorate the body from its seasonal lull and relieve winter blues by decreasing melatonin secretions, increasing serotonin and temporarily creating a more even sleeping pattern." Or, insufficient sunlight sucks!

The winter solstice, thus Christmas et. al. may have been immensely important because communities were not certain of living through the winter, and had to be prepared during the previous nine months. Starvation was common in winter between January and April, also known as the famine months. In temperate climates, the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration, before deep winter began. Now that's depressing. No apologies. Sorry.

Christmas Eve. Nope. No Adam. Widowed twice. Mary Ann of Fergus Falls. Mother and Mother-in-law to three and three. She comes to visit two daughters in Bemidji during the festival. She has a son living in Indiana by the name of Miles. He thought about moving to Canada once, but didn't want to change his name to Kilometers.
The eldest daughter, middle child. Prefers the Great North Woods in Winter over the Great Plains of Fergus. The conifers temper the winter tempests.
Kari, the baby of the family tries to hide behind a wine glass not realizing it doesn't work. She used to love peek-a-boo too.
Ken, husband of Kari. Yes, as you can tell by the star shine, he is one of the wise guys.

There's a light on

over my head, my Lord

There's a light on

over my head, let it shine

Let it shine, let it shine

Although it may not be

the only one

Let me shine,

shine, shine, shine

Although I may not be

the only one.

~Neil Young

Kari and Ken's son Nathaniel or Nate of late. He's also nephew of Barbara and I. Interesting fellow, a hockey coach and Roy Orbison fan.
Confused and amused and needing a mid-winter festival to help with sanity. It isn't working do you think?

I can see very well

There's a boat on the reef with a broken back

And I can see it very well

There's a joke and I know it very well

It's one of those that I told you long ago

Take my word I'm a madman don't you know

~Elton John/Bernie Taupin, Madman Across the Water

Kari playing it straight looking over her mother. If you've never heard a Kari-ism, you've missed a good laugh. She laughs too, so it's okay.
Nate and Ken, moved by the revelry of Christmas lead the rest of us in caroling. Fa la la la bah!
Little sister, koy Kari.
Christmas Day. We move over to the other side of the family for dinner at Gregory and Lizette's. They be cooking up a turkey with all the fixin's, they're good at it and do it often. Cook up a turkey that is.

A Mother and Child Reunion.

"Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously?"

~Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

Our two hosts listen to the conversation of mother and daughter. They both like Calvin and Hobbes. The feline at center claims to be a second cousin once removed to the stuffed toy tiger. Thus being outside the third degree of kindred, theoretically...they could marry.
Ivory the cat. Got an attitude about Christmas festivals which is none at all or more of the same.
"Hmmm", says I. Engaged in some thinking of something, or so it seems or was it sew it, seams.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons. It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

~Dr. Seuss

The mark 4 dinner set, & ready 2 go.
Barbie sits with a window winter wonderland behind her and through the glass darkly.

Bright lights come and go

Playing blue songs on my radio

Shadows still appear in the house tonight

Ghosts have come in from the past

All those ghosts that keep on coming back

Sliding through the walls and my windows

When I’m with you

The nights are cold and long

Still can’t remember

What it feels like to be strong

I’ve tried to blend in

But it seems I don’t belong

I don’t know what it’s coming to

But I’m looking through the glass darkly

~Annie Lennox

We await the cooks to be seated.

A lovely thing about Christmas is that is is compulsory, like a thunderstorm, we all go through it together.

~Garrison Keillor

Ten hours of cooking, twenty minutes of eating, two hours for clean-up

Darkness falls, and Christmas is done. Yes! Another week, and maybe some semblance of normality...whatever the heck that means.

So this is Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas

I hope you have fun

The near and the dear ones

The old and the young

And so this is Christmas

For weak and for strong

For rich and the poor ones

The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas

For black and for white

For yellow and red ones

Let’s stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

Let’s hope it’s a good one

Without any fear

~John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Solstice Eve at Lorraine's, 12/20/09

At 5:47 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (that's 11:47 a.m. Central Standard Time) on December 21, 2009, just for a moment, the sun stands still. Our ancestors lived in a world where everyone believed in mystery and magic. Every year, they gathered together to celebrate the seemingly miraculous return of the light.

Haven't been a fan of Christmas since I was an adolescent. I like the symbolism of it, Solstice and all. But I don't like what it's become. Don't like all the stress, the expectations. Also don't like it because I was married and had a babe in the middle of my drinking years at age 21. It's hard being an absent father, especially at Christmas. The holidays aren't as bad as they used to be, but still don't like it much. Of course insufficient daylight don't help matters. Need a shot of serotonin. Been working on celebrating the "original" meaning and symbolism of this time of year. I'm sure I'd be happier about it.

So our long-time friend Lorraine throws this annual Christmas party, this year on Solstice eve. (Helps in my new quest) She and hubby, now gone, Jim have been doing this ever since I can remember. It's part farewell party too, as right after New Years, she will head to Tucson until April. She invites an eclectic group, part long time friends from BSU where she and Jim used to teach, part DFL, part neighbors. I guess we started off as DFL, but became extraordinary friends. Always will be. Some friends stick. Some don't.

Lorraine hires a student to help her serve and put things together so she can be the great host she is. Always has some of the best ham and turkey you ever ate with white and dark buns, plus something I call cheesy potatoes which are very, very yummy. I always overeat. It's a good time seeing old friends, see who is added, and who has dropped from her list. Our friends Derrick and Rachelle just live two doors away, but made Lorraine's list for the first time in '08. They got to know each other better during the '08 campaign, and they can't help loving each other.

Barbara isn't feeling well today, so I call up Rachelle and Derrick and ask if I can walk over to the party from their place and not show up alone. Not that I mind, but it will also insure a good parking spot. I spend more time thinking about good parking spots than I should.
Cinnamon, a dog. Decides to lay down next to me. Makes me miss our dog.
Ashley Elizabeth, a daughter. She won't be going to the party, but she's a pleasant presence for the pre-party.
Derrick a husband and father. He lets me sit in his red chair, so he's chosen this one. I keep wondering if I'd let him sit in my "lazy boy". Never mind, I don't want to think about it. Don't know why I brought it up.Here we are at Lorraine's, she greets neighbor Rachelle and long-time friend Judy. Judy and husband Art have a place close to Lorraine in Bemidji and in Tucson.
What's with the red sweaters? They abound. Rachelle has red shoes, I'll spare ya the photo.
They're happier than they look. It's enjoying what's on their plate got them close mouthed. Sue and Lori, they are members of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, so is Barbara. Made the front page of the Pioneer one time for their eccentricities. John. He's married to a lawyer and a state senator. No, he's not a bigamist. Like many pols, wife Mary is both. Spends a lot of time being part bachelor with she in St. Paul so much. He's a workaholic route driver, delivers Tombstone pizzas and other types of food to grocery stores. He can sleep standing up.
Lorraine lives on a houseboat, but the rocking is ignored. Somehow Art (blue jacket) is the only one who compensates.
Derrick eaves drops on Rachelle (and Mary) so he can counteract later any bandy legged liberal ideas presented by the state senator.
Mary politics on her way out the door. I fielded her for the senate job. Several women I've worked with for elective politics are present here, and couple of men.
Art quizzes me on the Red Lake Indians. He's a storyteller, and a good one. But here I tell the story. He flatters me with his interest, his questions, and his attention.
Lorraine. DFL Matriarch. An eloquent mentor. A true and loyal friend.

If the sky above you

should turn dark and full of clouds

and that old north wind should begin to blow

Keep your head together and call my name out loud

and soon I will be knocking upon your door.

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am

I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer or fall

all you got to do is call

and I'll be there.

You've Got a Friend. ~ Carole King

Christmas Cookie Monsters Puzzled, 12/19/09

My brother and Sister-in-law as I have said, love holidays. They love to decorate their home and sometimes even costume themselves. And they have get-togethers to celebrate such things. So one day near the Winter Solstice, they invited Alex, (of course) Barbara and I, Tonya and Dustin, and Rachelle (Derrick gone missing again) to their place one afternoon to bake Christmas Cookies.

This is only our second Christmas with them since they came back to the Lower 48, and so far we've noticed they have a tradition of putting together jigsaw puzzles at yuletide. They buy a new one each year with a Christmas theme, set it out on the table and folks get caught up in it for some silly reason. Don't make sense to me, but I'm puzzled by puzzles and puzzlers for that matter. What a conundrum.
Alistair Cookie (aka Cookie Monster hosting "Monsterpiece Theater" on Sesame Street)

[Hey you know what?

A round cookie with one bite out of it

Looks like a C

A round donut with one bite out of it

Also looks like a C

But it is not as good as a cookie

Oh and the moon sometimes looks like a C

But you can't eat that, so ... ]

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me, yeah!

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me

Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, yeah!

Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, oh boy!

Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C!

~"C" Is For Cookie as sung by Cookie Monster (Frank Oz) written by Joe Raposo

“A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand”. Barbara gets aproned upon entering the door by a guy in a funny hat and a bell around his neck. It was Lizette's idea to Bell the Bear, only she knows why for sure.

I sure do like those Christmas cookies sugar

I sure do like those Christmas cookies babe

The ones that look like Santa Claus

Christmas trees and bells and stars

I sure do like those Christmas cookies babe (George Strait)

Things appear to be getting puzzling. Perhaps this be a segue.
Each Christmas, the TLake gang gets a jigsaw puzzle for people to pass the time. Today with the days nearly as short as they will get, seems as though thoughts of cookies be forgotten and working on mysteries without any clues comes to mind.
Tonya don't even think about cookies, she goes straight to the puzzle where she shall remain. A thousand pieces she scans and pans.
She's got the knack, she delves in as the Belled Bear is amazed at how fast her hands move over the table, piecing pieces together. Somehow that's fitting.

"He lives vicariously through himself".

He once had an awkward moment -- just to see how it feels. He can also speak French. In Russian. The police often question him just because they find him interesting. His reputation is expanding faster than the universe.

"Every now and then, bite off more than you can chew, and stay thirsty, my friends."

~Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World

Dustin texts reserving a rubber room.
Alex and Barbara watch in amazement as Tonya's fingers fly. It's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma!
Over the shoulder of Tonya. First puzzle I've seen without a border. It's Santa, sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer flying through the sky. On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen. On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, and Wolf Blitzer.
Amused and puzzled out.
Cookies forgotten, reinforcements called out for, but apparently not needed. Two red shirts watch a pro.
Santa's favorite elf tells a joke much to the bemusement of this Christmas Father.

What did the elf say was the first step in using a Christmas computer?

"First, YULE LOG on"!

I am color blind. No, I don't not see color, but if colors get close in shade such as greens and blues, reds and oranges, oranges and yellows, well it gets difficult to discern. If I work on a jigsaw puzzle I am at disadvantage because of color. So I must rely on shape rather than shade, and then perhaps enjoy advantage in that regard? No, not in jigsaw puzzles, I guess we all know why. Hardly seems fair does it? Color blindness being mostly a male misfortune?

Oh the singer, he looks angry

At being thrown to the lions

And the bass player, he looks nervous

About the girls outside

And the drummer, he's so shattered

Trying to keep up time

And the guitar players look damaged

They've been outcasts all their lives

Me, I'm waiting so patiently

Lying on the floor

I'm just trying to do this jig-saw puzzle

Before it rains anymore ~ Jagger/Richard, Rolling Stones

I placed a piece, and I'm so proud. Have to be honest, I had help. And so I ponder...

“So now it is time to disassemble the parts of the jigsaw puzzle or to piece another one together, for I find that, having come to the end of my story, my life is just beginning.”

~ Conrad Veidt

Gregory and Lizette although "Christians", recognize, respect and honor many other spiritual traditions and customs. Here Gregory explains the Menorah, a nine-branched candelabrum used on Hanukkah.

Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy. The Jews found only enough ritually pure olive oil to light the menorah for one day, but the supply miraculously lasted eight days until a new supply could be obtained. In celebration of this miracle, the Hanukkah menorah has eight branches for eight candles or oil lamps, none higher than any other. These lamps are not to be used for secular purposes, such as providing the sole source of light or heat for the room. The Hanukkah menorah has a ninth branch for an auxiliary candle, the shamash, that, by shedding its own light, keeps the other candles from inadvertently serving any purpose other than their ritual one. The shamash is also used to light the other candles. The holder for the shamash candle is generally distinguished in some way from the other eight, traditionally being placed higher than the others, and often in the center, with four of the other candles on each side.
Okay, this is getting serious. If you want to visit with Tonya, hide the jigsaw puzzles.
All came to bake, but worked on puzzles for goodness sake.

Once upon a time, there was a aproned baker who lived on a lake . She was friends with a lazy dog , a sleepy cat , and a noisy yellow duck .

When the cookies were finished, the tired aproned baker asked her friends, "Who will help me eat the cookies ?"

"I will," barked the lazy dog .

"I will," purred the sleepy cat .

"I will," quacked the noisy yellow duck .

"Great" said the aproned baker. And she packed up a bag of cookies to "share" with all those who came to bake but puzzled. And so they ate, remaining cookie monsters after all.

“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”

~Robert Fulghum