A Little Bit More

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. 
Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." Dr. Seuss

White Christmas

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

I was dreaming of a white Christmas!

Love is a Verb

I'm lucky enough to have a husband who shows his love for me on a daily basis. He's become more of a love is a verb kind of guy. 

When Paul retired he made a conscious decision that he wanted to do the things around the house that had a clear beginning and end. He always pitched in...but most of the household tasks were more in my wheelhouse in the early years.

But now....Paul does almost all the cooking including cleaning up the kitchen...and he often sings to the radio while he works. He gets most of the groceries and is always willing to do an errand....especially when he can do it on his bike. He keeps the car filled up with gas and oh yes...and he does the laundry too. 

He has always ground the coffee...but now he grinds mine separate from his because I prefer 1/2 regular and 1/2 decaf. When he hears me stirring in the morning (he's already been up for an hour or two) he starts the coffee maker so it's fresh and ready when I am. And if it's not ready in time...he brings it to me.

And don't even get me started on found objects. Just today...he handed me his most recent find....this adorable little squirrel. He will be joining the crew on my puzzle table after Christmas.

Yes....Paul has become a love is verb kind of guy. 

There was a time when love was expressed more in words.....and I wrote about one such time in this post titled The Letters. Paul and I had to live apart for several months back in 2007....and he wrote me a hand written letter every single day for 121 days straight.

I still have all the letters....and I even won an online "Expressions of Love" contest when I shared our story.

Of course I still like to hear the words....and I know the feeling of love is still there. But as we've gotten older....I really appreciate this love is a verb guy of mine. 

I love you Paul! Happy Advent week of Love!

Heartwarming

Subtitle: Hartmans

I watched a heartwarming segment on the Sunday Morning News program (it was a week old) about two lifelong friends working together helping people they may never meet for an organization called Steps of Faith. It was an uplifting story of the power of friendship and love.

You can watch the actual Sunday Morning segment here on this Instagram Post. You may recognize one of the guys from Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DSQNx7fEwuf/

To do something you love with the people you love to help people you may never meet...I wish it on everyone. Jason Sudeikis

I have a little heartwarming story in this week I'm celebrating love.

It started with a silly question from Patty: do you have green felt? Of course I have green felt!

As I was delivering the felt to Patty down the street yesterday....I enjoyed the view of her oversized wreath on the front of her condo peaking through the dried winter grass. Which...by the way...was a split from my front yard. The wreath....with the birds and the big bow is somehow more beautiful with this whimsical overlay.

Patty's son Phil went by his middle name Hartman when he was young....so that was the name on his family stocking made by his grandmother Mamoo. Phil got married this summer...and he and his wife Lindsay both took the name Hartman as their new last name....so they are now known as the Hartmans. Got all that?

Patty wanted to update Phil's stocking by adding an S to the end so it would be for the Hartmans. She was tickled with her idea and my green felt was nearly a perfect match.

Patty's plan was to cut out an S and glue it on. But I noticed that all the other letters were hand stitched on by Mamoo...and I knew in that very moment that the stocking needed to come home with me.

Do what you love with the people you love....for someone you may never meet. 

At first I thought I could just put my hand inside to make sure my stitches didn't go through the other side of the stocking and stitch the toe closed. But that didn't work as well as I thought it would. 

So instead....I put a wooden spoon inside so the needle would have something to push against while I stitched around the S....and it worked perfectly. I think it looks like it's always been there.

A heartwarming task...for the Hartmans....who I may never meet.

Love and Light

Winter solstice is known for being the darkest day of the year, but the profound and interesting thing to understand about this moment, is that it is also the exact moment when the light begins to return.  found here

That moment was at 10:03 this morning here in Maine.....the sun paused for just a moment and shifted. Today also marked the Advent week of Love. What a perfect pairing...Love and Light. 

After the 2016 election when things felt pretty hopeless....my son Sam said...There's only love. It was comforting for me to hear that from my youngest son....and I knew that it would be the LOVE of my friends and family that would get me through. 

Here we are...nine years later and LOVE is needed more now than ever. I still have to believe that in the end...LOVE...and justice...and decency will prevail. We just have to be patient and keep loving.

I finished the Snowcap Village puzzle! What I love most about these kinds of puzzles is that depending on the time of the day...the light catches the gold foil accents just right and it's like and the lights have been literally turned on.

The light will return.

There's only love.

Reckless Joy!

I want to wear something new, but not shoes or a dress, I want to put on some reckless joy that is much too big for me and so brightly colored that I become unrecognizable. J. K. Kennedy

On this last day of the Advent week of JOY....I'm celebrating my love of brightly colored baubles. 

This is one of my favorite photos....having fun with my baubles.  

I remember the day so clearly back in 2017 when I literally undecorated some of my tree a few days before Christmas to create this rainbow Joy wreath.

It was kind of a funny process...and I wrote about it here in this post: 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2017/12/abundance.html

I took advantage of a beautiful day today...and spent the morning wandering around downtown. I was quite taken the fabulous bauble displays around some of the doorways.....and I looked at them from all angles.

I love the fabulous clusters that were featured in the doorways....but I was smitten with these baubles that were sitting inside a foggy window sill.

There was something more real about them...a little more happenstance.

I'm a little more happenstance...and there is reckless joy in that.

I've done my share of bauble projects over the years...but this was a favorite back in 2022 during a class with Esté MacLeod. You cou can read about my process in this post: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2022/12/layered-bauble-wreath.html

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way...things I had no words for. Georgia O'Keeffe

Reckless JOY! 

Joy in the Lights!

The most precious light is the one that visits you in the darkest hour. Mehmet Murat İldan

There is joy in the lights!

Lynn reminded me that the holidays happen during the darkest time of the year. Soothing and colorful lights are just what we need this time year. 

Paul and I took a drive around Portland last evening in search of lights. 

I love the color and the whimsy or the Portland lights.

Paul gave me this Joy Santa years ago....and he feels especially at home holding up the starlight.

I hope you find joy in the lights...during this very dark time.

Creative Joy

Joy doesn't cancel out the heavy things, it gives you little pockets of strength to carry on. Let it in whenever and wherever you can. Stacie Swift

Last year I made Kelly (Sam's girlfriend) a tiny felted tree for her tiny apartment to go along with her tiny real Christmas tree. This year she and Sam have a much larger loft apartment with high ceilings....so they have an 8 foot Christmas tree. 

But I thought I would start a bit of a tradition and continue to grow her tiny felted forest. So I settled in today and made another tiny tree...this one a bit of a contrast to the green one from last year. 

There aren't too many things that bring me more joy than creating something for someone I love. 

I started with a triangular piece of white wool felt...red roving...and my needle felting supplies. Using little tufts of wool...I felted polka dots by teasing the roving into the white base with a felting needle. I worked on a thick foam base.

Once I had all the polka dots secured...I used my tool that has 4 needles...so can felt 4 times as fast. 

I slip stitched the side seam closed and stuffed the tree. I cut a piece of wool to stitch onto the bottom and added a few more polka dots over the seam.

The stem is a piece of a kabob skewer and the base is from my stash. I painted a real starfish gold for the top. I'm pretty tickled with my creative joy project!

The Joy of Accomplishments

Subtitle: Above the Fold

I solved the Wordle puzzle in three tries this morning...that felt like a nice little accomplishment. They don't have to be big!

You had to know I would bring my current puzzle into joy week. It's festive and fun with bits of gold here and there. When it's done it will take up my whole table from back to front....so I started working on just the top half....above the fold of the guide photo.

I did stray off into some below the fold houses when I needed some color...but I wanted to get the top half done before I shifted it up under my Christmas decorations. 

I'm pleased to report that as of breakfast this morning...above the fold is done...and it's repositioned on my table. However silly this is...it's still an accomplishment. 

I have a feeling below the fold is going to go together pretty quickly...so I may have to take it slow. I'd like to stretch this one out until Christmas.....and I can't believe it's just a week away!

Breath in all the things left on your to-do your list,

breath out that whatever you accomplish will be enough. 

Looking up on my walk.....I love the winter sky!

Joy in Giving

It may be a cliche....but there is an abundance of Joy in Giving! 

As I have gotten older I am reminded over and over how blessed I am....and I've never been so eager and happy about giving my time...my talents....and my stuff! 

I volunteered at Maine Needs yesterday afternoon....and the place was just humming with activity. The first list I picked up was long...but I grabbed a cart and started shopping. I didn't realize until I got going that it was actually for three different families.

Believe it or not I had all of this....including the cleaning supplies you see on the floor... all balanced on the cart or hanging on my arms as I headed to the bagging station. The colorful bag at the top is a "Minute for Mom Kit"...filled with personal and comforting items for a deserving mom. These kits aren't often asked for but we are encouraged to give them freely. Sometimes they are packaged in purses...like the blue one on the floor...sometimes in reusable colorful bags.

It took as much time to tally....sort and bag it all as it did to shop for it...and my heart was full of joy the whole time. Then.....

I breathed in the reality of an unhoused man, who was the next client I shoped for,

and I breathed out that I was able to find everything on his list....including a new pair of LL Bean boots. 

Good and joyful work is being done at Maine Needs. There was a group of four women who were shopping together...laughing and having a good time. I told them how delightful it was to hear their laughter...and to keep it out. Turns out...I had a connection with two of them...and we swapped stories and marveled at how small of a world it is.  If you see joy....say something.

When Paul and I did a shift together back in November we noticed the bins for gloves and mittens were nearly empty.....so we donated money to help stock the bins. I wanted to do the shopping....but they have wholesale resources to get more bang for the buck. I ran into Heather yesterday who did the purchasing and she shared these photos of some of the haul....several hundreds pairs of gloves and mittens.

I am filled with joy in giving.

Quiet Joy

Joy doesn't have to be flashy and loud. Most of the time it's subtle and quiet and hidden in ordinary moments.

I had an appointment early this morning.....and while I sitting in the waiting room I was making a photo montage for Alyson of some photos I took during yesterday's snow. As I zoomed in on this winterberry branch...there is was. 

It's not completely in focus...but a sweet little star-shaped snowflake is balancing on top of this tuft of snow.

This was my favorite photo. I love the textured blurry background and the fact that I caught a few falling snowflakes. That prompted me to embellish it a bit with a few more digital snowflakes. Doing simple....quiet things like this bring me joy.

Breath in the tragic details coming to light of the recent shootings,

breath out hope that things can change.

And look for quiet moments of joy while we wait.

My Week!

At some point during our years in Lexington while Paul was the minister at Hancock Church...I walked into the sanctuary on this particular Sunday and Joan had a big smile on her face and said, This is Your Day! 

It was the Advent Sunday of JOY....and Joan proclaimed it was My Day. And now I'm proclaiming this is My Week! 

 This colorful joy is courtesy of Lynn Guinta.

I'm celebrating a little joy from Judy and a shooting star from Dotty.

Breathe in senseless gun violence, 
breath out color and creativity.

Share your joy!

Comforting and Beautiful

On my way to Marita's birthday party last evening (which was fabulous, by the way) I stopped at an art show in downtown Portland.

I don't like driving at night anymore...and to be real honest I'm not sure I ever did. And I really don't like figuring out city parking...especially in the cold and dark. I get disoriented in the dark.

But I was lucky to find a spot right next to these magnificent lights on High Street. They were as comforting as they were beautiful. 

When I left the show...all I needed to look for was the glow.

I found the poem Wage Peace early this week and I've been mulling it over ever since. It's often credited to Mary Oliver, when in fact it was written by Judyth Hill.

Judyth reminds us that as we breathe in the things in our world that are difficult and troubling.....we need to breathe out what grounds us...what brings us joy....and peace.

Judyth's poem is at the end of this post....and I urge you to read it....then read it again. That's what I did over and over....and I ended up writing one of my own. (Thank you Dotty for letting me know it's OK to use the framework of another poem...to help me write my own.)

Inspired by a Judyth Hill's poem Wage Peace

Practice Joy  MaryAnn Shupe

Practice joy with your whole heart.

Breathe in hate speech and despicable conduct, 

breathe out Christmas lights 

and anything that makes you laugh.

Breath in greed and retribution,

breath out bluebirds and breakfast at the puzzle table.

Breath in loss...and hardship, 

breath out a helping hand and a generous spirit.

Practice joy with a grateful heart.

Make what you love and give it away.

Use what you have and donate what someone might need.

Imagine everyone having enough. 

Never has the world felt so fragile

and joy felt like resistance.

Never has standing on the sidewalk with a sign

felt so comforting and beautiful.

Wage Peace by Judyth Hill

Wage peace with your breath.

Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.

Breathe in terrorists 

and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields. 

Breath in confusion and breathe out maple trees.

Breathe in the fallen and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.

Wage peace with your listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.

Remember your tools: flower seeds clothespins, clean rivers.

Make soup.

Play music, memorize the world for thank you in three languages.

Learn to knit, and make a hat.

Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,

imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty 

or the gesture of fish.

Swim for the other side.

Wage peace.

Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious:

Have a cup of tea and rejoice.

Act as if armistice has already arrived. 

Celebrate today.

In The Middle

Consider the possibility peace is seeking you too, and the fact that you are searching for each other means you will both be found. Lori Hetteen

Paul was the family elf today and took our packages to the post office...I'm eternally grateful for his willingness to stand in line. I had a flurry of house chores this morning...and early this evening I'm going to an art show and Marita's birthday party. 

Sandwiched in the middle....I'm taking a deep breath and going to sit at my puzzle table with a cup of tea...and maybe even take a nap. I'm certain peace and I will find each other. 

The morning sun as I fed the bluebirds their dried mealworm breakfast. They come within seconds of me putting the food out.

Daily visits from the bluebirds bring me so much joy. There can be as many as 5 or 6 at a time at the feeder and the birdbath.

I moved the bath, which I heat for the winter, and this feeder closer to the patio for the winter. We can see the birds from the living room couch during happy hour...and I can see it from my puzzle table. 

Peace in the Mess

True Peace isn't the absence of tension. It isn't peace FROM fear or imperfection or uncertainty or problems. It's peace IN all of that. Peace that somehow, impossibly, grows in the hardest, most trampled places. Dana Allen Walsh

My friend Dana is a UCC minister in Massachusetts...and writes an occasional Substack article. I was particularly taken with her recent post called Finding Peace in the Mess. 

In keeping with my Lowly Christmas theme for Emily and Max....I had Max covered....but I needed something for Emily. She really doesn't need a thing....but I thought she needed her own Lowly Worm. Since I couldn't crochet her one...I decided to try and needle felt her one. How hard could it be!

I really had no idea if I could actually make it work...even when I was part way through...I was skeptical. There was a lot of messy middle.

With the help of a couple of Christmas movies it took me most of the day yesterday. I went from a pile of wool roving and some wool felt....

...to a hand felted Lowly Worm. I'm pretty tickled with him.

He can even tie himself in a knot....just like his character in the books.

More wise words from Dana's post:

Maybe we don't have to wait for everything to be fixed before we find peace.

What if the invitation is to stop waiting for conditions to be perfect and instead ask: how might peace break through right here, in the middle of the mess?

Peace IN the chaos of the family Christmas card photo - one child crying, the dog refusing to sit, the realness of it all.

Peace IN the tension of the family gathering -knowing that love is messier and bigger than perfect harmony.

Peace IN the uncertainty of a lingering diagnosis-discovering gratitude can live alongside fear.

Peace IN the long road of grief-finding you can hold both the ache and the love at once.

May we have eyes to see it.

Mary we have hands to tend it.

May we have hearts open enough to be astonished by it.