Spotted Lily, Past its Prime
Something about this Lily with its fading blooms intrigued me. For so long, I sought to find perfect blooms, but lately I’ve been fascinated by the beauty found in imperfection.
http://ceenphotography.com/2015/12/14/flower-of-the-day-december-14-2015-peony/
Christmas Posada
The girls in the belly dancing class asked if they could have a posada. If you don’t know what this is, I’ll explain as we go along. They struck a bargain. They’d provide the pinata if I’d provide the prizes, the bolas and the refreshments. Seemed fair to me, so the planning began.
Although the pinata they brought was very pretty, Unfortunately, it didn’t have an opening, so we had to perform a bit of surgery with the cake knife to get the candy in.
Then they provided a bit of entertainment.
Little sisters asked if they could join in, too and they paid close attention to try to follow along.
After the dance came tamales, horchata, cookies and Christmas cake. When Audrey offered chips and guacamole, girl after girl turned them down. Then we tried dipping a chip and offering it. After that, the girls lined up for their own portions. It turns out that none of them knew what they were supposed to do!!! Looks like guacamole and corn chips is a purely American or gringo custom. They polished off the chips and guac!
I am obviously enjoying my tamale. Believe it or not, this is the best of the pictures of me that Audrey took!
Then came the pinata. I suffered a bit of trepidation over the likelihood that someone would be hit over the head with the stick as they dove in for the candy while the girl yielding the stick was still swinging it, but there were no injuries. I wish I knew how to add the video Audrey took. They had so much fun and were so gleeful. This picture doesn’t quite capture the amount of fun they had.
This is the sad remains of the pinata.
Afterwards was the posada. Usually this consists of Mary on a donkey, Joseph by her side, children trailing after. They go from house to house asking for a place to stay for the night. Travellers sing their roles. People in the houses sing theirs. Finally, someone lets them in and they go in to have a pinata and to each be given bags of candy (bolos.) In this case, half went into a room and the rest of us stood outside. We would sing the words asking for shelter. They would sing back that there was no room. We went back and forth a number of times before they finally let us in. The girls were absolutely delighted with this ceremony and all knew the words by heart, although they didn’t do too well with the tune.
Afterwards, we distributed bolos (bags of candy) to each girl to insure each had a good share of the goodies..
One little girl who had brought these beautiful little origami Christmas trees for her special friends presented one to me, Cynthy and Audrey as well. Very touching. Each was so carefully made with tiny balls glued on. They were formed on top of a baby food jar full of Japanese peanuts and little Mexican candy bars that tasted just like Snickers bars–both my favorites. I was so touched by this gesture, as I was by the hand painted box presented to me by Cynthy, who had made it herself.
I surprised her with a fringed suede cloth vest she had tried on in Guadalajara when we went to buy the bangle scarves for the girls to tie around their waists. I had bought it saying it was for Audrey and saved it for Christmas.
All in all it was a lovely night, in spite of the fact that I forgot to bring my camera. Luckily, Audrey brought hers. Thanks, Audrey, for the photos.. The girls, who each brought a friend, were squealy and excited. As I left the Cafetto Saga where we held the Posada, a little boy and a little girl who lived across the street watched me enter my car with great interest. I asked them if they wanted my bag of candy, telling them it was to share. They quickly accepted and ducked into their house to examine the contents. I went down the block to make a U turn and by the time I drove back by their house, there were six children gathered around the bag, excitedly sharing the candy. I loved this generosity on their part. The Christmas Season is alive and well in Mexico.
Feliz Navidad!!!
Earlier I showed my Xmas tree from a few years ago on Silver Lining’s blog. Now I want to show you my this year’s tree. I had thought not to have one since I’m going to my sister’s house in Phoenix for Xmas, but thanks to the generosity of one little girl, I have my very own very special tree as well.
These flowers are made out of corn husks by ladies in a village across the lake from where I live. I used to love to go to their showroom, but since they’ve closed it, I go to our weekly street market to buy them. I have these flowers in most rooms of my house and still can’t resist them! I didn’t notice until after I’d edited the photos that in the second photo, it looks like the little dog in the painting is standing on one flower to smell another!!!
I already reblogged Cee’s flower of the day, but you can go here to see the flowers of others as well.http://ceenphotography.com/2015/12/13/flower-of-the-day-december-13-2015-daylily/
Probably every blogger on earth follows Cee anyway, but I can’t resist reblogging her daily flower post today. It is absolutely amazing!!! Please note that this is her photo, not mine! Please go to her original post to view it as the image is larger and the detail is incredible.
Feel free to add your floral photo to the comments. This way we can all enjoy everyone’s flowers.
Qi (energy) hugs
Cee
Crunchy, Soft and Piquant
Potato chips, ketchup and cottage cheese! I imagine this pairing came about by accident one day at a school or church picnic on a too-small plate, and some flavor memory insists there were baked beans and a hamburger on the same plate; but somehow the vital ingredients came to be the salty-crunchy chips, the creamy-soft cheese and the piquant perfection of Hunts Ketchup. (For the uninitiated, the process is to dip the chip in the ketchup and then scoop up the cheese.)
I don’t usually keep potato chips in the house anymore because I can’t be trusted with them, and cottage cheese is so expensive in Mexico that I don’t usually buy it; but when I make a trip to Costco in Guadalajara, invariably I’ll come home with one of their huge containers of cottage cheese and somehow, magically, potato chips appear (If you buy it, they will come) and the house echoes with the strains of some culinary Indian Love Call coming from the heart of my fridge, “When I’m calling you u u u u u u.” And so it is that the unlikely trio are reunited once again, probably late at night when even the dogs are fast asleep and no one is looking.
(This is a rerun of a posting on the same subject two years ago.) And, in case you missed it, potato chips seem to figure predominantly in my postings about guilty pleasures. Here is a different one. Potato chips are so versatile, aren’t they? : https://judydykstrabrown.com/2015/11/09/old-sins/
The Prompt: Tell us about a guilty pleasure that you hate to love.https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/hate-to-love/
In The Dark
I woke up to rain, LOUD church bells and LOUDER fireworks going off in rapid succession. Dozens and dozens and dozens of fireworks, and then loud banda music. But, the thing that got me out of bed was my youngest dog Morrie’s whining. I’ve learned that to procrastinate in letting him out means both solid and liquid gifts left on the floor or even in his cage, and I’m beginning to feel like a new mother. I don’t need any more bodily secretions to deal with, especially at—Ye Gods! Six o’clock in the morning!
I let Morrie and Diego out of their “bodoga” nee doggie domain and wondered where Frida was. She was not on her new cushy bed in the guest bathroom. She hadn’t sneaked into my bedroom to lie beside the bed or onto her other favorite sleeping place—my long plush rug in my bathroom. Then I realized I must have left her out all night! And it was raining! I felt horrible about this, and finally as I called her, she came barreling into the house. By now Morrie and Diego were back as well, demanding breakfast in spite of the fact that they usually eat between 8:30 and 9 a.m. and it was only 6 a.m.
I fed all three, then went to feed the kitty, who was also out on her front wall—beyond which she has refused to come since I acquired the third dog. I was surprised that she, too, was up so early. It was so dark at 6 a.m. that I had trouble making her out under the overhanging bougainvillea, but she was there waiting. If it weren’t for her nagging meows I would not have noticed her at all. It must be that the church bells and fireworks and bandas brought all the animals out early this morning.
I made coffee and a bowl of yogurt, fruit and bran and went back to bed to write my blog. I didn’t make any postings the night before, so I needed to get something on my blog for early risers and those on the opposite side of the world. I usually have something set to post at one minute past midnight so there will always be something new on the blog.
I checked out Cee’s blog to see if she had posted a Flower of the Day link yet, but saw only her yesterday’s post and link. I decided to post a blog to a prompt I’d been noticing for the past day or two—I think it was “Christmas Trees of the World.” I’d collected pictures of my tree from two years ago and gotten them ready to post, but I couldn’t find the prompt. Nor could I remember whose prompt it was. After searching for a half hour yesterday, I fired off a Skype to my blog fairy godfather, Okcforgottenman, to ask if he knew whose prompt it was or if he could find it. I checked on Skype to see when I’d posted my request. It was at 2:37, but I must have fallen asleep soon after, for there were no other messages until 4:37 when, bless him, he answered:
“Maybe this is the challenge you’re looking for: http://silverthreading.com/2015/12/06/christmas-trees-around-the-world/”
I answered, “That’s it! Thanks. It is the lady who is reviewing my book!”
I can’t believe that I’d forgotten where the prompt had come from as I’d been talking back and forth with her all day, trying to figure out how to get a copy of my book to her. I settled down to edit my tree pictures and get posted, read emails and a number of blogs, then checked out the Daily Post site, surprised to see they’d already posted a prompt. I looked at the date. Yes, it was the same as today’s date given on my computer, but why was it the same prompt as yesterday’s?? I looked at the prompt page and saw that tons of people had already posted, even though it was only 8:30 in the morning. Then I noticed that I had already posted—but that should be on yesterday’s page, not today’s! This was starting to feel surreal.
I went in to pee, thinking that would resolve some of my confusion, and when I did, I saw the little bag of Frida’s antibiotic caplets taped to the mirror over the sink, where I would be sure to see them. Damn! I had forgotten to give her her pills last night! I took one out, went to the fridge to wrap it in a ball of gouda, and fed it to her. When I did, the other two dogs came bounding up as well. Time to put them down for the night, I thought, so I escorted them to their cages, locked them in and shut the outside door to their “room” as it had turned chilly here.
I went back to my computer and read blogs for an hour, waiting for the Daily Prompt to realize their mistake and post a new prompt. Suddenly, there was a “ping” that told me someone was Skyping me.
“Well, ya zipped past 300 views. Comments are starting to pile up on yer blog. Whar are ya, woman?” had shown up on my Skype screen—from Okcforgottenman!!
What in the world was he doing up at 8:34 in the morning? I knew there is no way he should be up yet, as he is a late-nighter who usually doesn’t get up until noon. And how in the world could I have 300 views when I’d just barely posted one post?
Then I noticed that his message had been written to me at 8:34 PM, not AM. “What is happening? I just got a message from 8:34 PM!” I fired back at him. Sometimes this happens…messages get stuck…but I hadn’t turned Skype off and I’ve been on the internet for hours, so that message should have been received 12 hours ago..
Here are the Skype messages that followed;
[12/12/15, 8:35:55 PM] Okcforgottenman: Yes, it’s 8:35 p.m. now.
[12/12/15, 8:36:02 PM] Judy: I thought it was 8:35 a.m.
[12/12/15, 8:36:23 PM] Judy: I’ve been up since 6–fed the dogs..couldn’t figure out why the prompt today was the same as yesterday.
[12/12/15, 8:36:29 PM] Judy: I feel like a time traveler.
[12/12/15, 8:36:51 PM] Judy: must have fallen asleep around 3 yesterday afternoon, then woke up at 6 and thought it was 6 the next morning.
[12/12/15, 8:37:04 PM] Judy: Sheesh…I am really confused.
[12/12/15, 8:37:14 PM] Okcforgottenman: It’s Saturday night.
[12/12/15, 8:37:32 PM] Judy: so when I gave the dogs and kitty their breakfasts, I was really giving them all a second dinner…and I dosed Frida with her meds twice!!!
[12/12/15, 8:38:00 PM] Judy: I was just starting to get so confused about why the prompt hadn’t changed.
[12/12/15, 8:38:37 PM] Judy: Audrey will think I’m crazy…I just sent her an email saying fireworks and stuff was going off at 6 am
[12/12/15, 8:38:42 PM] Okcforgottenman: Is it still daylight there?
[12/12/15, 8:38:52 PM] Judy: no it was pitch black when I woke up and still is.
[12/12/15, 8:39:06 PM] Judy: I couldn’t figure out why Frida was out.
[12/12/15, 8:39:19 PM] Judy: I really do feel like I’m time traveling!
[12/12/15, 8:40:27 PM] Okcforgottenman: Well, you published Mexican Christmas only 2 hours ago.
[12/12/15, 8:43:34 PM] Judy: Yes… I woke up…saw it was 6 and thought it was 6 am tomorrow..I thought Sat. was tomorrow–just lost a day. Sheesh.
Well, needless to say, I was confused and I’m still confused. I keep trying to remember if the dogs are in or out and whether they should be in or out. I keep expecting it to get light. It is now midnight, but if it were the time I think it should be, it would be noon tomorrow. Perhaps if I go in and have a turkey sandwich and a rum and Coke to counteract the breakfast and coffee I had six hours ago, it will get my internal clock back in sync. As for the dogs, they are quiet now, perhaps busy digesting their two dinner bonanza!
Should I worry?????
Here is the lady all the fuss was being made about. The festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe is huge here:
Sometimes as we grow older, we find it difficult to find new ways in which we can continue to change. We believe we are “finished” and continue past bad habits and manners of being. A video or picture can give us a jolting reminder of how we need to get back into shape. This post has a similar function in reminding me of ways in which I can improve my thoughts and actions! Thanks, Tiffany. I’m reblogging it in my blog.
Response to the Daily Post Prompt: Flawed
What is your worst quality?
Emotions are powerful. They can fuel your motivation. They can help you connect with others. They can generate all sorts of good feelings.
However.
They can also drive you to want to hurt other people–to react and carry out spiteful actions, in order to hurt the other person for hurting you. In order to “get back” at them.
Cold shoulder. Because by refusing to be in that moment with you, I thought that you would feel regret and realize why it is that I am angry at you, and make amends on your own.
Storing up anger and pretending that everything is fine, until my breaking point. Angry words. Contemptuous glares. When I should have let it out as the small bursts they come in as, or remind myself that I blew the problem out of proportion.
Ignoring. Because I thought…
View original post 221 more words
A Mexican Christmas Tree
Although I’m not a Mexican citizen, I’ve lived in Mexico for 14 years and I do have permanent residency. My tree, however, is influenced by a number of places I’ve lived and traveled.
The tree and most of the ornaments were handmade in Mexico––either by artisans or myself.
The straw ornaments including the woven garland were made in Mexico–in Tzintzuntzan or elsewhere, as were the miniature pinata ornaments such as the purple one that is front and center in this picture. The tiny silk animals and children, I bought in Hong Kong and Taiwan in 1968. The knitted children and animals I bought in mainland China in 1979.
I made the copper disk and rectangle ornaments and bought the silver-colored eagle and other pressed-aluminum ornaments in the Santa Cruz flea market.
I made flowers such as the one shown above out of egg cartons.
Merry Christmas! I hope to show other aspects of a Mexican Christmas in later posts. For other Christmas trees around the world, visit the URL below:
http://silverthreading.com/2015/12/06/christmas-trees-around-the-world/
STAGES
My original idea was to post pictures of three different flowering stages, but then I found this picture I’d taken that included all three, so . . .
http://ceenphotography.com/2015/12/12/flower-of-the-day-december-12-2015-annabelle-hydrangea/
Stuffed
I lose my glasses, cuss and mutter,
but my worst quality is clutter!
I have a drawer just filled with socks
I never wear. And pans and woks,
old dishes, fondue pots and skewers,
a fourteen-year-old bottle of Dewars
not one friend drinks, much less myself,
sitting there upon my shelf.
Everything I buy just clings.
I can’t seem to part with things!
In boxes on my garage shelves
are all my former castoff selves.
The slides from art shows long ago?
I dread sorting them and so
they remain in plastic crates,
labeled with their types and dates.
Old letters, class notes, tax returns?
I’ve heard that paper easily burns
as well as shreds, yet still I wait.
Years pass as I equivocate.
They might be needed someday so,
get rid of them? I just say no!
My studio is filled with things.
My jewelry drawers with bracelets, rings.
My closets stuffed with different sizes,
shelves stacked with future gifts and prizes.
Snow boots although it never snows
anywhere this woman goes.
A safari hat with veil
hangs upon a closet nail
along with wet suit, snorkel, fins,
and other useless hoarding sins.
My kitchen is a spice museum.
So many spices, I can’t see um.
Fenugreek and capsicum
that I was given by my mum
so long ago they have no taste,
green olives and tomato paste
well past the date they should be used.
Yes, my house should be perused
and sorted out, I must admit,
instead, I sit and write of it!
I know some folks clear out their closets,
but me? I only make deposits!
The Prompt: Flawed––What is your worst quality? https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/flawed/
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 