tree

You, Ocean readers,  are all correct, of course: my supreme, heart palpitating work demands will taper off soon. There will be then a taxing, but dull period of exam reading, mixed in with a holiday lull, and a slow refocus on the next semester toward the end of January, when it will start again. But with the end of classes (soon!) everything becomes more flexible, more fluid. Work never completely disappears, but there will be travel There will be yoga again, I hope. And great family times, and times with Ed and Isis. Okay, maybe I don't need to reconnect with Isis. Isis is quite good at inserting himself into the scene even in these more busy times.





But enough about work. Let me tell you about non work moments today. In the morning, after breakfast...





...I went with my girl to the Stock Pavilion -- a place on campus where the Forestry Department holds its annual tree selling event. My daughter picked out a nice, hefty balsam fir. A forestry dude showed it off for us...





The red donkey car was there to carry the tree to her home.





We're in the middle of a warming trend -- this puts everyone in a good mood, gray skies notwithstanding. And there's music in the air. (Yesterday I passed a construction site where a high-rise (for Madison at least) was going up and I heard holiday music coming out from the insides, so that the whole skeletal structure virtually shook with the melodies of the season.)

Music, light, color. All that you crave in these dark days of early winter. (Note, please, the jingle on the  farmhouse door:)






In the evening I help the lovely young couple (you know, the newly marrieds...)





...decorate the big balsam fir.

There aren't many who would display the needed patience for it -- all those ornaments! the lights! the tinsel! -- but my girl carries proudly the banner of reverence for this holiday (I taught her well, you could say...). And so we toddle forth, unwrapping each ornament in turn, placing it with great care on the branches...






It isn't all whistles and cheers. Decorating the tree is not an easy task and it takes a certain amount of nerve to carry it through. For all the years until now, her sister (my younger one) was there to help it along. Not this time. As the younger one could not get away from work demands, we had to be the sole torch bearers. In placing each beautiful (or sometimes not so beautiful, because we have those as well) ornament on the branches of the great big balsam, we thought how perfect it was when we could all work together on this ridiculously complicated project. But, new circumstances place new demands on our time (and they'll do that again and again) and so this year, I'm the only helper and my older one (and her husband) persevere and in the end, we pull it off: the tree is beautiful...





The spirits are bright, December and the holidays are upon us.