December 17th

To watch Juniper dance and sing along to Frozen (she, like every other girl perhaps, knows all the words, except, well, she just turned two), is to know that this girl is her own special!

And today is her day. Her celebration. Happy birthday to Juniper! -- she'll say. Then, out of fairness and love -- happy birthday to mommy!

All this comes later. The morning starts for me in the room of a nearby hotel. I look outside... December is giving us a mixed bag alright. All but the snow.

An errand first: I walk over to Mindy's bakery. No good photo from there, but trust me, it's for the croissants and they are great. My breakfast treat!

(along the way)

From there -- to my daughter's home. Here's the birthday girl, getting ready for a family celebration.

But first, a Frozen moment. And a swirl and spin with mommy.

The lunch party begins!

Others took photos of the meal, I put my camera down for a while. As soon as everyone there (other grandparents, visiting friend, the family, myself) had their fill, we settled in to watch her deal with grandparent presents.

Four of my five grandchildren love to dress up. She is definitely one of them and today she got a chef's outfit, which she wore for a long, long time.

Another gift? A kitchen sink. Apparently the thing spews water (to the delight of parents, I'm sure), but Juniper loved it even in its dry state.  In fact, we could hardly get her back to the table for the cake.

Okay, one more toy before the song...

Such a patient older sister!

Cake is ready (baked this morning by my daughter: honey, with whipped cream).

Happy birthday to you... (Crown designed and made by Primrose)

... happy birthday, dear Juniper, happy birthday to you!

Just a couple more presents... Hey, what dumb person would give her that irritating Elmo phone? What? Me? I must have an evil streak within, especially after having had to put up with those awful sing-song kid phones for years at the farmhouse! But, but... she loves Elmo!

The celebration ends. She definitely needs an afternoon nap and I have to hit the road so that I can get home before the night sets in.

Driving back, I put on my December playlist, climb into my trance, and set the cruise on 75. Two hours of the interstate and I am at the farmette. 

I'm almost too full -- of good foods, of happy smiles, of laughing last night, this morning, of fantastic images. And the songs from my playlist swirl in my head and I'm thinking -- what a good set of days we've been having!

(swirling in my head, from the Muppets Christmas Carol -- in case you haven't seen that wonderful child friendly adaptation, the song is from the immortalized Dickens scene with Tiny Tim, celebrating life as he knows it, with family -- joyously...)

(Tiny Tim) Life is full of sweet surpises

Everyday's a gift

The sun comes up and i can feel it lift my spirit

Fills me up with laughter, fills me up with song

I look into the eyes of love and know that i belong

Bless us all, who gather here

(Piggy) The loving family i hold dear

(Kermit) No place on earth, compares with home

And every path will bring me back from where i rome

(All)Bless us all, that as we live

We always comfort and forgive

We have so much, that we can share

(Tiny Tim) With those in need we see around us everywhere

(Tiny Tim & Piggy) 

Let us always love each other 

Lead us to the light

Let us hear the voice of reason, singing in the night

(Kermit & Piggy) 

Let us run from anger and catch us when we fall

(Tim) Teach us in our dreams and please, yes please

(All) Bless us one and all 

(Tim)Bless us all with playful years 

With noisy games and joyful tears

(All) We reach for you and we stand tall 

(Kermit) And in our prayers and dreams

We ask you bless us all

(Tim) We reach for you and we stand tall 

And in our prayers and dreams we ask you 

Bless us all...

December 16th

 When you're a child and your birthday falls on a Friday, chances are very high that your family will be celebrating it on the weekend that follows. And if the birthday is of a certain little Chicago girl and if she is turning two, chances are very high that I will be there for that celebration.

Early this morning, after the usual...

... I get in Alpine Blue and drive to Chicago. December is a good time for me to do a "road trip" because I can have my fill of bouncy, jazzy, and sentimentally old fashioned Christmas music while I'm driving. Sometimes I sing along, but mostly, I just smile at the mood this creates for me. True, there isn't a dusting of snow, just pounding rain, but still -- I jingle all the way to the big city.

(and the windshield wipers go whoosh whoosh whoosh...)

And by late morning I'm at the Chicago home of the younger family. 

Birthday celebrations aren't until tomorrow. Today, there's just the joy of seeing their Christmas tree, their holiday home, the girls of course, and as an extra treat -- a meetup with a good east coast friend of my daughter's -- a fantastically witty, funny, caring woman whom I last had lunch with when my girl was still in law school. She's visiting the young family and for this lunch, today, she has prepared platefuls of latkes!

(girls at play)

(a moment of quiet...)

(lunch!)

(the household empties out for a Primrose recital; I stay with Juniper...)

That's not the end of good eating: after the recital, and the nap of the little one, and all the predictable and wonderful elements of this visit, my daughter's friend turns to making paczki. It's Hannukah (though really, a day past it), it's Poland, it's fried dough balls for goodness sake! Stuffed with blackberry jam.

(pause while the dough rises...)

(voila!)

Evening. The kids have their bedtimes, their dad tucks them in and keeps an eye on them while my daughter, her friend and I go out for a dinner at Daisies. A very beloved Chicago eatery that has caught the attention of many. Wonderful, creative appetizers, sublime pasta dishes...

And importantly, I get to jump into my daughter's world, where family isn't the common denominator. It's a whole new perspective for me -- a younger one, but not so young as to put me on a totally different planet. And as always when I am with my daughters' friends -- it is hugely fun. Both girls know how to pick friends who make you smile, no, make that outright laugh.

I'm overnighting at the nearby hotel because their house is full and will be even fuller tomorrow.

Sleep. I need some sleep before tomorrow's celebrations! But it is so good to be here in this tumult of family, friendship and radiant faces of two little girls! I stay up just thinking about it all...

With so much love...

December 15th

The day is notable for the fact that I no longer have any grandchildren under the age of two. Happy Birthday, Juniper!

Question: why do I get up today at 4:30? Ed as well? Answer: we really both have a lot on our plates right now. 

Question: why did the chicken sit in a tree? Answer: I do not know.

Question: why does Unfriendly Snowflake love eating breakfast with us, given that she never gets fed then? Answer: She likes us best when we are sitting down.

The day is notable, too, for the crazy returns on which I spend precious morning hours. Print label, tape box, send back, dont need it, can do without. Print next label, slight sigh of regret, but -- dont need it, can do without. And so on. It is a very inefficient way to save money, but still, I did it and I'm glad (with only tiny regrets!).

I pick up the kids, we do our usual Friday rush. But with time for books/play/food.

Sparrow is off for his last violin lesson of the year, Snowdrop has her last ballet class of the year -- the one where parents (and the likes of them) are invited to sit in and take pictures.  I have five for you. you always hope to bring out the dance moments, and yes, Snowdrop is a fine dancer. But what has always stood out for me is her smile as she dances. It is completely genuine.

And then I am home. You'd think that I'd be sleepy. It's been a while since I'd had a night of luxurious rest. But no, in the evening, I join Ed on the couch, I slurp a big bowl of chili and we watch the next episode of Bad Sisters. (You really get very attached to the murderous lot of them!) I typically post an Ocean story right after we finish our show-watching and today is no different. But believe me, the day doesn't end there. Emails to answer, online shopping to accomplish (to restock some of the items I returned earlier!), stories to exchange with Ed. No early sleep today. Not tomorrow either. Sunday? I doubt it. After Christmas! No, after the New Year! Maybe after my birthday in April.

If busy people are happy people, then I am right up there in joy and mirth!

with so much love...

December 14th

How about this:

On the 14th day of December my true love gave to me:

Five gold streaks of sunshine,

Four French hens (plus Unie),

Three kinds of berries,

Two burning (fake) candles,

And a bowl of my new favorite granola (Hudson Henry maple walnut).

The air is full of music. My head is full of song. That's the way some mornings are -- buoyant and lyrical.

Good morning, animals! Happy to see that our evening prowler (an opossum) did not get into the coop. Chickens all accounted for. Cats fed. Time to focus on those inside the farmhouse.

Breakfast, with a second candle added to our faux hygge world.

It's gorgeous outside! One of those isolated flings of sunshine and warmth (50F/10C!). We bike our loop. Not for super long -- we're both insanely busy right now, but still, you cannot ignore all that brilliance.

And very quickly the time comes for pickup.

The schedule is a little different today in that I am to picking up Sandpiper at the end of his school day as well...

And with all three, drive over to my daughter's house. The kids find activities, their mom and I talk. 

This is so rare: she and I see each other constantly, but time to chat without a child tugging at the sleeve is really not so easy to find. Today we made the time for it. Not long, but still, lovely.

When I return home, I find a package from an old Ocean friend. A retired artist (though do artists ever really retire? Do singers stop singing? Do writers stop writing?), he has occasionally gifted me some of his work. This time, I'm the proud owner of three beautiful pieces, done of the older kids. You'll see them over the years as I position them in their new spaces. Though here's a glimpse...

Thank you, Dan.

Chili for supper. I thought the weather would surely call for it, but hey, I make chili in the summer as well. Nothing fills you more on a busy day.

And a partridge in a pear a little girl in a Christmas tree... 

December 13th

My oh my, this was some day! Dictated by flip flops and pierogi! Well, perhaps I'm making it sound more exotic than it really was. Let's roll it back to another sleepless night (more fidgeting and retreating with travel plans lead to turning and tossing) and early wake up. For me. Ed slept in. He doesn't live by the clock like I do.

Early animal feed. How pretty Unie looks in the early light, now that she has regained most of her feathers!

And breakfast. A little fast paced -- Ed wants to get to his computers and machines and plasma cutters.

And then boom! Quite suddenly, everything surrounding (next month's) travel was resolved. That out of the way, I was ready to go on my big adventure of the day -- the opening of the new grocery store. 

Fine, you may think this is literally the most boring thing a person could do. Something out of the fifties, where the missus gets tickled by nicely starched napkins and sparkling flatware. But grocery buying for me is so much more! It's the love of fresh foods and well grown produce that I've had since my younger years. It's the fondness for a store that moved to town nearly30 years ago, a store that I faithfully shopped in, despite its cramped quarters, its ratty interior and its too-small parking lot. It's the pandemic that took me away from in person shopping. It's the closure of that ratty store this past Sunday. All that!

The new one opened today. (It took them years to find and build the space. And it is large!)

My daughter and I met up to take a look. She needed a few items. I had a larger list to check off (in my head!).

The space is fantastic! Big, high ceiling, beautiful, with perhaps five times the shelf space of the previous one. I worried that it would feel like a tediously dull supermarket, but the aisles were all interesting, all full of good surprises! And there were samples to lure you in.

(pierogi!)

And some small farmers letting you try their foods (the chicken guy with his pastured French hens! outstanding meat!) And the produce section! Just incredible. 

Today, the prices were great because, of course, opening day prices (on some items) are always great. I loved browsing again. Picking out the best looking fruits. Talking to their always friendly always helpful staff (in plentiful supply today, guiding, pointing...). And I loved seeing no fewer than four of my favorite (older!) checkout people! They'd been with the store for years and they were still here, on opening day. (My first thought was -- oh! I am so glad you survived the pandemic! those heroic essential workers!)

Of course, there's that recognized downside to in-person shopping. It took me nearly 2.5 hours to get there, shop, get back, unload. Perhaps it's because I went through the whole store three times to master the layout. In any case it was worth it! It's good to recover some of the pre-pandemic habits (even though I did wear a mask), in this very lovely, very privileged setting.

In the afternoon, I checked in with my dentist once again. Third time's the charm and the replacement tooth finally fit! Miracle on December 13th!

A pause to pick up a coffee from a cafe (I had secretly hidden chocolate covered gingerbread cookies in my pocket from home) and then a quick drive to the kids' school.

We come to the farmhouse...

And some of us run in at full speed...

Others settle in quickly to pursue a "life's passion" (at least for now, at age 5).

It's cold and dark by the time we leave for their drop off, but truly I do not mind. The ground is firm and crunchy, the stars are incredibly brilliant. 

And I cook chili. In my old yellow pot. Uncovered. On my one new induction burner.

With love...