Sola Christus

One old holiday and one new holiday

There are quite a few American students here in St. Andrews, and if one plans ahead, a person, American or not, can actually have more than one Thanksgiving. I had two this week. One at my house, and one at my friends' house.

  I like this one. Casey in the reflection; Jesse cutting the bird, and Dash waiting oh so patiently.

 He is so interested in cooking, it certainly seems like he will be a good cook in the future. 

 Our lovely feast, including cornbread made by Chera's mom! 

Before the dessert, Jesse pulled out Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving special. I love that show! Ah, the toast and jelly beans. Casey made the lovely turkey (both the paper and the real one). I tried to get a picture of Morley, but he was much too excited to slow down.

Today is St. Andrew's Day, the patron saint of Scotland. So, the town had a big celebration on this weekend, including a projection show in the Cathedral. Here are a few shots of the ruins in the lights. Amazing!

A morsel of poem

I make my mother's cranberry relish that has lots of yummy things in it. Turkey just isn't turkey without this mouthwatering, tangy, sweet, tart, blood red spoonful on my plate.

When I heard this poem on The Writer's Almanac, I was glad to find that someone else had found this similar love. 

Cranberry Orange Relish

by John Engels

A pound of ripe cranberries, for two days
macerate in a dark rum, then do not
treat them gently, but bruise,
mash, pulp, squash
with a wooden pestle
to an abundance of juices, in fact
until the juices seem on the verge

of overswelling the bowl, then drop in
two fistsful, maybe three, of fine-
chopped orange with rind, two golden
blobs of it, and crush
it in, and then add sugar, no thin
sprinkling, but a cupful dumped
and awakened with a wooden spoon

to a thick suffusion, drench of sourness, bite of color,
then for two days let conjoin
the lonely taste of cranberry,
the joyous orange, the rum, in some
warm corner of the kitchen, until
the bowl faintly becomes
audible, a scarce wash of sound, a tiny
bubbling, and then
in a glass bowl set it out
and let it be eaten last, to offset
gravied breast and thigh
of the heavy fowl, liverish
stuffing, the effete
potato, lethargy of pumpkins

gone leaden in their crusts, let it be eaten
so that our hearts may be together overrun
with comparable sweetnesses,
tart gratitudes, until finally,
dawdling and groaning, we bear them
to the various hungerings
of our beds, lightened
of their desolations.

Here's a turkey for you

From my favorite humorous website and myself, Happy Thanksgiving to you!

 

Courtesy of Cake Wrecks

Six words are all you get

Podcasts are a wonderful thing. My flat is about a mile and a half outside of town, so in my three mile daily commute, I listen to podcasts. One of them is the Story of the Day from NPR; they had a special podcast last week for Valentine's featuring Six-Word Memoirs. These small clips were started by Ernest Hemingway who wrote a six word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

So here are two of my Valentine memoirs:

Beano Brothers, car talks, lost friends.

Crepes and tulips; love is big.

Anticipating Advent

Thanks to the daily quote by Culture is not Optional for this selection:

First Coming

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine.  He did not wait

till hearts were pure.  In joy he came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Madeleine L'Engle
Glimpses of Grace

A Full Year

I keep a day planner.

With two jobs  and lots of friends, I don't know how I would remember to do everything without it.

I also like to keep my day planners so that at the end of the year I can look back at what I did. It is a blessing to look back and count how many times I was able to have coffee with a certain friend or see how many parties I had.

Finally, I am sitting down to do my Christmas/New Year's letter blog post.

In January I had my annual After Christmas Party with the Annual book exchange (read "fight" here). Garf and I went to the The Mint in Charlotte, NC. There, I saw my first Caravaggio, "The Ecstasy of St. Francis"; it was a religious experience. Now I know, first hand, why he is considered one of the best artists of his period. Our book club, Fine Print, also started Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. We took three months, but we got through it. I got my own office this month and began teaching a sophomore level class on the  History of Art, Literature, and Music from 1400 to the present. I had to do it 12 weeks. You try that one! Then February rolled around and I had a dinner party with four of my friends, Dave and Des Will and Alison . I also found out that I was going to Israel. March passed in a flurry of papers. April saw me hosting a going away party for two friends with over 50 guests. Mom and I also went to the annual Living Gallery production. In May, school was over, but then I was in  Israel for 11 days. It was a trip that changed my life. June saw me adjusting to braces and visiting my friend Mandi in Charlotte, NC. My summer school class didn't meet, so I was off for July and had an ice cream party. Then Jamie Langston Turner came to Fine Print to talk about her novel and how to become a writer. August meant a new grade book and new classes and new students when school started back. My brothers and I went to Charleston, SC, for a whirl wind tour, and I had another birthday. September was just a wind up for October which was very busy. Another dinner party and a failed yard sale (I made 75 cents!) then it was off to the Renaissance Fair in Charlotte, NC. The next weekend, I took our quiz bowl team to Chattanooga, TN. Then I hosted the Fine Print pumpkin carving meeting at my house the next weekend. November was a traveling month. The first weekend I went to Boston for my friend, Jenn's wedding. Then, the next weekend, Garf and I traveled to College Park, MD, for a conference that I was in. We also got lost and took the "scenic tour" of Washington, DC. School ended in December. I hosted a baby shower, attended a concert, and had a wonderful Christmas with my family.

12 months, at least 7 parties, 6 trips, and lots of blessings!

What are you thankful for?

For various reasons, my family decided to move our meal to Friday. I had an appointment with Tom  at  6:30 this morning. He is now in the oven, and I am preparing to snap the green beans. Yesterday, I made four of my famous, secret recipe pecan pies along with two secret recipe pumpkin pies.  This is the time of year that makes me happy. Not only is the school year ending, but I also get to do one of my favorite things, cook for the people I love.
I hope you have many things to be thankful for this year.

Brown paper packages . . .

One day this week, Christmas came all at once for me.  And it was all in the mailbox. I opened the door and the first thing to great me was little present from a friend here in town.  Then, hiding behind that were Christmas cards from and old friend in Scotland and a new friend in California. Then, there was another little package from a friend's mom in Michigan. Ahh, Christmas and the delight of snail mail!

So to all my friends, near and far,

Merry Christmas!

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees,
Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!