Happy New Year!

12/31/08
Originally uploaded by Papillon Sky

Hope your New Year's celebration is lovely! More posts coming soon with details about Christmas and some photos of Tea's new beautiful wooden kitchen made by daddy and papa Larry!
Actually, check below for the post on Christmas details.

Poetry

Cyndi (left), Amy (right)

Cyndi (left), Amy (right)

Cyndi (left), Amy (right)

My friend Cyndi and I are creating a blog and joining our photos together in something called a diptych. Each week or so, we'll create a theme and then shoot photos. Here's what happened when we came up with the theme "silks." Today, being inspired by our silks, I tried putting an orange-colored nylon stocking over my lens. The last photo is the result. I will post the link to our blog as soon as it's ready. And for your reading enjoyment... I found this on Flickr today--it's an alphabetized list of some of my tags and titles from my photos. It creates a pretty cool collection of words! I love how I'm discovering that the photos themselves can be poetry as well...

1870mmlens 35th 85mmf18d abstract andfun before birthday bokeh burning burns candle candles child christmas christmas2008 christmaslights color colorful colors columbia crackedglass curls delayedexposure diptych do dragonfly drivingandphotographing dying flames hands i jacks kitchen light lights littlegirl live living magic magictree making missouri mosaic nightphotography nikon85mmf18d nikond70s nylonstockingsoverlens out outoffocus photostaken portrait prism purple rain rainbows raindrops red reflections rose sequins shuttersisters silks soulsisters~twinlenses sunlight sunshine synechdochenewyorkthemovie tree twogirls~twoclicks waslovely what will window windows withan85mmf18dlens yellow yellowrose

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...

sick on Christmas Eve

1. My dad arriving and then the very next day, one or both of my children getting sick. This year Tea got a nasty case of the stomach flu (maybe rotavirus?). Then Jevon got it the next day.

2. Another round of the Butter Festival food (a.k.a. traditional Thanksgiving style turkey dinner). I can't complain--it did taste good.

3. Tea getting upset about what Santa didn't do. WHAT? This was a new one. Tea told me she wanted purple stars, a panda, and a basket of pacifiers. Santa brought wooden cookie sheets with purple stars and red hearts wooden cookies, a sweet little panda bear with the pacifiers stuck on his hands. Apparently, she wanted purple glowing stars for the ceiling, a panda with a baby attached, and a the basket with the pacifiers. After she saw her presents, I took her potty and she started crying about how Santa messed up. Luckily, she recovered quickly. "Maybe the panda is pregnant," she said. Problem solved.

4. Cookies, and lots of them. And we have to make Papa Larry's favorite kind: snickerdoodles. I think he pretty much ate all of them. The rest of us got one or two!

5. Driving around looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve (a tradition since I was little). This year we saw the Magic Tree again. It was wonderful to see how many people were there--that made it even more magical. My dad absolutely loved it.

6. Pictures of me in my pajamas. I think that's just an all the time thing, though. Really, I don't wear pajamas all day (my kids sometimes do), but that's the only time Jevon takes a picture of me. Luckily, he bought me some really nice cream flannel pj's, an organic cotton bathroom, and some wool mule slippers, so at least if I'm caught on camera, my outfit will be better. I was wearing some ratty old pj's and slippers for way too long. And, I bought myself a remote for my camera so I can take pictures of myself at other times of the day when I don't look like you-know-what...

7. Peace that comes after the anticipation of presents. And all of that playing that comes from the joy of new things (and they were nice things and there weren't too many--mostly wooden and handmade).

8. Kai asking for a plastic thing from Santa. He must do that just because he knows I hate plastic (just kidding). This year Santa found the dart shooter at Mommy's favorite store on Christmas Eve--Wal Mart... Lovely. Made in China, purchased at Wal-Mart. Can't win them all...

9. Christmas present opening that lasts for hours, instead of being a flurry of present opening. And speaking of presents, leave it to mommy to forget to buy gifts for the kids from us because I was so busy "writing to Santa" about the kids' gifts and helping my dad shop, and buying gifts with the money from grandparents, and great-grandparents. I gave each child some of the pottery I made this semester, and we are doing the 12 days of Christmas and giving some nice homemade gifts every few days (most of them made by my friend Chris).

10. My dad and Jevon making some grand wooden piece of furniture for the kids. Last year, it was a beautiful pine train/craft table. This year, a gorgeous wooden kitchen for Tea!

Happy Holidays!

35 Candles

Slept in.
Finnish pancake with hot raspberries, peaches, and blackberries for breakfast.
A lovely scrapbook and poem from my mom, along with warm socks and a lavender colored crystal to hang in the window.
Birthday phonecalls from Mom and Grandma.
Played outside in the snow.
Took beautiful pictures.
Ate lunch at Uprise--my favorite.
Divine chocolate cupcake with cream cheese for dessert.
Took the family home.
Tea asked to hear the "old man sitting by the sewing machine song"
translated "old man sitting by the SODA machine.' Sooo cute!
Drove downtown in the rain
by myself!
No money for a meter
but found one with time on it.
Shopped at Peace Nook for a book.
Settled on Wendell Barry's The Art of Commonplace.
Back to the van--distracted by iced over fountain in front of bank.
Grabbed camera and head back for some shots.
Message on cell phone from my sister!
What a surprise.
Headed home to more surprises.
Opened the door to the smells of
roasting chicken,
au gratin potatoes,
and chocolate cake.
A bouquet of deep red roses and red peruvian lilies
on the table from ?????
Jevon wished he had thought of that!
Lovely, lovely card from Kai and Tea.
Jevon ordered my dream camera lens for me
because what he ordered hadn't shown up.
Love that.
Ate the wonderful dinner
and the scrumptious cake.
Tea dressed up as a pirate angel.
Just moments earlier they had been
playing "Heaven and Angels" by themselves
downstairs.
Felt like I was in heaven.

More pictures here.

Playing with light

During this dark time of year, it's fun to play with light--Christmas lights, candles, crystals, and even little sequins in the sun. I created these photos in one of those experimental moments, as I tried to recreate some images from my dreams. I was very sick early this week and was hallucinating all of these lovely photographic images.

Power of a movie

So much to say and I'm so behind on posting. Jevon and I saw Synechdoche, New York on Saturday. Such an amazing movie, even for the second viewing. I came home and created this photo as a response to it. I wanted to find some way to express how this movie really moved me.

Emma's Merry Christmas

The kids broke out into the sweetest little song tonight after dinner. They called their song "Emma's Merry Christmas," named after Kai's little pink beanie baby bear.
Here you go! Enjoy!! (Oh yeah, maybe I should have combed Tea's hair! Oops!!)

The Accidental Photographer

I really don't have much of a clue what I'm doing with my camera. I just put it in "P" mode, focus, and snap some photos. A lot of them don't turn out and some of them do. Some are interesting mistakes that I like but others might not like them. Regardless, I am having fun.

This is such a great time of year. I love the lights everywhere, and especially love my kids' reactions. More importantly, this is a time to reconnect with family and friends. I have recently found many of my old classmates on Facebook and it is so neat to see how their lives turned out. Jevon is completely annoyed with all of my time on there, but he went to a big school and didn't know everybody so well. Many of us in Spearfish High School Class of '92 started out in first grade together. And I must say I went to school with a really nice group of people. It's so good to see them all again.

And, now back to Christmas magic. Enjoy my accidental photos. Many were taken while driving slowly past the lights. We drove by the tree in our front yard several times, much to the bewilderment of our neighbors, I'm sure! You can find more photos on my flickr page...

It's not the camera, it's the...

...photographer

That's a bit hard to swallow, but if it's true, maybe it will save me a few hundred dollars!
I just read an amazing article by photographer Ken Rockwell that really put everything into perspective. Having a good camera is important, but maybe I don't need to keep upgrading.
Here's a great quote from the article:
The camera's only job is to get out of the way of making photographs.
Ernst Haas commented on this in a workshop in 1985: Two laddies from Nova Scotia had made a huge effort to be there and were great Leica fans, worked in a camera store, saved to have them and held Ernst on high for being a Leica user (although he used Nikons on his Marlboro shoots, when the chips were down).
About four days into the workshop, he finally maxxed out on the Leica adoration these kids displayed, and in the midst of a discussion, when one of them asked one more question aimed at establishing the superiority of Wetzlar, Ernst said, "Leica, schmeica. The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE."

This is a great article, even if you are not a photographer.

Pure Magic

Words cannot express the beauty of the Magic Tree, an incredible tree here in Columbia, strung with thousands of lights. I saw Will Treelighter's photos of it (his real name is Randy Fletcher) a few weeks ago and have been obsessed with seeing it ever since, especially after I visited his website and found out why he does it.
Here's an excerpt about what he thinks the purpose of the tree is:
The Magic Tree then is a beacon of healing and soothing beauty. It is a call to goodness, drawing out our own innate desire to be the positive changes we want to see in the world. And it is a notice of grace and encouragement to come from that magnificent manifestation of what we together are ready to receive, the Great Encourager, The Teacher, Maitreya.

I think a person can appreciate his goal, no matter what their religious or spiritual beliefs. He does this out of the goodness of his heart just to bring joy to people.

The tree is strung with so many lights, it almost looks hollow, as if there's no tree beneath them. It's hard to describe.

All I know is that I felt like my heart was going to burst as we drove away. What a lovely thing for one person to do. It touched me very deeply.

You can find more of my photos of the tree on my Flickr page.

Ribbons of Light

Normally on Thanksgiving or the day afterward, we put up all of the Christmas decorations. This year, we spent the two days after Thanksgiving with some good friends of ours, so we didn't get started on the decor until Saturday afternoon. The timing could not have been more perfect. Just as I started to string the blue and white lights around the window of the playroom, a light snow started to fall. And as it got dark, the snow, combined with the beautiful Christmas lights across the street, made quite a scene. The street was wet, reflecting the lights, and I couldn't help but take some pictures. I had my camera on slow shutter speeds and started to get impatient. Well, it turned out to be a good accident, because my movement made some interesting pictures!



Earlier that day, I attending the Beaux Art Bizarre at the newly renovated Missouri Theatre and came across some gorgeous photos of the Magic Tree, a tree that is strung with thousands of lights and is stunning when you drive by it. The man who creates this "senseless act of beauty"--he goes by the name Will Treelighter--was selling his photos at the show and told us about his tree. He also has one at his house and he says it takes him 120 hours to string the lights--I'm not sure if that's putting up and taking down, but it's impressive nonetheless. The reason why he does it is so beautiful, and you should take a minute to read his website.

Later that night, I saw the movie Synechdoche, NY with my friend Ginny, which was amazing (an emotional roller coaster/tragicomedy sort of movie). I cannot recommend it enough. It was quite the magical day (except for a stupid mistake on my part that involved not letting Jevon know I was going to be gone so long--the movie was spur of the moment--and he was at home worried I'd gotten into a car accident!).

Tonight, we will hopefully experience more magic as we attend the Living Windows Festival downtown and we are also bringing the camera in case the magic tree is lit!

Tradition

Jevon cracking chestnuts

It seems like as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I feel as if Christmas has gotten away from me (even though it isn't here) and that I'll never get all of the gifts made and purchased. But before I do that, I want to take a minute to remember Thanksgiving.

The night before:
After pouring through cookbooks and the latest issue of Bon Apetit in search of new recipes for Thanksgiving, we eventually settle for what we always make, because we hate to break tradition and because it always tastes so good.


The house is filled with the smells of baking pumpkins and carnival squash. Then the scent of peppercorns and bay leaves being ground together in the marble mortar and pestle rushes into my nose. Fresh thyme, oregano, and sage are chopped to be added to the dry herbs and salt to marinade the locally raised turkey we will roast tomorrow. Homemade bread is rising and will be baked later. When the squash is finished, we roast some local chestnuts, and try not to cringe as they explode all over in our newly cleaned oven!


The turkey is now marinating and Jevon makes pie crusts with Missouri soft wheat flour. We argue, as usual, about the fact that he refuses to follow directions and the crust is a mushy mess. It's put in the fridge and I will have to contend with it tomorrow when I bake the pumpkin and apple pies. Finally, I whip up the cooled and pureed pumpkin with local cream and milk, local eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and molasses brown sugar. The smells in this kitchen are so heavenly I wish I could bottle them so I could remember them forever.

Thanksgiving Day:
Turkey is in at 9:00 a.m after being rubbed liberally with butter and stuffed with aromatics: onions, sage, lemons and garlic. (I think we should rename Thanksgiving at our house and call it The Butter Festival). We pour some herbal chicken broth in the bottom of the pan. It's only the four of us today so no need to get stressed over having a meal done by a certain time. After lounging around for a bit and watching some of the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade--the marching band from the Sioux Falls, SD High School leads the parade so that's pretty exciting--we continue with our preparation. Onions and celery take a bath in more butter than I care to acknowledge (I can just feel my arteries clogging). Eventually we slice into the Uprise Bakery bread I picked up last week. We laugh about how much bread I bought--I acted as if we were making dinner for 15, not 4. Old habit, I guess. The bits of ciabatta, whole wheat batard and baguette wait in a large stainless steel pot until the onions and celery are ready. More fresh herbs are picked from outside and added to the stuffing and the turkey neck simmering on the stove.

A couple of hours later, the turkey is a rich golden brown and Jevon thinks it will be done sooner than we thought, so we rush to get things ready. White potatoes grown by our friend Bryce are washed and chopped. We also scrub up some of his sweet potatoes to bake along with the turkey. Cranberries, local Arkansas Black apples, molasses brown sugar, ginger and cinnamon bubble together on the stove.

Around 12 noon, the turkey's temperature seems almost where it should be, so Jevon takes it out. After examination, he finds that parts of the turkey are quite bloody, so we put it back in. We laugh because every year, we think the turkey will be done early and every year it actually takes longer than we thought.

The kids are getting antsy so they go outside and play by themselves outside (a miracle in itself), and Kai sets up a "Thanksgiving Party" in our front yard and scatters all of our gourds, mini pumpkins, etc in the front yard and hangs a red sign with a turkey on it. Jevon and the kids go across the street a bit later and watch our neighbor, Guy, plop his turkey in his deep fat turkey fryer.

It's almost 1:30 now and the kids are completely melting down because they are starving. Kai has refused snacks because he wanted to wait until lunch. Tea is begging for corn chips and I telling her to wait for the good stuff. We rush to mash the potatoes with yogurt and butter. I use the Joy of Cooking recipe for gravy this year and it calls for butter (again!) and red wine (yum!). The gravy looks thin so I have to add about double the flour, and I laugh because every year the gravy isn't thick enough. It's almost comforting that this happens every year--it's one time that I enjoy predictability.

At 2:00, it's all done (well, the turkey is still bloody but we'll eat the breast and cook the rest later, just as we always do). The table is set with our colorful Fiestaware. We take a minute to savor the smells of the turkey, baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry apple relish and gravy, and then light a beeswax candle.


Ten minutes later, it's over!

Later, after we recover, I make the pies.

A day of tradition that has taken so long to prepare for is over too quickly, just as it is every year.

Ten minutes later