Weird Week Activities

This is the weird week between Christmas and New Year's.  We might reflect on the last year and the last decade with the passing of 2019.  I looked through the photos of the year from the Associated Press.  I recommend not doing that -  disasters are the prime topic - political, social, and environmental.  So enough said on reflecting and reviewing the events of 2019. Instead, I looked for weird things to do on this weird week.  I found them.   1. Babyfoot treatment.   "Dry skin in the winter is one of the top three worst things about winter (static cling being number two, obviously), but a good food treatment like Babyfoot can keep your soles as baby soft as the name promises. It's an ideal thing to do over the course of several days, because it takes a few days for all of the dead skin to flake off after you put on the treatment.  Get it from Amazon for $22.99." 2. Start a Habit like Jade rolling "Jade rolling is soothing, helps with lymphatic drainage, and might just make your skin look even better, so why not get into the habit of doing it now? If that's not your thing, maybe an acupressure mat or meditating is more your style."  Find out about it HERE.  Our picture today was taken a few weeks ago during the ice storm. These are the delicate branches of Fallopia or Japanese Knotweed (the variegated variety).

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Quotable Dickens' Christmas

When I think of Dicken's "Christmas Carol' what comes to mind is Tiny Tim:  "God Bless Us, Everyone".   However, Dickens' most popular and best known Christmas quote is: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”  ― Charles Dickens Dickens wrote this book to regain his financial circumstances.  He began writing it in October 1843 and finished in the early days of December. The Wikipedia entry says that he built the work in his head while taking night-time walks of 15 to 20 miles around London.  The book was published on December 19th - what an event that would have been.  It sold out by Christmas Eve.  Dickens gave public readings of the story - he did this from 1849 till his death in 1870.   The book responded to the mid-Victorian revival of the Christmas holiday during his time, and the story captured and promoted the spirit of that revival - family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games and a festive generosity of spirit.   There's quite a Christmas legacy from this book. The phrase "Merry Christmas"  became popularized because of the book. The expression "Bah! Humbug!" entered popular use. The name "Scrooge" became synonymous with a miser. Dickens' humanitarian focus of the holiday was heralded as a significant influence in defining the now firmly held Western culture Christmas traditions - family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games and a festive generosity of spirit.   Dickens's hand-written manuscript of the story does not include the sentence in the penultimate paragraph "... and to Tiny Tim, who did not die"; this was added later, during the printing process. The manuscript is held in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. Today's pictures come from the ice storm a few weeks ago.  The dilapidated barn sits in the icy landscape.  I wonder when it will disappear.  Dutch farms have few decays- everything is neat and tidy. Vineyards are even tidier and more manicured. Workers were trimming grape vines as I drove down John Street this week. An example of such neatness is the first picture where there aren't any 'whips' above the plants.  Everything's been trimmed.

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Ice in the Garden

I loved the crab apple tree next door - with the ice on the apples, they looked like candy apples ready to eat.  Here are a few of the images.