me and obama and chinese new year

I heard on the radio that Barack Obama was born in the year of the Ox, so I looked it up, and sure enough, Obama's birthday is August 4, 1961. That makes him just a few months older than I am, and he shares a birthdate with my sister, except she's two years younger than he is.

Growing up and older, there was a good part of my life when I was usually the youngest person doing whatever it is I was doing (taking certain university courses, hanging out with older friends). This was a comfortable place for me. I enjoy looking up to people, and being with people to whom I look up.

Simultaneously, as I grew, I unfurled these amazing leadership skills - that's not a brag, just a fact. I got used to the situation pretty early. People look up to me. At work and at school and in the community, I am often chosen (or volunteer) to organize, teach, mentor, herd, whatever is required to make sure a group gets done whatever they want to do.

This looking up and being looked up to are simultaneous and mutually agreeable. In fact, I have the most difficulty side-to-side, relating to people on an equal level. Frequently I convert equal relationsips to something I can understand better by setting up an internal teeter-totter understanding about my peers. It goes like this: "She is an amazingly generous and hospitable person. I rely on her to get every detail right when we are taking care of people together. I have the ability to go with the flow in a hectic situation. I help her stay calm when things get crazy. "

All of this does connect to Barack Obama and me sharing a birth year. You see, for the longest time, people with authority and expertise upon whom I rely, and in whom I trust, have been older than me. My doctor, dentist, boss at work - they are (or were until recently) older than me, and I looked up to them because of this. Now I find myself more and more frequently looking up to people who are younger than I am. My doctor retired a few years ago, and my new doctor is just a bit younger than I am. My dentist? Same thing. My boss at work is pretty much the same age as I am. My Member of Parliament is older. My MLA is younger. The Prime Minister is only 2 years older (although he seems a lot older than that to me). I am getting used to being one of the older ones in every crowd. I guess it's good I'm working for another year at the seniors recreation centre. It helps me put age into perspective. Everyone there thinks I am very young.

I am delighted to be the same age as the President of the United States. And getting back to the year of the Ox, I can tell you, he is well equipped to be both a strong and appreciative leader, if you set any store by Chinese Horoscopes.

And I guess this means that my parents are now old enough to be the parents of a US President. But if they want that, they'll have to wait on my sister or brother because I'm not running. I've got ox work to do, with people who I admire and admire me, and friends with whom I enjoy mutually beneficial relationships.

Happy Lunar New Year, especially to the oxen. I think the world needs us now more than ever.

question: what is your Chinese Horoscope sign?

mompoet - the flower that grows through the crack in the cement

Movie Night

Andy and Alex went out to see Yes Man at the Theatre. Fiona worked on her video project for school. I watched a delightful movie that my friend Diane recommended. Children of Heaven came out in 1997, but somehow I missed it. I'm glad Diane told me to watch it. Made in Iran, it is sweet and seemingly simple story of a brother and sister who agree to share one pair of shoes when the sister's shoes are lost. It is a lovely, lovely film.

question: have you found any old treasures lately?

mompoet - glad that libraries and video stores have long memories

yarn bombing

Two Vancouver knitters, Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain were featured on CBC Radio 1 this morning. They have a book due out in the Fall. I had never heard of this. Now I am hoping to see some knit graffiti soon.

For now, here's their blog. Be sure to keep scrolling down and see the bus cozy.

question: who would ever imagine?

mompoet - amazed and admiring

inauguration

Still here...

"Mom! you have not posted your blog for a long time!"

Okay, here goes...

Since I last posted I have:

• hosted the Bingo Slam at Van Slam. My friend Lisa and I took on the personae of Bingo Dabber Betty and Edna Freezepot, the Bingo Ladies. Riffing on a cool idea we'd heard from our Slam Master Sean about a bingo slam in Atlanta, we crossed a poetry slam with bingo night and enjoyed a rough and tumble funny/artistic/silly alt slam evening. There's a YouTube compilation by our friend WD Fulton, but only go there if you can stand the sight/sound of Edna (that's my bingo lady character) dropping an F-bomb (swear word) in the first few seconds of the video. If you want to continue thinking that I am nice and virtuous all the time, don't look. Besides that though, there's samples of the poet's efforts to defy slam cliches and be as original and bingo-resistant as possible. Old lady hats off to my partner in bad taste, BD Betty, and the amazing poets of Team Tall, Team Short and Team Awesome.
• recuperated from the first week back to work - I couldn't figure out why I was so tired going into week two, then I remembered, I was up at 5 each morning, and out past 9 every evening all week long. Luckily this week turned out to be more cozy-homey after Monday's excitement at the slam.
• Saw The Wrestler with Alex. It's a very good movie. Alex was worried about me during the most brutal fight scene, but I reassured him I was okay. He is a very considerate person to see a movie with. What I loved about the movie was the theme of living it/faking it and how the line gets blurry sometimes so we aren't sure ourselves. The situation and characters swooped everyone in totally. There was a moment when I think everyone in the audience was holding his/her breath. Everything about this movie felt real. It's sad, funny, frightening and amazing.
• Sewed on the costume some more. The fabrics are a challenge. Making someone look good in a velvet tea cozy is about the best way I can describe it. I'm making progress.
• Put the Christmas ornament boxes away under the stairs (crawling where the spiders are born, oh, my favourite).
• Went with Michele to see Les Yeux Noir at Capilano University on Sunday Night - frenetic, soulful, amazing gypsy fusion in French, Yiddish and Russian. I loved it. I love that Michele will go with me to see something knowing nothing about it except that it might be interesting.
  
• Got into Wesley Stace's novel Misfortune after enjoying By George over the holiday. I love to read about a life so apart from my own, told by a storyteller so wonderfully gifted.
• Took pictures of my rubber duck all over the place. I'm trying to win a trip from CityTV's BTV to Acapulco for Andy and me.
• Felt sad about the death of Steve Sauve, an Ottawa poet and lovely man who I met when he came to Vancouver for the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2005. Steve had a soft spot for women who wear glasses. That's just one of the reasons I like him. Tonight we had a moment of noise for Steve at the Vancouver Slam. He will be missed, and remembered.

question: so what have you been doing all week? (not checking my blog, I hope)

mompoet - just checked again - yup, still here

Gran Torino

Andy and I saw Gran Torino last night. Clint Eastwood directed and stars in this movie about a widowed Korean War veteran, living in Detroit. Eastwood's protagonist is not a sensitive new age guy. He's a grumpy old-timer who smokes and drinks too much, is on prickly terms with his grown sons and their families, estranged from his church community, and resentful of the immigrant population that prevails in his once white, middle class neighbourhood.

The story unfolds as gang violence threatens the safety of the neighbourhood, and Eastwood's character develops a grudging mentor relationship with the boy who tries to steal his car. The movie explores themes of faith, family relationship, urban violence and war.

Clint Eastwood is as remarkably wonderful as ever - still a powerful and compelling screen presence, now in his 70s. He also knows how to direct a movie. This movie is good storytelling that addresses big moral questions without seeming didactic or ponderous. Events unfold convincingly and the action kept the whole theatre responding together as the story unfolded. There was a fair amount of violence, but none gratuitous. I recommend it.

question: do you like Clint Eastwood?

mompoet - ps. he is still handsome as ever, and he sings during the credits

The Opera at the Movie Theatre

Mom and I saw the opera at the movie theatre on Saturday morning. It was a live simul-cast from the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York. The opera was La Rondine by Puccini, a love story with comic sub-plot. This was my first opera (not counting ones I had listened to on CD) and I loved it.

The performance began at 10am. We brought our own coffees to the theatre, having heard that the concession wouldn't be ready for us. We arrived just before show time, and were surprised to find the large auditorium mostly full. On the screen, we could see the audience filing in to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, for the matinee performance.

Just before the show began, we saw Renee Fleming, who is an opera star herself. She introduced the production with a short talk about background and history. Then we got a backstage glimpse of the maestro being called to the orchestra pit as the lights dimmed in the theatre, and the opera began.

The music was beautiful, and the performers were stunningly wonderful singers as well as fine actors. The story was easy to follow via an info sheet that we received on our way into the theatre and subtitles on the screen. Of course, the sets and costumes were spectacular. There must have been cameras everywhere, because it felt like we were on the stage, following every bit of the action up close. In this sense I think it must be a more intimate experience than actually being there, especially if you can't afford the best seats.

There were 2 breaks. During the first, short one, we saw sets being moved, and the performers moving offstage, then back into position for the second act. We watched them transform from their characters into ordinary people, then back again when the curtain came up. The second intermission was longer. It began with interviews with the principal performers. We saw Angela Gheorghiu and Roberta Alagna, who are married in real life, and played lovers in the opera, and also Marius Brenciu and Lisette Oropesa. They spoke about how they became opera performers and the experience of performing for the cameras and the audience for the live broadcasts. We also found out about a charitable program in the US that brings the opera to schools all over the country at no charge to the students. After that there was a 20 minute break during which many people in the movie theatre stepped out to the bathroom or got some popcorn from the concession stand.

I was impressed with the grand scale, and the friendliness, and the business sense that this all makes. It seems like, through the broadcasts, they are doing a great job of making opera more accessible, while they generate good will and a larger paying audience. I am more inclined now to go see a live opera performance. If I'm lucky enough to go to New York I will try to get to the Met. I am certain that I will go back to the movie theatre for more live broadcasts.

I had the image of opera as something performed in another language, for a specialized audience, by cartoon character performers. But it was nothing at all like that. It was exciting, and beautiful and filled up my senses and emotions.

question: have you seen opera?

mompoet - so much to discover

small blessings

Back to work week has been survivable. It has been hectic. I have been out at a meeting or work every night except Monday. And on Monday I was out anyway, driving Fiona to singing class and dance lessons. Here's a short list of saving graces:

• Monday night's driving included Andy. We took Fiona to her lessons and got some supper together in between, and watched the Canadians win the World Junior hockey championship.
  
• The snow is melting. There's tons of rain, but I like rain. It's okay. And did I mention? the snow is melting.
• The garbage truck came yesterday - its first visit since December 22. All week, a man in a bobcat has been scraping, dumping and gradually widening the roadways in our complex. Despite the constant melt since Monday, we still have 6 foot tall piles of snow outside of every house, but it's getting better, and finally good enough for the garbage truck to venture up our hill and around our corners - yayyy!
  
• It was sandwich delivery day for our sandwich-making group yesterday. Before work, I took 150 sandwiches to our downtown eastside mission, and was met with such warmth and gratitude and gracious welcome, I felt lifted up and nourished. The downtown church has recently been given a temporary permit to house up to 150 people each night, so now it is a 21 hour a day operation. Most of the sandwiches come from suburban churches (usually 2 churches deliver every morning, each church taking 1 turn per month). With the snow, they have missed some of the usual deliveries. When I showed up with 150 sandwiches, the timing was just right (Thank you sandwich ladies for your good work!)
• I got notification from the payroll department that this is my tenth full year back to work since my "baby break" so I get a "supplemental vacation week." That's a whole extra week off this year. Next time I'll get it will be year 15. I can use it now, or save it up. Hmmmm...
• Tonight is the party for all of the volunteers who worked at our temporary homeless shelter in November. I'm organizing a potluck dessert celebration. It looks like the weather will hold up and not prevent us from celebrating, and I have lots of help with baking and setup. It should be a fun evening, nice closure on the project for this year, and a chance to say thank you to everyone for their contributions.
• Tomorrow I will go to the opera - a simulcast of La Rondine from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, shown at our local movie theatre. This is at 10 in the morning. I hope it will be strange and delightful.
• Soleil the dog goes for her second chiropractor appointment today. I'm hoping she'll get some strength back into her back legs, and she doesn't seem to mind the treatment.
• I got out to two cycle classes this week, after a definite activity break over the holiday. It felt spectacularly wonderful to go flat out for an hour each time.
  

Every day something new, fresh delights and new adventures.

question: how is your back to work/school/life?

mompoet - liking what I'm back to

I am not a wimp (nor a whiner) but here's how it is

When I was a young adult, I joked with my friends about "suburban mentality." I grew up in the suburbs, and lived and worked there as a 20-something, but I felt a huge intolerance for people who said that they "don't go into the city." Going into the city meant a half hour drive or 45 minute transit ride (before we got light rail) to enjoy the parks, theatres, restaurants, galleries, nightclubs, shopping and events of our big city life. I had grown up going "into the city" to shop, see the orthodontist, go to the beach, attend workshops, and do any number of fun things. Who would miss that to live a limited existence in just Burnaby, Surrey or Port Moody? My friends and I thought this attitude was terribly provincial and dowdy.

I'm a little more charitable in my attitude these days. To each his own, I say. I still like to go to Vancouver whenever there's something there to do, or somebody there to see. It's still just a half hour drive from home, or a short skytrain ride after work or on the weekend. The suburbs are not that far away from the centre of things.

In recent days, the snow has made me cautious about going places from which I might not get safely home in reasonable time. Tonight I had a conversation with my friend Lisa. Lisa and I are planning to host the Van Slam Bingo Slam next Monday night. I had to tell Lisa that if there is a big snowfall I will not be able to come. I will have to cancel and leave her on her own to host the event. I have a car with 4 snow tires and I feel pretty confident driving in the snow, but I have some challenges about getting home in the snow. I feel like a big weinie, but here's the situation:

We live on a hill. When there's more than a bit of snow on the ground, the road up the hill gets slippery, so slippery that my car will not go up the hill. At the bottom of the hill there is a highway.

Solution #1 Drive almost all the way home and park at the bottom of the hill.
There are about 10 parking spots on the road going up the hill. I have parked there sometimes when I have not been able to drive up. I park the car and walk home. I rescue the car the next day, or whenever the snow melts.
Problem with solution number 1: The snow has accumulated over the past 2 1/2 weeks to the point where there is nowhere to park. The snowplow has left mounds of heavy compacted snow, 2 to 4 feet deep and reaching reaching a few feet out from the curb. Some people have shovelled spots for their cars, but they don't want stuck people parking there, and the spots fill in every time it snows again. There's another road, up above our house, accessible by another route, but the parking situation is equally bad up there.

Solution #2 Take the bus
Sounds good! I have my bus pass, we have 15 minute service a short walk from home. I have no "suburban" hangups about using transit. I try to use the bus whenever I don't need the car during my work day. The kids take the bus to school and university every day.
Problem with solution number 2: The bus is no longer running in our neighbourhood. At first we thought it was because of the snow, but it turns out, the bus can't safely make it around all of the cars that have been illegally parked far out from the curb along the bus route, and not dug out or moved between snowfalls. The bus whizzes by on the main road and skips our neighbourhood,

Solution #3 Walk out to the main road and take that bus
Exercise is good for us, and having a bus come into the neighbourhood is a luxury. Just walk out to the main road and catch the big bus.
Problem with solution #3: On a typical day, it's just a 10-15 minute walk to the bus stop on the main road. The kids and I do it all the time, whenever we don't want to wait for the local bus, which goes to 1/2 hour service outside of peak times. But this snow has piled up on the sidewalk along the busy highway that is the route to the bus stop. Our choice is to wade through knee deep heavy thawed and re-frozen snow for a about a kilometer, or to walk out on the highway and jump into the knee-deep heavy thawed and re-frozen snow whenever a car passes (about ever 2.5 seconds). Not safe. Not fun.

So I'm stuck. If I go out on a winter night and it snows, or if the snow is melting and it gets cold and freezes and gets icy, I have to stay in Vancouver all night. And while my family could cope with this, they prefer that I come home.

So I find myself acting like those silly suburbanites who I reviled so readily in my youth. At the threat of poor weather, I cancel my plans, rush home and stay put. Suddenly my own safety, and the safety and ease of mind of my loved ones takes precedence over adventure and cultural enrichment.

Luckily, it is only temporary. In the meantime. I'm crossing my fingers for a warm, rainy Monday evening so I can go host the BINGO SLAM!

question: do you go into the city?

mompoet - I love and accept you, either way

back to work haiku

twelve neighbours wait on
both sides of the street for the
bus that didn't come

green lasagna and thai roast chicken thighs

Here are a couple of recipes from our New Year's Eve supper. It's snowing again, and I have been sewing all day, with breaks for cooking. With the snow, I certainly have had plenty of time inside to cook, and family and friends around to enjoy it.

Thai Roast Chicken

2 lbs chicken thighs or drumsticks (bones in, skin optional)
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs vegetable oil
3 Tbs Clubhouse Thai seasoning powder

Marinate the chicken in the lime/soy/oil/seasoning mix for 2 hours or longer. Arrange on 2 parchment-lined cookie sheets. Roast in a 350 oven for an hour or until golden and crispy.


Green Lasagna

9 whole grain lasagna noodles
1/4 cup fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup pesto
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Spinach Cheese filling
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach - thawed and excess water squeezed out
3 eggs
2 Tbs flour
salt and pepper

Whisk ingredients together.

White Sauce
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
2 cups milk
salt and pepper
Melt the butter. Mix in the flour. Over medium heat, stir in the milk. Stir over low/medium until sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper.

Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling water to just barely done. Drain and pat dry on a towel. Grease a 9x13 casserole or cake pan and heat oven to 350F. Assemble lasagna in the following layers:

1) 1/2 cup of white sauce spread over the bottom of the casserole dish
2) 3 noodles - side by side to cover the bottom of the dish
3) half of the spinach cheese filling
4) half of the pesto and half of the goat cheese, dotted around
5) 1/2 cup of white sauce
6) 3 more noodles
7) remaining half of the spinach cheese filling
8) pesto and goat cheese (all that's left)
9) the last 3 noodles
10) final 1 cup white sauce to cover the top

Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes, then remove from the oven, and sprinkle the top of the lasagna with parmesan cheese. Return to oven for 15 minutes more. Lasagna is cooked when it is bubbly around the edges and slightly golden on top. Let sit outside of the oven 15 - 20 minutes before cutting and serving. (This makes a lot of lasagna, and is simpler than it sounds). Can be assembled one day ahead and stored in the fridge until you're ready to cook it.

That's all for now.

question: what do you like to cook?

mompoet - chicken caesar salads for supper tonight

something about 3 weeks at home

I have been on vacation for a couple of weeks, with a few more days stretching out ahead of me before I must return to work. I have been fortunate to be able to take this extended stretch of days for the past few years at Christmas time. It feels very good.

Our family Christmas plans are always simple. We don't go overboard decorating or buying gifts, and the Christmas meal is small but delicious, with just a few family members. Our visiting and entertaining is informal and small group also, and we leave lots of time to "make it up as we go along."

Looking back, I can say that the most unexpected aspect to this vacation has been the weather. It began snowing before I started my vacation, and has snowed periodically, with enough accumulation, that it has had an effect on our lives every day. I have spent more time shoveling in these past couple of weeks than I usually do in an entire winter. The snow has also made us pick and choose where we want to go, and what we really need to do, and has resulted in even more time at home. I love this. The family relaxes. We watch a dvd or read, or take turns with the internet. I cook some delicious breakfasts and suppers. We catch up on our sleep at night and in daytime naps. It is good.

I have done a bit of organizing around the house - just a couple of cupboards and shelves that have been bugging me because I know there are things in there I cannot see, and things that we do not need and can get rid of. Unfortunately, this tidy-out phase has coincided with a lack of recycling and garbage service to our complex, due to the snow on the hill. So I have some accumulation of stuff to go out to the trash along with things to be picked up by charities. Luckily our carport shed is not heated along with the house, so the trash can wait there, double-bagged, until the garbage truck comes.

I have been out to see a couple of good movies - Benjamin Button and Marley and Me. I have also gone to see a fabulous production of Guys and Dolls at the Gateway Theatre in Richmond. We have postponed our trip to the Panto at the Metro Theatre, but we'll try again tomorrow night. I have read 2.95 novels, and will certainly finish the third tonight and very possibly read one more before I go back to work.

We have got together with friends, neighbours and family for suppers on several evenings, enjoying the company of people we love very much. We made it to church on Christmas eve (despite the snow) and I've made it all but one Sunday morning. This is my favourite time of the church year, a soul-nourishing time to spend time together with my faith community.

I have a couple of projects to work on in the final days of vacation: a costume to be sewn for Fiona, and some organizing to be done for the volunteer celebration that I'm planning for the people who helped with our shelter program at the church in November.

As the end of vacation nears, I feel rested and energized. My balance is restored and I know that I will return to the regular routine with enthusiam.

question: did you have a restful holiday time?

mompoet - leisure cells restored to capacity

why I love musical theatre

driving places in the snow

It seems like every other day, there's a big enough, bad enough snowfall to make driving dangerous and slow down transit to the point where it's just miserable to try to go anywhere. The snow is so deep and heavy and pushed up onto the sidewalks by the snowplows (when they finally come around) that walking is not a decent alternative if you want to get anywhere fast.

But as with anything tedious and troublesome, it has reached the point of absurdity that transforms it from distressing to hilariously outlandishly wonderfully weird. At least that's my spin on it.

We had a "third time's the charm" experience last night that had everything to do with driving places in the snow. The whole family is on vacation from work and school, and there's really no place we absolutely must go, but sometimes, something happens that makes you want to go anyway, despite the snow. Here are the three incidents and their silly culmination:

First time: December 21 was a night thick with snow. It had been snowing all day without cease. At least a foot of fresh snow lay on the ground. The plows and sanding trucks had been around, but they couldn't keep up. I had skipped church in the morning - it was already that snowy by 9am. Alex had called in to work to say he couldn't make it (we didn't want him to be stranded at midnight at the theatre). We had spent a homey day baking, napping and shoveling. But there was a benefit concert at a nearby church, put on by some of Fi's friends. They decided not to cancel and to go on with the show. They were raising funds for the Union Gospel Mission, and they thought even a small show was better than doing nothing. We couldn't stand to think of them playing to an empty house, so we went. Fiona and Andy and I drove out in the snow. We picked up two of Fiona's friends and we slogged and slid our way to the concert. We were glad to see about 50 other people make it, and everyone contributed generously, so $600 was raised. The show was great. We would have been sorry to miss it. And we made it home - just barely. Fi and the girls and I got out of the car and walked the last hill up to our house, while Andy churned and slithered the car up the slippery, snowy slope. We were home and safe, and glad we went out.
Second Time: Christmas Eve was another crazy snowy day. Seeing the blizzard coming, we had done our final grocery shopping for Christmas dinner the previous day. There was no reason to go out this day, except Christmas Eve service at our church. It was our minister's first Christmas Eve service with us, and her first as an ordained minister. We have never missed a Christmas Eve service, and the family was signed up to welcome people as they arrived. Fiona and I talked about walking, the roads were so bad for driving, but Andy convinced us that this plan was probably more difficult and dangerous than driving. He decided to give it a try. Dressed up in our church best, and packing snow boots, mittens and winter coats just in case we were stranded, we set out. We made it, arriving early at the church. Andy spun donuts in the parking lot. That was fun. Inside it was warm and bright. We welcomed about 25 people to the service. Usually the church is packed on Christmas Eve, but with the weather it was different. Only 2 members of the choir made it, so we could hear ourselves singing, which is always a little unnerving. But it felt very special to be there, and be part of something rare and intimate and just a little bit risky. The service was short, and we were safely home by 8pm. The road up the hill to our house was slippery again, but somehow Andy made it to the top, this time with all of us along for the ride. It was a Christmas Eve we will not forget.

The third time: Last night - Friday. Alex was scheduled to work. He didn't want to call in "snowed out" again. Andy agreed to drive him to work. In the meantime, Fi was at Metrotown shopping with friends when the skytrain stopped operating. Her friend's mom drove out to rescue them, and Andy stopped by the friend's house on the way back from dropping Alex off, to bring Fiona home. Andy, Fi and I had reservations for the panto at the Metro Theatre - way on the other side of Vancouver. We were reluctant to cancel. The weather had hit that show hard too, and we didn't want to let them down. But while Andy drove the kids through the still-falling thick, damp snow, he realised it would be too risky to drive all that way, especially with Alex waiting for us at the theatre in Coquitlam. Now totally unable to get up the hill to our house, Andy circled around and parked the car on the roadway above our neighbourhood. We cancelled our panto seats, and decided to go out to Alex's work and catch a movie, then drive home together when he finished work. The walk up to the neighbourhood above us in a tunnel of snow was mysterious and magical. It felt like an adventure. The snow was turning to rain as we drove to the theatre around 7:30, turning the deep accumulation even more heavy and even more slippery. We arrived at the theatre to find most people hadn't risked going out to a movie. The place was uncharacteristically quiet for a Friday night at Christmas vacation time. We checked in with Alex, bought our tickets for the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and settled in to enjoy the show, trying to put the snow and slippery roads out of our minds. Outside, heavy accumulations on tree tops were causing tree limbs to fall, in some cases onto power lines. Inside, just as the movie trailers finished, the power went out in the theatre. The emergency lights flashed on and then off, and a theatre employee with a dying flashlight came in to advise us to sit tight. If the lights came on soon, they would resume the show. If not, we would be evacuated in a safe and orderly manner, and issued passes to come to the movie another day. Inside the auditorium, a hundred cell phone and ipod screens lit up as people amused themselves in the dark. Someone with an impressive light source provided a hilarious shadow puppet show on the darkened theatre screen. Someone else with a laser pointer joined in, entertaining the crowd with an improvised, interactive display with the shadow puppet person. A few minutes later we were instructed to leave. As we were leaving, the electricity came back on, but it was too late to resume the show. We were informed that the theatre would close for 30 minutes, then re-open for the later round of movies. We decided to drive home. We hoped Alex would be let off early, but they needed him until 11, so Andy brought Fi and me home, then turned around to get Alex. The evening felt like a wash, and an exhausting one for Andy, the snow chauffeur, but again, we were all safe and sound. Andy parked the car up above again at 11:30pm. During the night the snow plow came, so this morning he had to dig it out. Later, he got a tow up our hill into the complex behind a neighbour's truck, then spent several hours clearing and salting the hill with a bunch of neighbours. They also had to cut away several tree limbs that had collapsed onto the road.

We hope that the third time is the charm, and that we will have no more impossible snow nights. I have promised myself that I will stay home even if something is happening that is hard to resist. Enough is enough, and we've had our three times out in the worst weather and road conditions. Now it is time for puddles and hard rain and no more snow. Too bad the weather report does not agree.

question: how have you been getting around in the snow?

mompoet - thinking a dogsled would be good about now

the mockery of the plow

I went outside mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve, to give a card and gift to our devoted grounds-keeper, Joe. He takes care of the townhouse complex we live in full-time, with some extra help in the summer. Lawns, walkways, garbage sheds, hedges, snow and ice - these are are looked after by Joe, as if our home is his own.

On Wednesday afternoon, Joe was shoveling the road up the hill, for at least the second time that day. He keeps it clear so the people who live on the upper road (my family included) can get their vehicles in and out safely and easily. I grabbed a shovel and offered my help. Then a couple of neighbours joined in. The snow was falling fast and thick as we shoveled, but in about 1 hour we had one nice wide lane cleared. We had to stop every time a car or truck went up or down the hill, so it took a bit longer that it would have otherwise. We felt great about our work, and grateful for the opportunity to help Joe.

Then the plow came by, and re-scraped our hand-scraped masterpiece. It was a bit of a let-down and also pretty funny. Joe decided he could go home then, and join his family for Christmas Eve and a few days off work.

question: do you know someone who takes special care of some thing or place for you?

mompoet - blessed

Christmas Eve Day

Another 8-10 inches of snow has fallen overnight. It was barely snowing when we went to sleep at 11. We awoke to a fresh layer on top of the already substantial accumulation of previous days. It's cold out still, and nothing has melted much in almost 2 weeks. This is unusually long and cold and white for us in the land of rain and green and more rain.

The snow has brought us peace. It muffles sound, makes the world beautiful, and forces us to decide what it is we really have to do, and what can wait.

We got a few fruits and veggies at the store yesterday, and Andy bought the croissants for Christmas breakfast, and we put them in the freezer. There was some small objection to this procedure. Croissants are supposed to be purchased as close as possible to the time of eating. But I had a hunch we might not make it to any store anywhere on a snowy Christmas Eve day, and now I'm glad.

We'll stretch our hopes out now, and say a prayer for safe and swift travel for everyone who is trying to get to loved ones somewhere - either coming here or going elsewhere. Roads and airports all over the country are not working the way they are designed to work. Some people will probably be stranded and have to give up on being where they really want to be at Christmas.

Here at home, we want to be at church this evening for 7pm service. Luckily, if we need to, we can walk there - although it may mean we'll be greeting people and handing out candles wearing snow pants and hiking boots. But having a responsibility to work as greeters means we will go there, no matter what. I think we would, regardless.

Tomorrow, we want my parents to make it to our house in the afternoon to open stockings, and we want to go together to Andy's mom's place for Christmas supper. We're roasting and bringing the turkey, so again, it's very important that we make it. I can just picture us hiking down to the highway and getting on the bus with a roast turkey, all wrapped up in aluminum foil. Oh well, we'll do it if we have to.

Christmas will be - white or green - wherever we are or aren't. It will be Christmas.

question: what are your plans for Christmas? Are they coming through?

mompoet - going with the flow

winter is beautiful

We have experienced record snowfalls in the past few days. Here are some photos from around the neighbourhood.

question: do you like the snow?

mompoet - liking the snow very much

oh, for a telescope and a clear sky on Christmas Day

Saturn's rings will be as flat as we're likely to see them in some time on Christmas day. Here's the information.

question: have you seen Saturn

mompoet - thinking maybe at the Planetarium...

The Shack

I just finished reading The Shack last night. My friend Laurie gave it to me for my birthday. She didn't say much about it - just that she knew I would love it, and I do.

It's a novel about a man who has lost a lot of himself through childhood abuse and adult tragedy. In the midst of a long, sleepwalking sadness of a life, he receives a note in his mailbox from God, inviting him to spend a weekend at a place of terrible horror - the shack where his daughter was killed.

It's a splendid story about a man's conversation with God and his discovery of his own life and its meaning. I read it in small sips, and thought about each one, each one satisfying on its own, encouraging and affirming as part of a bigger picture. This is a story about transformation, redemption and love to an infinite and barely understandable breadth and level.

I recommend it.

question: what are you reading today?

mompoet - snowy days are good for looking inward and reaching outward

tacky christmas party

Here are a few of the photos from the party at Myrna's place on Friday.

1000 piece puzzle

snug to the hillside lies
a lawn that does not see sun for 4 weeks
even on the brightest days
frost grows thick on the grass
a prehistoric forest of miniature proportion
criss-crossed by boot paths
lines of intention
lines of desire

down the street there's
the big drug mart
with 11 different choices of toblerone bars
from 12.4 grams minis
to a 4.5 kilogram mega (for display only)
some are on special
one is free
with the purchase of 2
terry's chocolate oranges
would it be christmas without them?

when it reaches minus 4 outside
trinity church opens its doors
welcoming the overflow of lost souls
to stay the night
enjoy a warm meal - no prayers attached
there are shoes and hats and gloves
dry socks
scarves knitted by the ladies fellowship
breakfast and a warm good-bye at 7
a long, cold day ahead

the longest night is electric with celebration
stretched with the tension of intention
pondering questions as old
as stories can remember

in the morning the church rings
with glad songs
the 4th candle of advent is lit
people are alive everywhere
desiring nothing but love
waiting to feel the sun

question: do you feel the sun?

mompoet - all wrapped up in advent and solstice and many questions about the world

dump cake

This recipe comes from a cookbook that my Aunt Edythe gave to my Mom. Mom is cleaning out her cookbook shelves (so she can buy some more cookbooks, I suspect) and she gave this to me. It's a typical community-made cookbook, containing homely and homey recipes for everyone's favourite comfort foods and potluck feature dishes. Typically also, there are many nearly duplicate recipes. I suspect this is because everyone knows that cousin Cheryl's broccoli-velveeta casserole is subtly different from Mary-Jane Findlay's, so it's best to publish both recipes side by side so the cook can choose.

Dump Cake (from Highland County 4-H Centennial Celebration - Published in 2002 by the Highland County 4-H Club of Hillsboro, Ohio)

1 white cake mix (I used yellow)
1 21oz can cherry pie filling
1 20oz can crushed pineapple - undrained
1 cup pecan pieces (I used halves)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter - cut into pieces

Spread undrained pineapple in a glass 9X13 inch pan (I buttered the pan first). Spoon in pie filling evenly over pineapple. Dump dry cake mix onto the cherry layer evenly. Spread butter slices on top. Sprinkle pecan pieces on top of the butter. Bake at 350 about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Canadian Translation
9X13 is 9X13 (we Canadians still bake imperial)
pineapple - comes in 190z cans in Canada
cherry pie filling - ditto
350 is fahrenheit of course
delicious is the same on both sides of the border - believe me, this is delicious

question: have you ever had a recipe published in a community cookbook (school, church, service club etc)?

mompoet - wondering if "strawberry pretzel salad" is good

all the stuff that's happening

It's day three of my vacation. I'm away from work until January 5. Alex finished school last week. Fiona and Andy are done work and school today.

It's been a bit of a whirl that last week or so, with getting ready to be away from the office, preparation for the holidays. I'll try to catch up in the next few days' posts, but here's a quick list of what's been up.

• At work: Christmas Lunch with the Board of the Seniors' Society and a potluck going-away for a dear co-worker who is retiring and moving to the Sunshine Coast, and Christmas lunch with my co-workers from my regular job in community. I miss them.
• Also at work: I got the news that I will stay at the seniors' centre for one more year - returning to my regular job in 2010. I look forward to actually being good at my job in the coming year, now that I have learned it. I will also look forward to a delayed reunion with my old co-workers, and resolve to see them more frequently in the coming year.
  
• Also at work: putting together gifts and food for our Christmas family. I'll help deliver the packages today.
• Also at work: the departmental Christmas meeting - a big get-together of as many people as we can fit into the pavilion at Deer Lake - and an update from our new director on priorities for the coming year. He mentioned the seniors programs at the rec centre where I work when he gave examples of "connection to purpose." The recognition felt great.
  
• Snow - after last Friday's bit of snow, we got the full meal deal on Tuesday evening. It began in Port Moody around 9:30 or 10, moving in a general westward direction. By midnight we had a couple of inches on the ground, and more fell overnight. It has stayed cold, so nothing has melted. It's beautiful outside and the roads are clear, so all is good.
  
• RC Christmas Special at Cafe Deux Soleils. I have been trying to get to this for about 3 years, and I finally made it! It was a great night of holiday fun and poking fun, with some surprise tender spots, all organized by RC Weslowski of Van Slam fame. The event raised funds for the AIDS Vancouver foodbank. I was delighted to see the Mighty Mike McGee's new puppet act. Watch for it. You will laugh and cry and you might get hugged by a puppet.
• Movies - Milk and Slumdog Millionaire so far. I am planning to join Alex for his ambitious "movie marathon day" after Christmas (a whole day from opening to closing in the mega-plex where he works, watching one movie after another).
• The Drowsy Chaperone at the Playhouse Theatre - a frothy, goofy romp of a musical that pokes fun at musical theatre.
  
• Lunch at Lalibella Ethiopian Restaurant in Burnaby - friendly and warm and delicious family-style injera platter shared and eaten by hand, scooping fillings up on lovely spongey bread.
  
• Bottling wine like a mad-woman into the middle of the night so I could take bottles to work the next day to give to friends. We are now also stocked up for the holidays. I bulk age my wine, so I had 10 gallons of ready-to-drink just sitting there smiling at me from 2 big carboys. Now it's in bottles, with pretty labels, ready to be enjoyed.
• Preparing for Myrna's Tacky Christmas party - also an AIDS food bank fundraiser, coincidentally. We'll see the carol ships come up the inlet, and share a potluck meal. I am trying for the best costume prize in my cat lady Christmas outfit. (photos to follow)
• Buying 2 Christmas trees. The first one came home, was unfurled and revealed itself to be an um, er, "distressed" tree. It is now our "outside" tree, planted in a pile of snow in the garden. In the meantime, we got tree number 2 for $20 at Rona (the local hardware store), and it's lovely and all decorated, and inside the house.
• Reading - I'm reading The Shack by Wm Paul Young. It's kind of like Sophie's World but theological and much more of a single narrative - less of a survey. Very satisfying so far.
• Experimenting with treatments for our old dog and coping with the snow, which makes it harder for her to get around. Her back legs are getting weaker and it looks like she has some kind of spinal complication of old age. She's been stumbling a lot but gets up and keeps going. We have had her x-rayed, and now she's on holistic nutritional supplements, pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories and she's gone for her first chiropractor appointment. We're conscious now that she's in her senior years, and we want to make sure she's not in pain, and able to manage our multi-level many-staired home and neighbourhood as happily as she can, for as long as she can. Last night, Fiona and I bought her snow boots to keep her paws warm in the snow and give her traction.
• Publishing the ninth Shoreline Writers' Society Chapbook. This one's called "Imagine No Heaven." It's gorgeous. If you see me, ask me, and I will give you a copy.
• Getting ready for the Shoreline Seasonal Celebration. I have to write a poem of two for the Poet-Tree, our anonymous, potluck, poetry reading. Each person picks a poem from the tree and reads it aloud. It is good fun.
• Going to church - I have signed up to greet all this month, so I arrive early and welcome friends, meet and welcome newcomers and give hugs and share laughs and check-ins as people arrive. This is a task that I find awesomely enjoyable. Sometimes volunteering is a gift to the giver. We'll attend the Christmas Eve family service on Wednesday evening. The church is usually packed with families - all of our regulars, plus all of the neighbours. We finish with a candle-light singing of Silent Night - beautiful and joyous.
• Walking, photographing, writing. Now that there's more time I can look and listen. My journal is brimming with stuff I will now go back to and tease out to something interesting. My camera is with me all the time. The world is here. I am here. I am love and creativity, so the outcome is inevitable.

So there it is, some of it anyway. Thanks for reading!

question: whatcha doin?

mompoet - ready to listen

photos from Frontline graduation

Here are some photos from last week's grad ceremony. I had gone to bed the night before feeling very sick, but after 10 hours sleep I woke up in much better shape. In the first photo, I do not have a headache, I'm just making a dramatic point while I recite the poem.

question: did anyone give you a certificate recently?

mompoet - glad to have been part of this experience with a great group of people

christmas love haiku

"impossible" but
he hung the wreath for me just
where I wanted it

It finally snowed (a little bit) and it's very cold outside

These are taken at my friend Darlene's place. She got more snow than we did. It's below freezing everywhere, and about -16C with the windchill. Winter has sneaked up on us.

Haiku Movie Reviews

For Slumdog Millionaire

Jamal's Mumbai life
crime, passion, money, love, hope
we love underdogs

For Milk

history shows us
a changed life can change the world
love is all there is

question: what have you seen lately?

mompoet - recommending both movies

graduation address

Since February, I have been taking a supervisory skills course put on by the city where I work. Yesterday, we had our graduation ceremony. All of our instructors and mentors were there, along with the people from HR who organized the course.

Each student had to make a short presentation. There were speeches and power point presentations and even a rock song singalong. I wrote and performed this spoken word piece:

Just Show Up – a poem about dread
for my friends in the graduating class of
Leading from the Front Line 2008 – City of Burnaby

People ask me if I like my job.
I always say, “YES.”
Most days, that’s the truth.
But some days….uhhhh, not so much.
Even fewer days – rare but real – I like it not at all.
Because, some day’s there’s dread.

The kind of dread that squishes my head
makes me see red
tells me, “Don’t even put one baby toe out of bed,”
the stop-you-flat-in-your-tracks
give-your-confidence-a-whack
over-the-top-paralyzing-dread.

Sometimes, when I’m lying there, paralyzed,
I ask myself, “Why am I feeling dread today?”
And I think I’ve narrowed it down to two things:
1) the pile
2) the people

Let’s talk about the pile.
It begins with, “I’ll get to that tomorrow.”
Then I add “When you have some time…”
Throw in a few layers of “sort this out later”
Pretty soon, it’s a tilting tower of unmet obligations
A guilt-inducing commitment list
The product of my paralyzing procrastination.
There’s not a hope in Honolulu I will get all of that work cleared away.
I am overwhelmed with dread.

I try to sort, purge, assign, containerize (forget about equalize!)
All I get is a bigger mess
Spread out more thinly all over my desk.
I tell myself, “It’s because of the yellow.
With barely a drop of blue strength or preference,
I am not a detail person
I am not equipped to conquer this pile of individual tasks.”

So I sit, stare at the wall
PICTURE A CAT
as the pile grows higher and higher and higher…

Then, there are the people.
Everyone says I’m great with people.
Most days I feel that way about myself.
I’m so together, I’m balancing on the Apex of Maslow’s hierarchy.
But there are days when I feel like
I just took the express elevator all the way down
And I’m crouched in the basement, barely functioning.

You see, people are great when they agree with me
and behave in ways that serve me well.
But some days – most day – there’s conflict
challenge
recurring issues that refuse to be fixed,
the friction that erupts between alternating personalities.
And while it’s not like I need Meyers Briggs to tell me
I like to live out loud while
You like to think things over
And we just need to appreciate each other, and get along
Sometimes I feel
like I’m spending my days herding gremlins through hula hoops
and for that, I feel dread.

I remind myself to
seek first to understand.
I try my best to achieve level four listening
heck, I’d settle for level 3.5.
But in my panicked state, I discover
my intuition and compassion have flown the coop
and I’m left with a sorely misaligned form
of D4 feedback that goes like this:
Don’t you understand?
Do what I’m telling you NOW!
You Dum-head
Dammit!

Some days, I want to be anywhere but work.
So I picture myself in a make-your-own-adventure story.
I’m in the basket of a big, old fashioned hot air balloon.
I expel all of this dread.
It fills up the bag and I rise.
I drift at a leisurely pace
over the Whine River Valley
past the Sea of Discouragement.

Miraculously
from far above the land mass
I can see the white space on the organizational chart.
Up, where the air is clear, I find myself clearing.
Down on earth, I may be stuck in a rut
but up here I am not married to the misery.
While I may not be ready to develop
a whole new relationship with failure
I know for sure
when the going gets tough
the same thing that didn’t work yesterday
is pretty sure not to work again today.

I convince myself to bottom-line my own story
and just show up.
I begin with the pile
I sort again, and find
that most of what’s in it can be
discarded, delegated or dealt with before break time tomorrow.
I jot down a list of things to do.
Suddenly, they’re doable.
Just show up, and not matter how much or little I get done
it breaks the dread.

Now the people…
Even when I’m feeling dread
I take the first step and just show up
I optimize my curiosity
allow myself to be a cautious tryer
and go looking for clues in what the people
are saying, and how they behave
if the answer is anywhere, that’s where I’ll find it.
I remind myself, in the face of adversity
that I have the most to learn from the people who see
things from an opposite perspective.

Then there are the wonderful people
on this same path with me
I never feel dread about you guys.
You always show up
with help and support.
We’ve taken this journey together.
While the instructors have been excellent
I have learned the most from you.
You are my teachers, my mentors, my friends.
Together, we reflect and magnify the positive
filling in the blank spots in each others’ mirrors.
If I’m guilty of halo error
I think it’s because now I have 20 guardian angels
all showing up too.

And the dread?
I know I can call on any of you, any time.
I’ll bring my dread, you bring yours too.
We’ll take them out for a gallop around the pond
watch them run
laugh at their antics and let them go.

People ask me if I like my job.
I tell them I love it.
Sure there are days.
There will always be dread.
But I know, no matter what, I am equipped and supported

Just show up, with a focused mind and a willing heart
Sometimes I’m stopped in my tracks
But most times things go pretty well
The pile is a pile – it will grow and shrink but it doesn’t define me
The people are people, the reason I’m here
On bad days, it’s actually pretty funny
On good days, there is joy
And I remember again why I love my job.

I pass this produce store almost every day and find it delicious just to look at

santa kids walking

I was crossing the street today when I was engulfed by a bunch of elementary school students, walking to the mall with their teacher to sing for the shoppers. I joined the herd.

what he really thinks

Alex has to be the most easy-going kid ever, as far as what he needs to get along. Clothing, food, entertainment, he's pretty good with whatever is offered. I got a rare glimpse of his real preference today.

Alex and I saw a matinee screening of Milk today, in a downtown theatre because it is not yet playing at the suburban screens in our neighbourhood. We were both moved and impressed by the film. Alex "paid" for the tickets. He can get a free pass anytime, for himself and a guest, for any Cineplex theatre. I got the popcorn and drinks. We took transit, and managed to squeek in just before and out just after the Santa Claus parade.

When we got home, Alex had about 35 minutes to eat and change clothes before he had to leave for work - the evening shift at the local movie theatre. I whipped up the best I could for him in a short time, with the ingredients on hand (sadly, no leftovers available): a grilled cheese sandwich and apple slices, and a glass of milk. The sandwich was pretty good, I think, with whole grain bread and real cheddar. He said it was "fine."

Then Fiona noticed I was defrosting something in the microwave and asked what I was making for the rest of us. Alex interjected, "I don't know, but it's probably better than a grilled cheese sandwich."

So there you go.

Alex will be home around 11:30. There's pasta with tomato sauce and Italian sausages in the fridge for him to reheat. He'll probably be hungry.

question: did you ever find out somebody didn't like something as much as you thought they did?

mompoet - doing my best on a budget and a time limit

and now a break from the world going to hell in a handbasket - justified tooth friendly chocolate and chocolate Jesus

Forget about fair trade or 80% cocoa. Get tooth friendly chocolate today. It is both "justified" and "very delicious."

OR

Chocolate Jesus (take 1)

OR

Chocolate Jesus (take 2)

OR



question: what do you make of all this?

mompoet - wondering at the line between satire and misguided earnest reality

remembering october at work

awake early

I light candles in the house in the days before winter. Outside, it is damp and cool. Here, inside, it is warm. There is red and green and gold.

I talk with friends on a Monday evening. The world is speeding by, and many who we love are far away. Here, tonight, we are together. I laugh and sprawl on the couch, my feet tucked into fuzzy new birthday slippers. In the city, people huddle in doorways, their old shoes wet from the street. Sometimes they laugh, but it is not the same.

The week after the shelter closes, I wake an hour early on my accustomed morning, still ready to help.

I could pour my heart into acts of kindness every morning, and still not make a dent in this. All of the gratitutde I feel for my comfort and security does not change a thing. Still, I wake, and think on it. I pray and work and give and appreciate. Feet tucked into fuzzy slippers, I try to sort it out.

Sometimes, the gap between this world of couch and candles and that world of damp shoes and doorways seems hopelessly vast. Some days, I think it's barely there: a stroke of fate, a whim of random placement, a handspan bridged by love.

And so I I wake and work and think and pray, here in this house in the days before winter.

question: how do you see the gap?

mompoet - up early, and warm