Let the Christmas Season Begin!

I'm one of those old-fashioned people who does not like to see any Christmas decorations or hear any Christmas songs, or see any Christmas sales before Thanksgiving!  I think Thanksgiving is the most lovely of all holidays, so why spoil it with all the commercialism that invariably surrounds Christmas.

Just a few days after Thanksgiving, Rusty and I drove to KC and had some fun time with Pierce and Reece.

Reece is drawing his letters.

Pierce likes to keep it physical.

The next day we flew to Philadelphia to be with the Caviezels.

Ruby, Papaw and Frannie.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art had a special showing of Winslow Homer's paintings, so Rusty & I hoofed the 3-mile-each-way trip to see it.  The showing was called Shipwreck! Winslow Homer and The Life Line.      It was very interesting to see how Homer, as well as his contemporaries, painted the drama of rescue at sea.

Before beginning our long walk home, we just sat and relaxed at the gallery.

Rusty--chillin'

We were fascinated by what appear to be swastikas both outside and inside the gallery's elevator.

The inside of the elevator had the original elevator operator's chair and hand-crank door opener.

There was an elevator much like this one in Omaha's old WOW building where my Grandpa worked in the penthouse.  When we went to pick Grandpa up after a day of shopping with Grandma, we always saw a black person working the elevator.  Grandma never spoke to the operator on the way up.  When Grandpa was with us on the way back down, he always carried on a short conversation with the operator.

Rusty & Di on a brisk, sunny day.

Lucky for us, Felicia and Sam held off Ruby's birthday so that we could be there with her.

We made both lemon and chocolate cupcakes.

 Ruby was so good!!!! She seemed surprised at all of the attention, but she also reveled in it.

Happy Birthday to our beautiful 2 year old!

Now that Ruby has a princess helmet, she's ready to try out her bike.

Felicia had a nice quilt made from Frank's old t-shirts.  December first was 6 years since we've lost that wonderful husband/father.

Felicia and Ruby are feeling the love.

 On our last day in Philadelphia, we went to the coolest coffee shop in center city!  Thanks, Felicia, for taking us there.

Ruby was a perfect little lady eating her snack with all the big people.

Coffee was followed by the Philadelphia Orchestra's holiday concert for children.

During the first half, Ruby was mesmerized by it all.

Indeed!  It is an incredible experience to be in this space!  Thank you, Sam!

Once back in Lincoln it was time to take down the fall decorations and begin on Christmas.  I packed the "Fall Leaf" plates and brought up the red and white "Winter Song" plates.  I dug my poinsettia napkins out of storage; they were a Christmas gift made by my beautiful mother several years ago.  I also brought up Grandma and Grandpa Williams' red plates that were a gift to them for their 40th (Ruby) anniversary.  One of the best things about Christmas is all the traditions and memories.
Rusty climbed the ladder and put the lights up on the house.

Last weekend was the annual Christmas tea, hosted by my dear friend, Chris Denicola.

As always, Chris has the traditional tea and finger sandwiches and a gorgeous spread of cookies!

 We were all a little surprised when Chris told us this was our 20th year of celebrating the Christmas Tea together.

It's such a special time for all of us!  We wear our hats and chat like the life-long friends we are.

Lorraine begins the reading of The Carpenter's Gift.

One of my favorite things about the tea is that each year we share the reading of a special Christmas book.  It's not uncommon for some of us to get a little choked up as we feel the special meaning of Christmas.

This book is a story about the Rockefeller Center Tree.

The watercolor illustrations were fabulous!

I know!  It says "copyrighted material" at the top.  So, you MUST go out and buy this book!

Thank you, Chris, for giving us the chance to reunite with long time friends and feel the magic of the season!



Today I finished composing our Christmas card, so we'll see if I can get it printed and mailed in time.  Most of my shopping is done, so now it's time for wrapping and mailing.  Oh, and then there's the tree to put up...

Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday was a huge cooking day for Rusty and me, so today was just a little less hectic than normal. That gave us time to slip over to Sissy's house for some Tom & Jerry's this morning before company arrived.

Our bountiful table included Aunt Joy, cousin Linda, Lindsay and Celeste.

My cousin Linda from Kentucky.

 Joy brought her old button box for me, which is filled with treasures from the past.  Back then, buttons were always removed from coats and dresses before throwing the items away in case the buttons would be needed again.

Celeste, as well as Lindsay and Anna and I each "had a go" at the button box.

Papaw and Celeste enjoy some of the treasures from Gigi's toy box.

Aunt Joy and Linda both enjoyed the charms of Celeste Joan White.

Celeste is playing catch with Aunt Joy.

After dinner, Anna and Jake joined the party for pumpkin pie and freshly whipped cream.

Linda has her eye on Rusty's pie.

Jake and Lindsay

Anna and Jake-just hangin' out.

Today was a beautiful day!  Rusty and I feel very blessed to have family and friends to share our lives.

November off to a good start

On the first day of November, the weather was beautiful so Rusty and I decided to get on our bikes again for a nice fall ride.

We drove to Davey, a tiny community north of our house to begin our ride.

We rode to Ceresco, another small community north on HWY 79.

A couple days later we hosted the dinner group (4 couples) for dinner.

We watched the end of the exciting NE-Michigan game before dinner.

Linda and Kathie catch up on "teacher stuff."

I'm not sure how it started, but somehow we got diverted into molasses sampling.

Wayne tries a spoonful of molasses.

The elections seemed to be the only thing one could talk about for the first week of November.  I am so glad they are over!!  Peggy and I traveled to Omaha to the Bob Kerrey victory rally, which unfortunately ended in defeat.

Son Henry introduces his father, Bob Kerrey.

 On the 8th of November I rode the recently completed bike trail that begins just outside our back door.

I rode over 6 miles ENTIRELY on bike trails.

My ride took me over two interstates, 3 creeks, and multiple railroad tracks.  I was able to get to Lincoln's Haymarket area in about 30 minutes and not once be in traffic.
Life is Good!!!

I am only a third of the way through my newest book, Portraits of the Prairie: The Land That Inspired Willa Cather.  

Richard Schilling has painted watercolors of the Nebraska prairie and linked most of the pictures to quotes from Willa Cather.  I have always had an infatuation with the NE prairie, and each bike trip I've taken in the state has intensified that feeling.  I am practically drooling over each page in this book.

“As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of wine-stains, or of certain seaweeds when they are first washed up. And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.”—My Ántonia, Willa Cather

Two and a Half Weeks of Right Brain Days

Jazz

Last Wednesday night I got to spend an enjoyable time at Brewsky's listening to Rusty and Peter play some jazz.  The sweet potato fries and Oktoberfest beer were good too.  I hope to repeat this experience in just a couple of weeks.

Broadway

This past Saturday, I went to "CHICAGO."

Rusty had to work for 3 days, but he was generous enough to buy me two tickets to "Chicago."  What fun music!  My lifelong friend, Linda Nelson, and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch before attending the performance.

History and Performing Arts

On Sunday, I attended a walking tour of Heroes at the Wyuka Cemetery.  This was a collaborative effort put on by the Hildegard Center for the Arts and students from Lincoln High School.  Students dressed in costume to represent specific people who are buried at Wyuka Cemetery.  We visitors walked from grave site to grave site and watched the student performers tell us about their character's life.

This young lady portrayed Willa Cather as she wrote about D.E. Thompson.

D. E. Thompson was a very wealthy man who was superintendent of the Burlington Railroad west of the Mississippi River.  He owned the gas and light company in Lincoln, many insurance companies, and founded The Lincoln Star, the forerunner to our city newspaper.

Landon Beard, 15, acts as James W. Bush, a 54th regiment sergeant in the Civil War.

James W. Bush was the character played by Morgan Freeman in the movie "Glory."  I had no idea he was buried in Lincoln!

Wyuka Cemetery is a very old place with tombstones dating back to the first days of Lincoln, NE.  Unlike modern cemeteries, it has many huge and unusual tombstones.

For those of you who remember "Oklahoma", Gordon MacRae is also buried in this cemetery. 

The opening notes from "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" are on his tombstone.

Gordon's daughter, Mandy, was a student of mine at Irving Junior High.

When I was 6 we lived one block from Wyuka Cemetery.  I remember the pond with the swans being part of the beauty of the cemetery.  It's been redone, but still there.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day.

Art Gallery--Fabrics

Tomorrow morning I'm meeting friends at the Lux Center for the Arts to view The Calendar Project.

Katie Frisch, LUX Artist-in-Residence, is exhibiting her felted wool creations.

Books and Friends

On Wednesday I will be sharing dinner and book discussion with friends from my teaching days at Irving.

The Language of Flowers is a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about the meaning of flowers, the meaning of family, and the meaning of love.

 

Chamber Music

Every day this week, Rusty is rehearsing with the NE Chamber Players.  He has written the first movement of a longer piece and it is being premeired this weekend.  I will return to Lincoln from KC early Sunday morning so that I can hear Rusty's piece.

Rusty, front and center.

 

Opera

And finally, I get to end the month by attending the UNL opera a week from Friday.  They are doing the Willa Cather piece, "O Pioneers!"

“Flaming like the wild roses,
Singing like the larks over plowed fields,
Flashing like a star out of the twilight;
Youth with its insupportable sweetness,
Its fierce necessity,
Its sharp desire,
Singing and singing,
Out of the lips of silence,
Out of the earthy dusk.”
— Willa Cather