Category: Uncategorized

Hawk like

This is the tree UNdecorated.

I’ve had to watch it like a hawk today, because I think it could be foster dog Penny’s first Christmas tree, and she’s found it very alluring. Can’t wait to see what happens when it’s covered with ornaments!

Every year when we unpack ornaments, I have stories like, “THIS is the one Hamlet and Brutus chewed up” and “Here’s the one Pete pulled off the tree…” Even tangible reminders of when they’re not perfect give us things to smile about when our dogs are gone.


Pretty Penny.

Recovered Treasure

The other day I was looking for something in the garage. The only thing that scares me more is Tim’s walk-in-closet. That isn’t Tim’s fault. I’m scared of that thing even when it’s empty–for no apparent reason.

I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I found lots of other stuff. A sketchbook and some Prismacolor art markers from my late friend Steve R, some sketches I did back in the eighties, and this little painting on a piece of scrap wood:

It’s something my nephew Jess painted, no doubt when his mother and I were going through a crafty phase in the early nineties. I understand why I kept it–I really like it! Now it’s going to hang in my office.

Christmases Past, No. 1: A Horse With No Name

I’ve been digging around in the vast photo archives and thinking about Christmases past. I told Tim the other day that I’ve now reached that point in my life when I’d be inclined to sit on the front porch and ramble on about the past, except we have only two months of the year in Houston when the weather, mosquitoes, and palmetto bugs cooperate. Plus I can’t coerce the dogs to sit still and listen to me.

So maybe I should change the name of this journal to An Aries’ Rocking Chair.

I’ve never made it a secret that I adore all of my nephews and nieces, and the firstborn of these was Daniel. I was thrilled by his birth one November until I figured out at Christmas that he knocked me right out of the family baby slot and sucked up a sickeningly large number of presents. Still, he was pretty cool, and it was his age two Christmas when we had a true meeting of the minds.

He woke up that morning to find this:

And so began the family effort to offer horse names for his consideration. My sister is the horse person in our family, and I’m sure she gave him lots of appropriate suggestions. None of them stuck.

Finally I said, “Hey, what about Fido?”

His eyes lit up.

And he and Fido began their adventures together.

Bit by bit

Yesterday when messing with some Christmas lights, I knocked this off a shelf and it cracked in two places.

It’s a wand, and I’ve repaired it, but can I still cast spells with it? Ha! Fooled you. I don’t cast spells anyway. Trust me, if I did magic, I know which way this wand would point today. I’m looking at you, Washington.

In other wizard-free news, I have a couple of things decorated. Santa’s workshop has reopened for business.

And look! Horses frolicking in the snowy meadow and avoiding ginormous sleigh bells!

This is how I’m displaying my sleigh bells this year. The sleigh reminds me of a little town in Texas called Coventry…

Huh. Maybe I have done magic before.