And to all a good night.

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;"

from A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore

The New Recute

 It started innocently enough. I had one nutcracker that looked like Santa. Then I saw others and well the die was cast. As of Wednesday that number has grown to 22. I am sure the collection really expanded once we began buying ornaments for our tree from Pier One Imports. They tended to put their Christmas merchandise on sale before Christmas and the temptation was too much. While I purchased a few elsewhere most of them came from Pier One as well as many of the nicest ornaments on our tree. 

“Marley was dead, to begin with ... This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.” 

Pier One was a store we enjoyed, it was close and did not require a trip to a big shopping mall. We bought everything from bedroom furniture to candles but is was an especially important part of our life at Christmas. We could also get lovely Unicef cards there. 

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” 

When they closed earlier this year we dropped by and picked up a few candles. But we also realized it was one less place we would go simply to browse. Online shopping is convenient but rarely a shared experience. The last time I purchased a nutcracker at Pier One I was retired and had been to lunch with a group of friends from work. I was walking by with Manuela a lovely lady who had been telling us about a vacation home she was building in Mexico. The two of us wandered in and well the nutcrackers were on sale.  I realized when Pier One closed this was one yearly ritual that was no more and I decided the collection was complete. But recently we were watching a program on the Nutcracker and I knew there was one character missing. Yes I bought it online and yes I am now content with the collection as it is. 

“It is required of every man," the ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and, if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death.” 

            

 

“No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused” 

Why a pickle? As a student, 40 plus years ago I spent several summers working at the H.J. Heinz Co. in Leamington, Ont. It has been an ongoing joke in the family ever since. This was long before the capitalists bought the plant to grab the brand, degrade the product, and break the union. May they wear the chains they forged in life, mankind was their business. Not as charity after the fact, when they have no further use for wealth, but as an ongoing part of a life richly lived.

This photo is from our Dec 7th. Trip to see the wolf dogs. We have had mostly reasonable temperatures and little snow for Dec. I also have more shots of the wolf dogs who will be receiving a memorable Christmas treat through a Calgary restaurant's generosity.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/meat-scraps-donated-from-high-end-calgary-restaurant-to-canada-s-only-wolfdog-sanctuary-1.5229598

“Nature is a part of our humanity, and without some awareness and experience of that divine mystery man ceases to be man.” 

from The Outermost House - Henry Beston

The Christmas Maximalists Yule Tide

 

"Oddly enough, they often grow ten times the size of everyone else," said Alec thoughtfully, "and I've heard that they walk among the stars." 

The Phantom Tollbooth, Juster

Helen placed me on Instagram a month or so ago. It was fun to choose the topics I would follow, macro photography especially insects and nature seemed obvious, travel - nordic countries, London, Venice, New York and Japan, the Barbican and brutalist architecture (lots from the USSR) and mudlarking. We have started watching mudlarking on youtube as well. it has been relaxing and I look forward to seeing the photos even if it is a time sink. 

Instagram allows me to see the photos of people who share my interests.  In this turbulent time, I like to see the beauty that other people have discovered, the things they choose to seek out, surround themselves with. The things they treasure.  I avoid text-heavy posts with a few exceptions preferring to experience these things visually. It's seeing the world through someone else's eyes. One of the most important things for me when I travel is having someone to share the experience with. Sharing experiences not only enhances the experience at the time but creates a long term bond. You can see the same bond when family members share memories and relive experiences. 

Helen has also found a series of videos of walks that people film with GO-Pros.  There is no narration; people just film what they see as they walk. We have been able to see lots of gardens in Japan as well as the Christmas decorations in London and Red Square. It seems this is the closest we will get to travel at present, and I enjoy the unscripted nature of the videos. 

guytrott60

A Christmas Carol

 

 It seems we will be home and increasingly less mobile with our options limited due to the virus and the accompanying lockdown. The predicted colder temperatures will reduce our outdoor activities and we don't have any desire to spend more time than necessary shopping. So I have decorated flat out and I decided to share some Christmas spirit here and on my Instagram account. 

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary

Today we visited Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary. We just took the general tour and dropped off some food and treats we purchased for our dogs. Nina has had some health problems so we removed chicken from her diet as a precaution. It was lovely and warm and the wofdogs are beautiful. It is interesting to see the variation between certain animals. They also have a new gift shop which is quite nice. Recently they rescued some additional wolfdogs and are currently conducting a campaign  for funds to build additional enclosures. 

It was certainly nice to be outside safely.

For more on the campaign see:

From Alone to Home: Wolfdog Rescue Campaign

https://yamnuskawolfdogsanctuary.com

                                “Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,”

Tintern Abbey 

William Wordsworth

With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

 

Helen and I were walking the dogs thru the neighbourhood looking at the decorations. I had put up some outside lights and the interior was bursting with the tree, Nutcrackers and various Santas. I did say that what I really wanted to add was one of the older style plastic Santa or Snowman figures. Friday we went on the 2nd or 3rd non-grocery/hardware shopping trip since this all started. We went to Inglewood, a neighbourhood known for it's small shops. We had ordered several of the items ahead of time and everyone was very careful. I assume the grinches were at the malls or the various demonstrations. We visited several shops and picked up delicious burgers on the way home, also ordered online. But the highlight of the day was finding this fellow in Murphy's Mid Century a store we have frequented for years. I saw him thru the window before the store opened and we passed by again we were waved in and you can imagine what I looked at first. Coincidence can be a funny thing but it worked for me yesterday and I am delighted with our Christmas display, a little light for a gloomy time.

"Cards in each mailbox, 

angel, manger, star and lamb, 

as the rural carrier, 

driving the snowy roads, 

hears from her bundles 

the plaintive bleating of sheep, 

the shuffle of sandals, 

the clopping of camels. "

from Christmas Mail

by Ted Kooser

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55886/christmas-mail