The Light of Winter, day 10
I'll make these next few posts quick, since I shoulda posted them before Christmas. Ahem.
I think this year was the first one might've detected the Light of Anticipation in our house. This year, The Boy has asked real questions about what Christmas is actually about, starting with when we could put up Christmas stockings.
Those were the questions I could answer easily, like why we didn't have a Christmas tree up (officially: because we didn't want TwoBoo to pull the tree onto himself. Realistically: because we didn't want to spend all our time running interference between TwoBoo, a Christmas tree, and a thousand crushable ornaments).
Some questions were much harder, like Joseph's relationship to Jesus (which is easy to answer, until you add in why Daddy believes one thing about Jesus while Mommy believes another). Good thing I started going to church again, so I could try to answer these questions for myself before The Boy began asking. Thinking of it that way, I guess the light of anticipation has been shining in this house since this summer.
I think this year was the first one might've detected the Light of Anticipation in our house. This year, The Boy has asked real questions about what Christmas is actually about, starting with when we could put up Christmas stockings.
Those were the questions I could answer easily, like why we didn't have a Christmas tree up (officially: because we didn't want TwoBoo to pull the tree onto himself. Realistically: because we didn't want to spend all our time running interference between TwoBoo, a Christmas tree, and a thousand crushable ornaments).Some questions were much harder, like Joseph's relationship to Jesus (which is easy to answer, until you add in why Daddy believes one thing about Jesus while Mommy believes another). Good thing I started going to church again, so I could try to answer these questions for myself before The Boy began asking. Thinking of it that way, I guess the light of anticipation has been shining in this house since this summer.
The Light of Winter, day 9
As LK was saying, we generally don't have visual depictions of the light of compassion handily available. But this one pretty much does the job.
This photo of an older man comforting a child is from the Library of Congress. 
I'd used it in the artist book I started in another one of LK's classes, a book I titled Someday (after the Sugar Ray song). At the time I chose the picture because it expressed my feeling lost after my father's death.
But originally, the photo reminded me of a time I got lost in a theme park back East, during a visit with my godparents on the East Coast. I was maybe seven or eight, and I was terrified that the theme park would close down at the end of the day without anyone coming to get me. And I had no idea of how to get to my godparents' house, let alone cross-country to my own home.
The older man in the photo reminded me of my godfather calming me down once he arrived at the lost-and-found booth. He didn't yell or get angry that I'd gotten separated from the group. He just wiped my tears and bought me an ice cream cone.
My godfather died seven years ago. But the kindness of not getting upset at me, and just carrying on with the day, still makes me feel good.
This photo of an older man comforting a child is from the Library of Congress. I'd used it in the artist book I started in another one of LK's classes, a book I titled Someday (after the Sugar Ray song). At the time I chose the picture because it expressed my feeling lost after my father's death.
But originally, the photo reminded me of a time I got lost in a theme park back East, during a visit with my godparents on the East Coast. I was maybe seven or eight, and I was terrified that the theme park would close down at the end of the day without anyone coming to get me. And I had no idea of how to get to my godparents' house, let alone cross-country to my own home.
The older man in the photo reminded me of my godfather calming me down once he arrived at the lost-and-found booth. He didn't yell or get angry that I'd gotten separated from the group. He just wiped my tears and bought me an ice cream cone.
My godfather died seven years ago. But the kindness of not getting upset at me, and just carrying on with the day, still makes me feel good.
The Light of Winter, day 8
It could not have been easier for me to decide which photo I wanted to use for today's Sunlight and Shadow prompt. Remember the Grand Tour we took two years ago down in LaLaLand? We stopped at Travel Town, a train museum, because The Boy was still heavily into Thomas the Tank Engine.
Here he and his oldest cousin (the taller shadow) are jumping on a metal plate between sections of train track. Mid-December, but of course in LA the sunlight is still bright and the shadows are defined.
It's good to know the winter solstice means the days are about to get longer. But it takes a while to notice here in Extra-Blue State, since the first three or four months of those longer days will be gray.
If you're enjoying these photo prompts (when I can get off my tuchis to post them), you can see mine here, and those of the other participants at LK Ludwig's blog The Poetic Eye. Say hi when you visit! Especially when you follow me on Google. Click on the widget at the right side of the page.
Here he and his oldest cousin (the taller shadow) are jumping on a metal plate between sections of train track. Mid-December, but of course in LA the sunlight is still bright and the shadows are defined.It's good to know the winter solstice means the days are about to get longer. But it takes a while to notice here in Extra-Blue State, since the first three or four months of those longer days will be gray.
If you're enjoying these photo prompts (when I can get off my tuchis to post them), you can see mine here, and those of the other participants at LK Ludwig's blog The Poetic Eye. Say hi when you visit! Especially when you follow me on Google. Click on the widget at the right side of the page.