Songs of Christmas

"Your favorites reach deep into your memories and who you are."

So much yearning, so much nostalgia, so much memory.
I hear them now, in the warmth of our home, cold air and snow outside.
Hot chocolate or coffee in a cup, thinking of what inspired the songs.
Those inspired by the boys fighting a war far away....how important it was for them to write home, to call home if possible, to get mail from home, thinking of times when the family was together in a warm home, no matter how poor...security in an insecure world, longing for peace...

I'll Be Home for Christmas

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Those inspired by faith, and visions of being far away from a different kind of home, longing still for security and peace...

Silent Night

The First Noel

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem 

Those inspired by the remembered joys of the season...

Jingle Bells

Joy to the World

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

 And so many others...most are generations old, songs you have heard since childhood. They are more than just songs of a season or even of your religious faith. Your favorites reach deep into your memories and who you are.

Your favorites? My favorites come with a mental image from long ago, painted and written about five years ago now: My songs of Christmas

Merry Christmas.

Can you imagine what Jesus could?

It's 18 degrees out, snow on the ground, north wind, freezing rain coming.
Across America, and the world, there are thousands of homeless, thousands are out of work, thousands are hungry, thousands are sick, thousands are refugees.

• Can you imagine being out on a night like this?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine looking in the windows of warm homes where families gathered but you were not welcome?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine not knowing where your next meal was coming from?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine being hungry, and thirsty, with no food or water?
• Jesus could
• Can you imagine not having a job?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine being sick, without hope of healing?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine being treated cruelly because you were different, or poor?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine being a child   whose parents have no hope?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine living in a shack or a barn without heat?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine big fancy churches where you were not welcome?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine having few friends, and they turn on you?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine being harassed by the law?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine your home destroyed, your families destroyed?
• Jesus could.
• Can you imagine being totally lost?
• Jesus could.

(These thoughts were provoked by this article. What the poor do every day)

The muse of snow and adobe

"After the snowstorm," watercolor, 5" by 6 1/2 ", 140 pound paper

Old photographers who love black and white film are always inspired--activated really--by a fresh snowfall, the contrasts of white and nature's shapes. And when you grow up imbued by the texture and multi-colors of adobe, you find a muse arrives when snow and adobe sensuously touch.
Thus it was today, when the snow began transforming our non-adobe Oklahoma neighborhood, shortly after I'd viewed photos and more of snow in Santa Fe, that the muse arrived. All of a sudden I was just painting.

Chili weather is coming

Weather forecast in two works...chili weather.
Headed this way...bitter cold, freezing rain, sleet, ice and maybe snow.
Hence the trip to the grocery store to get ready:
Four pounds ground beef.
Sweet onions
Red onions
Limes
Graded sharp cheddar
Pinto beans with and without jalapenos
Chili beans
Several cans and varieties Rotel chopped green chilies and tomatoes
Diced tomatoes
Crackers
Packaged chili powder
Most important ingredient? Already in stock--New Mexico red chili powder from Chimayo
Plus secret ingredients

Sides for second and third day--cornbread, potatoes

Coming up--Clark's special brew

December's doldrums

If December comes, can drab cold be far behind?

December...the word even sounds colder than November. No fall isn't over officially yet, but you treasure each day when the temperature is in the 50s. We know what is lurking on the horizon, in the Canadian north.
The days turn drab, withstanding the blitz of Christmas glitz and glitter and the assault of commercial noise, from the ringing of Salvation Army bells to the non-stop non-religious "Christmas" music blaring from stores.
Everyone seems ready for the year to just be over--at school and work--knowing the frenetic hassle that ironically leads up to a day honoring the "King of Peace."
Home becomes a sanctuary, from the coming weather, and the looming lunacy of packed stores. That's when it's good to decorate the tree, sit down by the fire, read a book, talk and laugh, pet the cats, drink some  wine, and hear "Silent Night." Only then does December bring calm.