It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.
— Wallace Stevens
from “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird“
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.
— Wallace Stevens
from “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird“
“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”
Lillia: This week you played at your friend Anya’s house after school. I feel terrible because I am not very good at arranging for you to play with other kids. You’re kind of beyond the “playdate” stage of life, but I think that your introverted nature and your need for lots of down time, in combination with my absent-mindedness in this area makes it so that you don’t spend as much time with other kids as you should. That’s one of the drawbacks of living in a rural town, I guess. When I was a kid I lived in a big neighborhood and there were always lots of other children to play with — playdates just happened organically. I will try to be better about arranging for playtime with your friends, and hopefully you will also remind me!
Zane: In the last couple of weeks we’ve gotten a lot of snow so we finally got to build our snowman! You have been waiting all winter for this, and he turned out very cute (here’s a pic). I hope you won’t mind my sharing this, but I had to chuckle when you insisted that, in addition to eyes and a mouth, your snowman needed a bum and boy parts. Well, we can see what stage of life you’re at (potty training clearly having an impact on your psyche)! It has been very cold, so your snowman did not melt but he has, sadly, been completely covered up by the additional foot of snow we got this week. We’ll have to dig him out!
“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”
Lillia: This week you were desperately rummaging around in our dress-up clothes for something you could wear for “Princess Day” (just for the record, I’m not sure I love this concept). The whole exercise was made more difficult by the fact that you are now the size a full-grown person — most of our dress-up clothes are made to fit child-sized people. We lucked out and found an old Halloween costume that I wore many, many years ago. It was a little large, but overall it fit better than the tiny things we were trying to squeeze you into before we found it. I think it’s interesting, and sweet, that you were determined to participate in Princess Day. As you said, “This may be the only time people see me in a dress.” While that may be an exaggeration, you do have a penchant for more masculine formal wear, and I think you look just perfect in a bowtie! Never be someone you’re not just to make others happy.
Zane: This week you actually went to school! Snow days, illnesses and delays have kept you out of school so many days this year, and this month is no exception. When I came to pick you up I was amused to see all of the little preschoolers sliding down a small hill on their bottoms. Because of the order of weather events — snow, then rain, then cold temperatures — the schoolyard now has quite the slick sliding hill! Of course, your teachers were trying to keep you all off the REALLY slippery part, but the second they looked away you booked it for the top and went straight to the prohibited area, happily zooming down the icy hill at high speed. You are an imp! I have a feeling that many calls home from the school are in my future…
Today is the Feast of St. Brigid, the patron saint of Ireland. My mom’s side of the family has a great deal of Irish ancestry and I’m always looking for ways to incorporate the celebrations of the Christian year into our lives, so I thought we might do a little something to celebrate the St. Brigid’s day. St. Brigid was born in Ireland about 450 A.D. She and her parents were baptized by St. Patrick, with whom Brigid maintained a close friendship. In her adult life she started many convents and became the first Abbess of Ireland. She also founded a school of art at which many famous illuminated manuscripts were created, including the Book of Kildare. Many miracles are attributed to St. Brigid.
For our celebration we made St. Brigid’s Sweet Bannock (see recipe below), and we also made some St. Brigid’s Crosses out of pipe cleaners. This is such an easy craft — even a three year old can do it! I used this tutorial. We also read a lovely book called Brigid’s Cloak , written by Bryce Milligan with watercolor pictures by Helen Cann. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Brigid’s overwhelming generosity toward those in need, and the origins of her miraculous cloak. The bannock took virtually no time to prepare, and the crosses were a nice afternoon craft for the kids. Feasts and festivals don’t have to involve an overwhelming amount of work — little celebrations can be just as meaningful as big ones.
St. Brigid’s Sweet Bannock, adapted from a recipe by Tressabelle
Ingredients
½ cup salted butter (1 stick)
¼ cup honey
2 cups white or wheat flour (I used whole wheat which made a very dense bannock)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup rolled oats
¼ – ½ cup buttermilk (you can make this using regular milk with a bit of vinegar)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream butter and honey together. Mix the dry ingredients together and stir into the butter-honey mixture. Add buttermilk until a dough forms (I need a little over ¼ cup). Roll into a ball and flatten onto a greased cookie sheet. Cut a cross into the top with a knife. Bake 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
Brave little fighters, go on with your battle–
Here is a friend who will welcome you all!
Fly to my window–I’ll feed every comer–
Hail to the comrades that constancy show
Loving and loyal, in winter and summer–
With us, alike, in the heat and the snow!
— From “Winter Birds” by Andrew Downing
I’ve always wanted to have bird feeders at my house, but winter after winter went by and I never got around to doing anything about it. But, this year I was determined to have them, and I really wanted Zane to be involved in making the feeders because that’s right up his alley — wood, tools, birds? — sign him up! Papa (my dad) graciously cut out all of the pieces for us and helped Zane to put them together. Now we have bird feeders! We already had some hooks outside several of the windows in the house so we put our feeders there — it’s so neat to be able to see the birds up close. It’s been thrilling for everyone (especially the cat). I’ve taken some “portraits” of a few of our feathered visitors; I love that they all seem to have their own personalities and, my goodness, they are adorable! Thank you, Papa, for making our bird-loving dreams come true! xoxo
[Most of these were taken with my 50mm lens, but the close-up was done with my 70-200mm, which is really the right lens for the job.] If I’ve identified them correctly — thank you, Roger Tory Peterson — then I believe these birds are, in order of appearance: Common Redpoll, Acanthis flammea; Pine Siskin, Spinus pinus; Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus atricristatus; Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura.
