Friday, February 21, 2014

Quotidian Notes

Our snow turned to freezing rain last night, and now we're sitting in a 'wintery mix'. Precipitation can be overwhelming sometimes. The wintery mix is my least favorite of all February's offerings - it's so unpredictable. So messy.

one last look at blue-skies!


We have all our seeds picked out for Springtime. March is almost here, and then April! I'm hoping we'll be able to plant in April. March is the Lenten month, and the maple-sapping month. We have about 7 trees close to the house, and in the sunlight, that I'd like to tap. I'm hoping for enough to forgo maple syrup altogether for maple 'cream'..a richer, soft, spreadable version of maple-syrup - cooked down a bit more and then whipped. I absolutely love it!

March is also my husband's birthday month. This year, Lent is late enough that he gets to celebrate outside Lent! I'm planning a meat-filled, sugar-laden, three day celebration, but my family know all too well that I'm an absolute failure at gift-giving..and birthdays in general, so pray for me, I need all the help I can get.

* * * *  * * * *

Haley, over at Carrots for Michaelmas, has selected one word for 2014 - I loved her article, and the idea itself. Reading her reflections, I found my own word, Balance. It's a word I rarely apply to my own life, and one I'd like to know better. My life, in balance has less uncertainty, more intentionality; fewer distractions, more play; more tea, more prayer, more slow walks down the lane..

It's an older post, from the beginning of February, but the year is still young and fresh, we can still apply it. And the time before Lent is ideal for plotting improvements. 

* * * *  * * * *

My dear friend, Christie, at Everything to Someone has a interesting discussion going on this quote from G.K. Chesterton:


               
The quote itself is not my favorite (actually, nothing from Chesterton would fall under the label 'favorite' for me..) but Christie's response to it certainly is! Her absolutely beautiful reflections left me with more love for Chesterton than his own writing ever does.

      It's very telling that after a century of liberation, women are choosing to go back to 
      the professions (oppression?) of their great-great-grandmothers. Instead of being 
      taught in an unbroken chain of mother-to-daughter lore, they're having to re-learn
      many of those skills that made suppressed women so dangerously skillful. I suppose
      the feminist movement was necessary because it helped us understand. For now we
      have the double benefit of having the freedom to choose and choosing not to be 
      'free'.

Oh, Christie, would that I could write like you! I'd love to read my own reader's reactions to Chesterton's words, and Christie's reflections, if you're interested..either on Everyting to Someone, or right here.

 * * * *  * * * * 

My husband's vacation time is giving him ample opportunity to create more of his beautiful cards for Paperwine:
























As well as a chance to work up some fantastic cocktails inspired by (nerd-alert) our favorite Firefly characters!!! Kaylee's drink will go up first, on Cyganeria, sometime this evening (and Jenna, it is absolutely drinkable - even without a bohemian's liver!) I have plans to make Seth into Cyganeria's resident bartender - crafting drinks for all of our beloved books and movies.

* * * *  * * * * 

Luba exhausted herself yesterday, playing Wild Thing of the Wooded North, she's spending the morning on the couch, begging with her eyes; while Yarrow and Seth read books and I attempt to line up guest posts..all while drinking the absolute best chai tea with raw honey and cream..

6 comments:

  1. FIREFLY COCKTAILS. YES. Kaylee!!! Maybe I can get Lou to make that for me next Sunday night, instead of a sidecar.

    It's the bohemian's taste buds I'm worried about, more than the liver. Thanks to my big half-Irish Catholic in-law family, I have developed an ability to... well, I'm not quite the lightweight that I used to be, at least. ;P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will LOVE it!

      Taste buds can be developed, you know ;) Especially if you're liver's already up for the challenge!

      Delete
  2. I love this, especially this quote. Being first a working woman for 20 years and now a stay-at-home mom, teacher, etc. I can attest to the truth of his statement. I have grown more, learned more skills, and increased in all ways since I was allowed to stay home and me a mom and wife. :) So love this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, I'd love to know what about the quote makes you love it! I mean, I know so many women who just adore Chesterton's words here, but I feel sort of demeaned and definitely repelled by them - in part because I don't see my vocation as a collection of 'second bests' and in part because I certainly don't see that narrow focus in my husband..but you would probably adore Christie's post on the quote! Check it out if you haven't yet!!!!

      And thanks for your input on it! I can't wait to read more of your thoughts on it! :)

      Delete
  3. Hmmmm.

    I think I've just read the quote the way you read it, Masha. And I think... what happens is, the mind homes in on different words. So when I read it thinking about the freedom I've had as a stay-at-home wife, I see "develop..." "broad (as opposed to narrow)"... "near to God (like the child)"... "fruitful." And when I read it with your comments in mind, I see "Women should" and "second bests" and "kept at home."

    Interesting.

    I'm not sure what I take away from that, except that maybe Chesterton was shooting at praising the power and the freedom of the domestic life, and thereby captured something of what matters to us who live it, but then he expressed it within the gender-role concepts of his time, which he was defending, making him offensive to many a modern woman.

    Honestly, when I see it in terms of should and kept, I'm a touch taken aback, myself. Especially since it's an overgeneralization....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ooh how interesting!

    I wonder if I could read it the other way 'round if I tried?? Thanks for that!

    ReplyDelete