I think you could fairly say today has been a bad day for our beaches. It's day 64 since the Deepwater Horizon accident. Since then oil's been here in spurts and tarballs here
and there & just looming off the coast for what seems a long long
time. Meanwhile we've seen it's horrible stain elsewhere and watched as it continues to stream into the Gulf despite many efforts to stem the flow.
We've gone to the beach to enjoy it as we love it. We've seen booms deployed. We've seen the hazmat teams at the ready and picking up what little remnant of ick that have thus far tainted our beaches. We've heard the anecdotal tales of local fisherman and we've heard the whisperings of the odd changes in coastal marine life behavior. We've prayed and we've hoped. And still we've all known that if you play the tape through to the end, with the oil still flowing and looming and impacting our seas and the wetlands in Louisiana and all along the coast, it would only be a matter of time before we began to see the larger impacts with our own eyes. And today was that day. Today it's
here, here. In a horribly ugly awful blanket, kind of "here". In a health advisory
issued kind of "here". And in a dolphin found nearby attempting to beach itself kind of "here". :(
Since my last post about about it, I have been asked about the local goings on and impact in regards to the oil spill. Thought I would update here and there.
Today, coming back from taking Bugga to her very first movie we saw the "containment" booms or whatever-they-are-called deployed...still no remarkable levels of visible impact on the beaches. Just a blob here and a blob there. Mostly things are the same. Not too horrible. Beaches still looking
beautiful for the most part. They really are something. Fear in the
air of course because we see the "forecasts" for the sheen off the coast
and we see what's happened elsewhere. But the mood is also hopeful.
So far the worst thing seems to be impact of lost tourism and fishing. Even that is
still not as bad as it could be, I imagine. Thank goodness.
You ever have moments when you hear just what you need to hear to throw everything into perspective? Maybe it's something that someone says in casual conversation, or maybe it's something you hear on the radio, or on tv, or read in a book...but somehow that little snippet falls into place with what you've been thinking about all day, or what you've been feeling? It's like a piece of advice you never asked for or an answered prayer, but whatever it is, it's like that person or that song or that whatever it is just "fits" right then. It's just what you need to hear.
Well anyway...I had one of those moments just now as I was editing photos of our most recent trip to the beach. We went last Thursday despite the heavy looking clouds because we were feeling that it might just be one of the last times we will be able to take Bugga to the beach and enjoy it for what it is: God's glory painted in white sands and bright emerald and blue seas and on warm breezes. Because the oil was coming. It was here. Our time was running out.
So here I am, editing these photos and smiling at the beauty of them all, but feeling that heavy feeling that I've been feeling when I look out at the sea and think of this beautiful land these days. Almost like an emerging mourning. And as I usually do while working in Photoshop, I am listening to my iTunes on shuffle. And this beautiful song by JJ Heller comes on. By the way, if you haven't heard of her, you need to. She's AMAZING. Anyway, the song is "Save Me" and despite it's almost desperate call, the tune is cheerful and bouncy, like beach music really. And I find my mood lifting and then I'm struck by the lyrics. They hit me like a revelation. I've heard this song dozens of times, I sing along almost absent-mindedly but tonight they sunk in like a balm to soothe my sad beachy soul.
The words reminded me that despite the uncertainty, despite the seemingly inevitable uglyness of this spill's aftermath, despite the sad mood in the air, the helpless feeling...God is in control and to quote JJ "the only source of all the peace I need".
Take a listen (because you so need to hear what I'm talking about. The video itself is irrelevant, but at least you can hear the song).
"Living
Am I really living
Or am I just existing
Hiding away
Danger
The world is full of danger
But if I never try to go outside
My heart will waste away
Come and save me You're the only source of all the peace I need
Come and save me
You tell me life will not be pain free
What will be will always be in your control
Darkness is light to you
And all you ask me to do
Is trust what you say is true
You are stronger
Than any terrible possible scenario today
Come and save me You're the only source of all the peace I need
Come and save me"
p.s I just looked on JJ's website and where, she's listed the lyrics is a painted scene of a beach. See? One of those "just what I needed to hear when I needed to hear it" things.
I came across the idea of "one little word" on Ali Edwards' blog...it's not really a new idea as she's been doing this for several years now, but for me, it's a fresh approach to the kind of hope and possibilities that are bottled up in a new year. And so, I decided to play along this year. The idea is, instead of resolutions (which are always well intentioned and capture that sense of potential that we all feel at the start of a year), to have a word...one little word...that directs your steps, embodies your hopes and aspirations for the coming year. I thought and prayed about what word I wanted to capture in 2010 and I arrived at
WELLNESS. [wel-nis], n. the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, esp. as the result of deliberate effort, obviously rooted in "well" which can mean "in good health", "sound in body and mind", "satisfactory", "pleasing", "good", "with good nature", "with propriety, justice, or reason"...
to me it means:
centering choice and action around God
prioritizing vitality, health, growth, and goodness
nuturing my family and marriage
taking care of me--mind, body and soul
finding balance
praying more
worrying less
being well inside and out
I'm working on a page for an upcoming challenge that showcases my One Little Word. I'll share it soon soon.
We find, among all the hub bub and whirlwind of this time of year, it can be easy to lose focus. Or rather, to focus on the things that aren't especially important. The getting, rather than the giving; the crossing off of to-do lists, rather than the pausing to enjoy moments; the scramble, rather than the peace. And so as part of our hopes of keeping our focus on what's most important to us, we decided to do a Jesse Tree this year.
I remember Jesse Tree ornaments on the tree, growing up and it was a special little something extra and a special reminder to us of what the holiday is all about, really. This year, when we went to get our tree we also had Bugga pick out a little bitty tree. A Charlie Brown jobby, just the right size for a special little storytelling Jesse Tree.
And amazingly, as if she was reading my mind, Jacque Larsen at The Lilypad released these fabulous Jesse Tree goodies:
And so we made little ornaments. They are too adorable!
And for a bit of extra reinforcement, I attached some thin chipboard backings (obviously with tons of thorough attention and care to detail)...
then we punched holes and threaded them with yarn and easy peasy we were all set!
Looking forward to adding a new ornament to our tree every night.
This year, during the holiday season, we decided to add an extra element of fun to our experience. Last year I followed the escapades of Elf Magic on a friend's facebook page and I stored that away in my brain as something I wanted to do with and for Bugga this year. Elf Magic is a bit like "elf on a shelf" if you've ever heard of that, but it's not really about our elf "watching" Bugga or "reporting to Santa"...it's more about our elf having fun with Bugga and embarking on adventures while she's visiting. And the whole adventure plays into what's most important to us about the holiday season. Our hope is that it will bring us all together in fun and create a special memory for Bugga.
Sooo...shortly before Thanksgiving we wrote a letter to Santa, asking if one of his elves could stay with us during December in the time leading up to Christmas. We had heard that some elves do just that and they always have tons of fun. So we wrote and we left out some ice water and crackers (which apparently are the favorite eats of elves) and then we waited patiently to see if the elf would arrive. And sure enough, today she did!! When Bugga woke this morning, there she was! Waiting for her in the living room (forgive the horrific photo). Her name is "Rachel", which we thought was pretty special because Rachael was my grandmother's name.
And so, every night until Christmas, we will leave some crackers and water out for Rachel and we will sprinkle her with "magic snow dust". Then, while we're sleeping she will come alive and have some kind of fun or adventure or who knows what in our house. We are looking forward to seeing what she has in store for us.
I just love this time of year. LOVE it. And really from the moment of my last bite of turkey on Thanksgiving day I begin to get gooped up on the Christmas gop. I love the whole anticipation of it all and joy of the little moments...the whole advent of it. The hunting for a tree, the lighting of smell good candles, the hanging of decorations, the sounds of holiday music, the watching of holiday movies, the baking, the wrapping, the shopping. I love it all. So this year I'm finally taking part in creating a December Daily. I've always been enchanted with the idea of it and I'm excited to give it a shot. Not sure I'll be able to create a page every day, but I'm definitely going to try to capture and scrap the moments of the month.
Last year was the first year we didn't travel anywhere for Christmas and while we missed our families terribly, it was fun and special to start creating new traditions and have a cozy Christmas at home. And in the whole spirit of the season we are undertaking two new traditions this year. We are going to have tons of fun with Elf Magic and the Jesse Tree tradition. Will share more about this as the month progresses.
So we're back home and in that post-vacation haze of attempting to get back into normalcy. We had a fantastic trip. Packed full with activities and lots of time to love on my family. It's strange going home now and feeling more like a tourist than anything. It's bound to happen as time goes by and especially as we want to share the city and all it has to offer with bugga.
She loved loved loved being busy discovering new things and experiencing the joyousness that is Chicago. And she LOVED spending time with family. Especially her cousins. Could not get enough of them. Especially little C. Only, bless his heart, he wasn't nearly as interested.
I'll share oodles of photos in the days to come, but for now I leave you with this. Bugga and little C sitting together in the zoo buggy. One of the two is happier than happy to be there, the other is totally not jazzed about having to endure the other.
We're headed to Chicago and I am positively giddy. If you know me, you know I'm one of those annoyingly-proud-to-be-from-Chicago people. It's still home, in many ways, to my heart and it's where my family still lives. And where we don't get to visit nearly often enough. In fact, it's been a year and a half since our last visit. Since we last got to hug our nephews. And walk with my grandpa. And talk and visit and just "be" with my family.
So we're off for a visit. We're hitting the open road (goodness, help us). And we'll be back in about a week and a half.
Don't go changin'....
Yesterday was fabulously low key and vanilla. Just how I like it. We enjoyed a wonderful morning at church and came home, shot a few photos of my pretty little princess in her pretty little dress, giving me a pretty good show of her very best "I am three years old" attitude.
Incidentally, David and I are thinking of making a shirt for her to sport on her sassiest days where we are out in public that reads "I'm three". Think that will help people understand?
Really the day was wonderful in every way. Got lots of cuddles, eat some yummy foods--all my favorites, and even got to take a nap. In the bed. Alone. And uninterrupted. Best birthday presents ever: good company, good food, and good sleep. And a couple beautiful shots like this:
