by busy winter days
– a weekend trip to Vancouver Island with our daughters and grand-daughters
– a happy meeting of friends on the ferry, we of three generations each
– a lovely memorial/celebration of the life of my dear uncle
– the tears of loss and the laughter of happy memories triggered by the slide show
– the pleasure of connecting again with extended family
– feeling the weight of one day becoming the matriarch of my mother’s large clan, being the eldest cousin
– staying in my late mother-in-law’s house
– surprised by snow Sunday morning, turning Mutti’s garden into an enchanted forest (was she beneath that tree smiling at us?)
– a quick visit with friends on Sunday, to see the progress on their house construction
– printing family photos from the service to slip into the Christmas letters I’m writing
– trying to catch up with emails and blog reading and writing
– my thoughts on this season are nicely captured by Amy on short days, long nights
December 11, 2007 in Being an Artist, Current Events by Marja-Leena
Sounds very busy, Marja-Leena. At this time when we feel like hibernating, there’s always so much to do. But maybe that helps. We’re expecting a snowstorm this afternoon and evening – several inches they’re saying now. Plus the possibility of more snow this weekend.
How rich and full!
I think you’ll make a very fine matriarch.
Leslee, the extra busy-ness of contacting family members in Finland and eastern Canada and the weekend trip has been a good and necessary thing really, even though it’s squeezed into the Christmas preparations. I’ve just let other things go, like going to the studio. Snow sounds lovely right now, hope you have no problems!
Lucy, thanks! There’s a richness in connecting with extended family, even if it’s over the loss of a dear person – a ritual marking of time, memories, generations. A small part of this matriarchal feeling comes on when I’m the main contact, in Finnish, with the relatives farther away.