little ballerinas
I had some fun with action photography.
I love the results because these look like paintings with cool ghostly effects.
by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena shape shifting
shrinking shapes of white
shifting from all white
to black-and-white
to green-and-white
by Marja-Leena epiphany deluge
It’s the 12th day of Christmas and Epiphany (or loppiainen, a national holiday in Finland). It’s the day we try take down the Christmas tree and decorations and I’m making a slow start on that, leaving some of it for this evening when youngest daughter is home from work.
Following another snow dump on Sunday night, today looks like the end of snow days are near. Something like an amazing-for-Vancouver 26 days of snow on the ground still didn’t match the 33 day record of 1964/65, but oh, the snow’s not going away that fast. It’s being mixed with a LOT of rain, causing flooding and problems with collapsing roofs. Husband has been shoveling the snow off our flat rooftop (thankfully most of it is sloped) and the decks, as well as the walks and driveway, heavy work indeed with our kind of snow. With this deluge now, we may have to make a quick change from snowshoes to hip waders in the coming days, one reporter quipped! Small ponds are emerging, scattered across our snow-full yard with a bird having a happy bath in one, small mercies! The buried kiddie toboggans are reappearing. It is getting so much darker indoors.
by Marja-Leena Janus and Tammikuu
Janus – etching, 40 x 37.5 cm.
As I crack open new calendars, I think about January and the Roman god Janus and about looking back and looking forward. I wonder about the Finnish name for this month, Tammikuu which means oak month. The Finnish wikipedia says this (my loose translation):
“Tammikuu” is the year’s first month and midwinter in the northern hemisphere, which suggests the name for the month. In the Häme dialect “tammi” also means heart or nucleus, or alternatively navel, centre, axis. “Tammikuu” has sometimes been called heart month.
I like the notion of a month devoted to the heart and centering oneself. Certainly I’m pulling into myself a little these early January days as I contemplate and indulge over some books. I read by the windows for it’s been snowing steadily since before midnight last night – so beautiful to watch! Even with thaws alternating with night time freezing, there’s still a lot of snow on the ground, now building up again. I don’t remember having such a long continuous snowy period here, almost three weeks now. I love it but admit it’s getting a little tiring navigating it. I’m lucky to be able to stay home if I wish though I did get up to the library and the food store yesterday. This long spell of winter whiteness may be coming to an end with temperatures about to climb and rain about to pour, creating flooded streets and darker days. I have mixed feelings about returning to normal life.
Instead of putting up another snow photo, I thought it appropriate to re-post (from here) an old etching of mine which happens to be called Janus. Hope you enjoy it.
by Marja-Leena New Year’s Hope
‘Tis the sixth day of Christmas and another New Year’s Eve before us, how the year flew by! As I drank my breakfast tea over our local newspaper, the editorial pleased me in putting some of my own thoughts about New Years into focus. Now let me say, I’m usually displeased by the usual right-wing writing offered by this paper, though I do continue to loyally subscribe for the local news and events and certain more enlightened writers.
I had been thinking about how our long ago ancestors might have felt about New Year’s and this writer has done so as well in 2008 leaves us with a gift: Hope*. Here’s an excerpt:
Two thousand and eight has been something of a Pandora’s Box of a year. It seems virtually all evils were unleashed on the world this year, including seemingly endless wars, political strife both domestic and foreign, and the worst financial crisis in our lifetimes.
But if the legend of Pandora’s Box has it right, there must be something left: Hope. […]
New Year’s is, in fact, one of the oldest holidays on record. First celebrated by the Babylonians some 4,000 years ago, New Year’s was originally observed after the vernal equinox, the first day of spring.
This was obviously a hopeful time, as spring is the season of rebirth, the time when the days grow longer and everything else just starts growing. The Babylonians took this mighty seriously, as they spent not one, but 11 days celebrating the New Year.
The horrific events in the Middle East are dominating our thoughts at what should be a happier time of year and is reflected upon in many great posts on New Years out there in the blogosphere. May I point you to this very thoughtful one by one of my favourite writers, Beth of The Cassandra Pages. And the lovely words and photos by Lucy of Box Elder are not to be missed.
And please sign this petition to call for a ceasefire and stop the bloodshed in Gaza!
After this crazy year, my best New Year’s wish to all of you, my dear readers, is hope, friendship and love in 2009. Thank you all for reading and commenting and I hope we continue the conversations in the New Year.
Related links:
Wikipedia’s New Year
My favourite New Year’s posts in 2006 and in 2007
*expired link removed
by Marja-Leena thaw
yesterday: rain, melting snow, flooded streets
this morning, sunshine; this afternoon, more rain?
heavy clumps of snow falling off trees and roof edges
still deep white yards, snowbanks, tracks on roads
tilting snowmen, carrot noses pointed to sky
broken tree branches, twisted half-buried shrubs
I stay home and enjoy the light and beauty
by Marja-Leena Lael’s Winter Story 2008
Once again, we wish to share our pride and delight with what has become an annual tradition: a gift from our now eight-year old granddaughter and her family, Lael’s Winter Story 2008. Lael made up the story and created the drawings and her daddy took them into Flash to produce this wonderful animation.
If you haven’t already seen them, do have a look at the past Winter Stories on Lael’s Web Site. Enjoy!
by Marja-Leena feast of Stephen
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
The words to the carol “Good King Wenceslas” were written by John Mason Neale and published in 1853, the music originates in Finland 300 years earlier. This Christmas carol is unusual as there is no reference in the lyrics to the nativity. Good King Wenceslas was the king of Bohemia in the 10th century. Good King Wenceslas was a Catholic and was martyred following his assassination by his brother Boleslaw and his supporters, his Saint’s Day is September 28th, and he is the Patron Saint of the Czech Republic. St. Stephen’s feast day was celebrated on 26th December which is why this song is sung as a Christmas carol. (From carols.org.uk)
A sunny bright, Christmas Day morning was followed by a cloudy, warmer afternoon with some thawing of our huge layers of snow. Today is Boxing Day as we call it in Canada, and Tapanipäivä in Finland, and it is snowing AGAIN! This inspired our girls (daughters and granddaughters) to sing this carol this morning before Anita and Richard departed for their long drive home.
For all of us this Christmas, Anita had made gorgeous booklets of Christmas carols, with snippets of information about them along with photos of her nieces and winter scenes from around her home near Kamloops. So it was that I learned that the music for this carol originated in Finland 300 years earlier! I could not find the composer’s name through a web search.
Happy Feast of Stephen to all of you! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas or other feast and continue to bask in the warmth of the holidays! We have lots of delicious leftovers to feast on for days, with turkey soup and ham and pea soup to follow in the days ahead.
Related:
Boxing Day 2007
Boxing Day 2006
Boxing Day 2005
(Photos taken in our backyard on Christmas Eve day.)
by Marja-Leena season’s best to you
Dear readers, take your pick:
Happy Christmas, Hauskaa Joulua, Frohe Weihnachten,
Joyeux Noël, God Jul, Happy Hanukkah,
or whatever you celebrate… or not.
And please: peace and an end to poverty!
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for visiting and commenting this year!
P.S. Thanks for asking, our daughter and family arrived from England safely last night. And we have been having ever more snow! The grandkids have been out playing in it. The three- year-old had to lifted up over it, it’s that deep! Husband has been shaking snow off tree branches, shovelling and more shovelling. It’s sounding like a once-in-fifty years accumulation of snow! Next he’s going up on part of the roof and decks to clear them in the event that rains follow. We hope the power does not go out when it’s time to start cooking the Christmas Eve feast.
by Marja-Leena countdown to Xmas
It stopped snowing mid-morning yesterday, leaving us with a gloriously beautiful, magical world, especially when the sun comes out. This year we have many amazing huge icicles; I was surprised to see some black-capped chickadees taking a sip at their melting tips. I don’t understand people around here who whine about the snow and cold when it’s such a rare gift from Mother Nature.
Last night our eldest daughter and partner arrived safely after a five hour problem free drive from central interior BC. However, our middle daughter, husband and grandkids’s direct flight from London yesterday was cancelled without explanation. The little ones were so very disappointed. They were rescheduled for today with a plane change in Toronto, arriving this evening so they are in the air over Ontario now.
So many travellers have had huge delays everywhere because of snow, I hope they all make it home for Christmas! Another snow storm is coming tonight and tomorrow, with continuing snow on and off the rest of the week, though it’s going to warm up. I do hope the rain doesn’t come too soon!
As for getting ready for Christmas, we’re just about there! Last week I made stollen (a German Christmas bread) and cranberry pistachio biscotti (Italian). Today, while the others are out doing last-minute shopping for gifts and food, youngest daughter and I just finished baking Finnish Christmas tarts. The Finnish gingersnaps dough is chilling and the daughters will make and bake them tomorrow morning with their nieces.
Tomorrow evening we celebrate our traditional Finnish and German Christmas Eve, starting with a Finnish style feast of ham and many vegetables, followed by carols around the piano while awaiting Santa’s arrival. Some years we go out to see the Christmas lights festival in one of the city parks but it’s too cold this year. Candlelight and a crackling fire will be much more inviting.
I will post my annual Christmas e-card and wishes tomorrow as I have too many glorious snow and ice photos to share right now! Enjoy your holiday preparations and have safe travels!
Related post: good tidings poem of 2007