what dreams may come

 

what's to come

Say, for a moment, you gave yourself the luxury of floating your mind's
eye to the next chapter of your story. I know, you are still thick in the present tense,
married - for richer or poorer - to these pages. Or else you were told that what matters
is the now you're standing in, and you're a fool to take a stab before the hows and whens
announce themselves. But today, suspend the disbelief of your own wizardry. Imagine
words like roots not yet been planted, the sentences noodly and pliant.
Picture yourself in that ungardened garden,
the soil dark and porous, that loamy scent of what's to come not a defiant
question mark to shrink from but a light to lean against. How the tint and shade
begins to shape this vague new world your heart's already made.

~maya stein

winding it up

Mr. Rooster Hair blocking me from sitting in my chair~we had a game going all week with who could get their bum in the chair first.

Mailing a birthday gift to one of the California 'phews.

He also prefers the chair sans cushion.

Spent all week trying to get him to say my name and in this photo, he finally says 'Lali'.  :)

Always feel cosmopolitan/international when I get to board a plane directly on the tarmac.  Little did I know that this little vessel was going to provide 3.5 hours of turbulent agony between Dulles and Houston.  The pilots kept flying lower and lower, trying to find smooth air.  My ears (it is Wednesday night as I type this) have yet to completely un-pop.

 

On the second flight, I was seated next to a mason (stone, not cult) who has lived in Austin for over 40 years AND is one of the primary artists who created all the gorgeous stuff that I love at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center!  Such fun to talk to him about Texas livin'.

And speaking of such, as I had a couple of hours to kill at the Houston Airport, decided that my scuffed hard-walkin' boots deserved a nice New Year's polish.  From the way people stared, you'd think a woman has never gotten her leather shoes/boots polished before.

Ball's Bluff

Love visiting places where so much history has occurred (and yes, I realize that every inch of earth has had interesting things happen upon it) and as we had gorgeous weather and the little one has real tennis shoes that need to be used every day, we went hiking around a Civil War site.

 Quite possibly my favorite shot of the entire trip.

The promise of spring.

Wooden alphabet blocks from Nana and Poppa were a huge hit.

Gotta love a classy place where even the guest suite has a miniature Christmas tree for cheer!

mirth misc.

These didn't load in order, so we're going backwards through the day~we drove through some festive neighbors to admire more holiday twinkles.

 A gorgeous day in which we went to our favorite antique place in Luckett~and, as always, we scored great deals.  I came away with a lovely little globe and the sister found a toy cabinet.  This was a window I would have gotten, if there were only a way to carry it on the plane.

 Joyous outing to the ever-lovely Wegmen's.

Father and son enjoying sunny drinks together.

Two monkeys on their way for an adventure.

Noel

Detail of my Merry Christmas Socks, which I know are beloved of my family.  Have worn these on Christmas Day since I bought them in England in 1989.

 Lil stylish guy checking out the Christmas tree.

Looking at Dada.

This year he had a much better idea of what to do with packages; in fact, he helped unwrap most of mine.  Only fair as I opened all of his last year.

A rare moment of repose.

It seems the theme of his Christmas was 'furniture'~here he is enjoying his first colouring book at his miniature table/chairs.

 And then, his first meal at his table.

I just love this little face.

Back for post-breakfast packages.

 

Already, he is extremely gracious with sharing of his toys/books/food.

Perhaps my favorite gift of the season~am going to pretend these are Grinch heads and they shall become my afternoon Christmas Day socks.

One of my gifts of a snowman book~even though there was a scarcity of snow while I was there.  :(

 Whee!!!!

The table is set, the lefse is hot & fluffy.  A merry Christmas, indeed.

Eve Redeux

 Annnnnd here come the hundreds of 'phew photos~you've been warned!

Such a charmer.

After Christmas Eve dinner, we settled in by the fire to read some books in his fine new chair.

 

Of course I'm pleased to see that he's reading his b-day book of counting with Texas objects.

We all got to open one gift and then we bundled up to walk around the neighborhood and admire the lights.

He found a shiny penny on our walk.