Silver Buttons, Golden Buttons

Miss Mary Mack Books
Remember this song that we used to jump rope to:

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back.
She asked her mother, mother, mother
for fifty (or fifteen) cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump the fence, fence, fence.
They jumped so high, high, high
they reached the sky, sky, sky
And never came back, back, back
Till the 4th of Ju-ly -ly -ly.

Thanks to my friend Beata for a brand new
holiday blouse with gold buttons down the back!

Chirps, Blips, Dings

Photo by Joe McNally
In this time-exposure shot of one of
LIGO’s interferometer arms in Livingston, Louisiana,
the red lights symbolize gravitational waves,
producing "a tiny, almost imperceptible 'chirp'"

The combination of red and blue light in the gravitation wave brings to mind my favorite feature at the Indianapolis Airport: the ceiling light installation on the covered pedestrian walkway that joins the parking garage to the main terminal. I love the magical feeling of beginning or ending a trip by walking under these lights and trying to discern the pattern! I always say to Gerry, "Wouldn't this be a great place to host a party?!"

Title: Connections [Click to watch!]
Artists: Cameron McNall and Damon Seeley
From: Electroland ~ Los Angeles, California
Installation: 2008 ~ Category: Permanent
Materials: Interactive lights with sound; 140 feet by 28 feet
Location: Pedestrian Bridge ~ Indianapolis Airport

As described on the IND website, in the light installation entitled Connections, "Cameron McNall and Damon Seeley have composed orchestrated patterns of color punctuated with blips, dings and other digital sounds actively 'responding' to human movement . . .

"The artistic duo leading the L.A. based firm Electroland, was enticed by the human dynamics and traffic moving throughout the walking bridge at all times. McNall and Seeley set out to create what they call animated art – a combination of light, sound and proprietary movement-tracking technology. When someone enters the pedestrian bridge at Indianapolis International Airport (IND), a path of lights overhead follows that person's steps; once another person enters from the opposite end, the lights form a pattern spanning the distance between the two, serving as a visual cue of their 'connection' by virtue of inhabiting the same space at the same time."

For more information on the amazingly
mysterious chirps, blips, and dings of the universe

see my current post:
"Do You Hear What I Hear?"

@The Fortnightly Kitti Carriker
A literary blog of connection & coincidence;
custom & ceremony


Pink & Blue Missouri Sunset by Photographer Jay Beets
whose photographs have beautified my blog
many times over the past decade.

Look, a New Day has Begun

"I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn't give in."

Memory

Midnight not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can dream of the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Every street lamp seems to beat
A fatalistic warning
Someone mutters and the street lamp sputters
And soon
It will be morning

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn't give in.
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
A street lamp dies; another night is over
Another day is dawning

Touch me!
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me, you''ll understand what happiness is
Look, a new day has begun.

Lyrics by Trevor Nunn based on a poem by T. S. Eliot
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Performed by Barbra Streisand ~ nobody does it better!

Sunrise ~ Sunset

Snowman & Pikachu

"Toyland . . . Once you pass its borders
You can never return again . . . "

. . . but sometimes you can, like when you're
wearing your cozy new Christmas socks and sitting
beneath the tree with Snowman & Pikachu

***************

~ from ~
Babes in Toyland

When you've grown up my dears,
and are as old as I,
you'll often ponder on the years
that roll so swiftly by, my dears,
that roll so swiftly by.

And of the many lands
you will have journeyed through,
you'll oft recall the best of all
the land your childhood knew,
the land your childhood knew.

Toyland! Toyland!
Dear little girl and boy land
While you dwell within it
You are ever happy then
Childhood’s joyland
Mystic, merry toyland
Once you pass its borders
You can never return again

When you’ve grown up, my dears
there comes a dreary day
when ‘mid the locks of black appears
the first pale gleam of gray, my dears,
the first pale gleam of gray

Then of the past you’ll dream
as gray haired grown-ups do
and seek once more its phantom shore
the land your childhood knew,
the land your childhood knew.

Lyrics by Glen MacDonough (1870–1924)
Music by Victor August Herbert (1859 – 1924)
Performed by Lillian Watson (b 1947)

Disney Version Lyrics

&

Other Favorite Covers
Johnny Mathis & Doris Day

19 Years Ago ~ Christmas 2000

As you can see, Pikachu has been with us for many a
Christmas, as have the lacing cards -- and Johnny Mathis!
It has been suggested that I put away childish things and -- as we are well into the month of January -- that I take down the trees and put away the Christmas ornaments. However, I seek but to follow the path suggested by the venerable Charles Dickens, in the words of the repentant Scrooge: “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me."

Willow Willow Willow

Thanks to my friend Katy for the
Black & Gold Willow Tier Plates!

I have loved traditional Blue Willow since forever!
Just like the children in the paintings,
I always had my breakfast on a Blue Willow plate & bowl
when I stayed with my grandparents in Kansas!

Not to mention Christmas Willow!

Gerry and I later became fans of the pale blue
Chinese Legend

And I was aware of Red Willow . . .

. . . and Rose / Pink Willow

But I never knew until this Christmas
that it came in Black . . .

. . . and better yet, in Black and Gold!
Purdue Snazzy!

****************

Medieval Willow Song
Quoted by Shakespeare, in Othello:

“The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,
Sing all a green willow, willow willow willow,
With his hand in his bosom and his head upon his knee.
Oh willow, willow, willow
Shall be my garland. . . . "

****************

And on the informative Orwell Today Blog, this
delightful post of poems directly related to the plates:

1. Two Birds Flying High

Two birds flying high
a little ship sailing by
a Chinese castle here it stands
facing many, many lands
a little bridge with three men on
a willow tree, that ends my song

2. Two Pigeons Flying High

Two pigeons flying high
Chinese vessel sailing by
Weeping Willow hanging or
Bridge with three men if not four
Chinese Temple here it stands
Seems to cover all the land
Apple tree with apples on
A pretty fence to end my song

3. There Were Two Birds A Flying High

There were two birds a flying high
A China ship a passing by
A China house see there it stands
As fine as any in the land
And if you look a little closer
You will see three men if not four
An apple tree with apples on
And a bridge beneath the sun

4. Far Away Within the East

Far away within the East,
A monarch kept his state.
And near him, just across the bridge,
There lived a prince (see plate).
The monarch had a daughter fair.
The prince in love was he.
"No, no, good man," the monarch said,
"My daughter stays with me."
Across the bridge the lovers fled.
The king pursued irate.
They hied them to a little boat,
And sailed away (see plate).
Alas the stormy winds did blow
As cruel as cruel could be.
They dashed the boat upon the rocks,
and drowned them in the sea.
But changed to bird by fairies kind
Their spirits rose elate.
And even now about the king
They hover still (see plate).

********************

P.S.
Not forgetting Calamityware

Panama Bag Around the World

Here we are in Raleigh, North Carolina
at Bittersweet ~ Cocktails, Coffee, Desserts ~
Thanks to Gerry not only for this year's calendar theme but also for the Panama Bag itself! In May 2002, this flashy and intricate hand - crafted bag was my souvenir from Gerry's business trip to Panama. As I have tried to faithfully document, it has been my constant travel companion ever since and has only recently, after nearly two decades, started showing serious signs of wear. I have re-stitched the toucan's eye and promised the Panama Bag at least a few more trips and new horizons in 2020.

In keeping with my friend Megan's mantra for the New Year
-- Clearer Vision in 20 / 20! --
look closely and you can see my father - in - law's
reading glasses left behind on the table . . .
as well as one of Sam's Purdue
football jackets on the newel post!

January
Crosby Kitchen

February
Bangkok Breakfast

March
Amelia Island Boardwalk

April
Florida Footpath

May
Palo Alto Peaceful Stream

June
Sonoma Headboard

July
Salida Literary Conference

August
Indiana State Fair

September
Bloomington Al Fresco

October
Merseyside Royal Mail

November
San Francisco Poolside

December
Texas After - Christmas Sale

CALENDERS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS
Everyday Custom & Ceremony ~ 2012
Mona's Clothes ~ 2012
Moons of Wintertime and Beyond ~ 2013
Never Quite the Same ~ 2014
Homes That We Love ~ 2014
814 ~ Where It Was Almost Always Christmas ~ 2015
Time for a Moondance ~ 2015
Love Me, Love My Cats! ~ 2015
A Day in the Garden ~ 2016
Team McCartney ~ 2017
Full Moon Night ~ Full Moon Year ~ 2017
Wishing You Were Here ~ 2018
Time to Travel ~ 2019
Panama Bag ~ 2020
Swimming Pools ~ 2022

********************

POSTS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS
Coordinates
Threescore and Ten Again*
Daredevil
Cafe Presse at the Palazzo, Las Vegas
Do Come In!
Panama Bag
And Panama Bag Photo Album

********************

Runners Up
A few more favorite Panama Bag Pics

Fuqua

Cafe Presse at the Palazzo

City Lights Bookstore ~ San Francisco

Dana Point, California

The Unsinkable Molly Brown House ~ Denver

Legion of Honor Museum ~ San Francisco

The Runcible Spoon ~ Bloomington, Indiana

Blanton Museum of Art ~ University of Texas at Austin

P.S.
"The start of a decade always seems ten times as auspicious
as the beginning of a mere new year."
~ Thomas Mallon ~

All ~Hallowed~ Nativities

I love these Halloween - themed Nativities!
Because within every Holy Day resides
an intimation of all the others!

Holy Ghost!

Dia de los Muertos

For more almost but not quite ludicrous nativities
see my current posts
both of which deal with Margaret Atwood's
short story "The Resplendent Quetzel"

At the Heart of the Creche

At the Heart of the Well

@The Fortnightly Kitti Carriker
A literary blog of connection & coincidence;
custom & ceremony

A Toast to Time

"We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now . . .

We drank a toast to time . . ."

A toast to Auld Lang Syne
to love, to friends, to neighbors . . .

one of whom left behind this cute hat,
with gloves tucked inside;
if yours, they will be totally safe here
as a feature of the holiday decor
until you have a moment to claim!

Shiny Bright

Fuqua is in total admiration of the Christmas tree!
Or as one of our neighbors said, He is in - cat -uated!

Thanks to so many friends and relatives who said this photo
should be in a contest or in an ad or on a Christmas card;
and especially to my little brother Aaron who said,
"That's a great picture and a beautiful tree. It looks
like something out of a Christmas Ideals book."
Wow! Thanks A! No greater praise!

We often joke around our house that for Gerry and the boys there are only two season: Football and Waiting for Football; and for me that translates to Christmas and Waiting for Christmas. This photo, seems to capture both seasons simultaneously -- both the waiting and the actualization, since in each one there is always more than a bit of the other!

A few new favorites every year ~
so much fun to acquire and admire!

Vintage Shiny Brites ~
I've loved them all my life!

On the What Day of Christmas?

Happy Tenth Day of Christmas!

Thanks to Liz and Magan
for posting these timely funnies!
We're only three days into 2020, so a few continued mix - ups are understandable. It always takes awhile to settle in, especially when it's not just a new year but also a new decade: The Roaring Twenties! Not to mention that the new year began on a Wednesday this year, making Thursday seem like Monday and Friday like Tuesday. Perhaps a weekend of rest will help clear the confusion. Although resuming the holiday festivities (my plan) over the weekend, might also set us back a bit.

These cartoons remind of the time when I walked into my son's preschool just as the teacher addressed the class: "So can we agree that it is Wednesday?" Apparently a couple of outliers were holding out for a different day! They were working on days of the week, and there was no moving forward in the lesson until the group was able to reach a consensus. I loved the implication that whether or not it was indeed Wednesday or otherwise, the important thing at that moment was to be in one unanimous accord!