Mailing Christmas Cards

Yes, we could drop the outgoing mail in to the slot in the lobby of our building. Since it’s such a rare occasion we prefer to walk or drive over to the post office. It’s about a block away. As a youngster I used to help my mom with her Christmas cards - sealing the letters and putting on the stamps. As an adult I always sent them to an ever changing list of contacts. But once email came along that was the end of the hard copy Christmas cards. I always keep a box of cards on hand for the usual Christmas gifts for the people we want to thank for their help over the year. Handing over money in an envelope and card is so much nicer. But there are a couple of people left who still use the old system. One of them is a colleague of my husband who sends an update about his personal life rather than the mutual colleagues we both knew. I really hate the generic letters that are written once and sent to everyone without a personal note of some kind. This year I sent a card to my mom’s best friend who was much more than a friend - especially this last year before my mom passed away in February. She doesn’t have email and is in her 80’s, so it’s just the right thing to do to remember her kindness. So this morning before our walk we drove over to the post office. It’s always busy regardless of the season. Then we kept driving over or the park to dump the glass bottles in the recycle bin by the library, then slid our way through the paths in the park that were muddy and icy thanks to the snow this week. We may get a couple more cards this year but the number dwindles. It’s kinda sad, but at least we can still stay in touch in other ways. 

Rear Window

It’s not exactly Rear Window, but the scene across the street reminded me of it. After the snowfall yesterday everything took on a different glow. The yellowed lights in the offices and time of the day seemed to showcase whatever was going on behind the glass windows, separated by horizontal and vertical lines of the building. The first thing I noticed was the Christmas tree. Then someone sitting at his desk, then another. Someone else was putting a mask on and heading out the door. A snow plow came by to clear up the icy, snowy streets - careful not to hit any of the parked cars. I can only imagine what the people over there see of the people living in our building. Usually I don’t pay that much attention, except in the evening when the lights become the focal point and draw your eyes to the activity. We much prefer having an office rather than a residential building across the street. Our doctor’s office is there but on the other side. At our age the convenience is everything. We closed on our house in that building too. So we have a connection to it. Maybe that’s why I find it more interesting - especially    in the evening on a snowy night. 

52Frames Black and White Minimalism

I’ve been at it now for about a month. Our friend in the Midwest told me about the 52Frames website that he has been using. The idea is to take a photo every week based on a specific subject, upload it to the site, then get and give feedback. It looked like a lot of professional or near professional people participated, so I was a bit nervous about it since my only camera is my iPhone. I take photos all the time for this blog, so having a “project” every week seemed like a good idea - especially since we take morning walks every day. This week the challenge was black and white minimalism. I’m not much of a black and white photo taker, so this was a bit daunting. After reading the definition, I thought the best place to capture something might be in the city. So we drove in to DC yesterday and searched for some options. The Jefferson Memorial was one idea, perhaps the Capitol reflecting pool, or a rooftop of some sort. I wasn’t very inspired by what we saw except we got a closer look at the Capitol Christmas tree as a diversion. Once we got home the inspiration struck. There were several window washers doing their thing across from our condo building. The back drop was perfect - the plain building, the lines, the minimalistic subject matter. So I took a few photos and hoped one of them might work. Then I needed to transform the images in to black and white using the app on my iPad. It always comes down to two photos that I really like and my husband ends up being the tie breaker. He really is a great support for all of my endeavors and helps me come up with ideas for each week’s challenge. So I’m thanking our friend for the idea, and my husband for his help - and the opportunity to think about something else. 

Capitol Christmas Tree

We’ve walked by it a couple of times already this year. But we could never get close enough to it. So today, the blockades were finally removed and we could get within several feet of the Capitol Christmas tree. There is a rope around it, so getting really close just isn’t an option. The inauguration platform is still being built behind it. That platform gets put up and taken down every four years. This year’s tree came from Colorado. We would oftentimes see it rolling in on the truck and get installed in the west front lawn when we lived in the neighborhood. I think I liked the Colorado license plate ornament the best. The Capitol police guarding the spot was quite talkative - looking forward to retirement next year. The police are usually not so friendly nor chatty. We still need to come by in the evening to see the tree lit at night. That, and the Eisenhower memorial should be spectacular if we ever get back before the end of the year. That’s the one thing I miss about living on Capitol Hill. It was so much easier just walking from our condo two blocks away. Now it takes a drive, finding parking, and hoping you don’t need the bathroom - especially since everything is still closed. 

Christopher Radko Ornaments

The colorful glass ornaments are the Christmas decorations I remember as a child along with the colorful lights. My dad and I would get the Christmas tree right around my birthday. None of those ornaments remain, except I still have the stocking my mom knit for me soon after I was born. It has my name and a Santa on it. It, along with my brother and sister’s stockings, were hung on the cardboard fireplace. It was all so believable. All these years later we have one box of Christopher Radko ornaments. When we moved to DC fourteen years ago we left behind just about everything, but I kept that box that we got in Chicago. The shiny vibrant colors and images are so captivating. The snowman is my favorite. Usually we aren’t home for the holiday, but I always put these ornaments up - just not in the usual way. This year they are hanging from the top of the dining room mirror at various levels, above the console plant stand that has a vase stuffed with greenery and branches, birds, icicles, Santa, berries and lights. The only other ornament is a glass partridge in a pear tree that I got for my husband when we first met. My stocking is in the foyer. All I can say is the theme should be “I’ll STAY Home for Christmas” this year. What a fitting song. 

Condo Christmas Photos

After thirteen years, we left Capitol Hill over a year ago and now live in a condo in northern Virginia. Since March - for obvious reasons - there have been no in person meetings or gatherings in the building. Last year there was a Christmas get together but since we were out of town we didn’t attend. So this year instead of having a celebration of sorts, the manager of the building and board requested that home owners send in photos of your Christmas decorations that will then be shared with everyone in the communication update at the end of this week. We don’t do a lot of decorating, but since we will be home this year we did more than usual. We filled our balcony window boxes for fall/winter with pansies, liriope and English ivy, then stuffed them with boxwood, ferns, pine cones, berries and sticks. Inside, the greenery was placed in the wall vase along with two birds, sticks and icicles. On the plant table the bulk of the greens were placed in a large vase with sticks and icicles, along with Santa, my favorite Christopher Radko ornaments on the mirror, the first partridge in a pear tree ornament I gave my husband all those years ago, and a string of tiny white lights. So we combed through the photos we thought might look nice and will forward them this week. Even though it won’t be in a picture, the Christmas stocking my mom knitted for me when I was a baby was hung in the foyer. Usually we travel to central Virginia for Christmas. This year it’s just the two of us - but at least we will have some reminder of the holiday.  

Broken Worry Beads

I wasn’t there when it happened but I could hear the dismay at the other end of the house. The amber worry beads were scattered all over the floor. For whatever reason, the string broke after twenty four years. My husband got those beads when we visited Iran in 1996. He bought them at the bazaar near his old house where his father used to have a shop. He was always jingling his keys - which was rather noisy - so he tried a few strings of beads just to stay busy. Gradually the need for the beads subsided and this amber set was put aside to admire more than use. So we gathered them up and tried putting them back together. I looked for string, thread, wire - anything. But not even thread and needle would fit through the tiny holes of the beads. How on earth they were made in the first place was beyond us. It’s almost as if they were strung, then heated and melted shut. So the beads now sit in a baggie until we can figure out how to repair them. At least we have all the pieces.