Slightly delirious

The treehouse stinks of burnt plastic plus magnolia vanilla air freshener and a powerful but delicious gingerbread candle. I'm freezing because the windows have been open half an hour and slightly delirious from the smell... This may be a signal from the universe that I am really meant to do nothing during this winter break...

I've been doing a lot of relaxing this break because my body has given me serious signs I need to slow down - weird piercing random headaches along with total lightheadedness for a week had me quite concerned and I totally slowed down (aka: retired to being a slug on my couch) for a week before Christmas. (I "passed" all the tests the doctor put me through, so all signs point to stress that I need to manage a bit better.) This was followed by a Christmas cold/flu that my husband shared with me, so it has been all about reading good books and watching lots of movies the last week and a half. The only truly constructive things I have done include the following:

1. KB drove me to school for one hour so I could change the water in Bubbles' tank so that he survives the holidays. He is spending Christmas and New Years at school by himself this year after the close escape from death that we had last holiday season...

2. Spent Christmas Eve in Burtnieki with IG's family. It was quite nice to be in a family setting again for Christmas this year. We baked more piparkukas and piragi and had lots of great food to eat, and we sang Christmas and other songs. I hope we didn't get anyone else sick.

3. I have been attempting to dye fabric. Thus the treehouse smells of burnt plastic and I think I may just need to go back to only relaxing....

I am participating with five other women in my family on round robin quilts, where each person adds something to each quilt, writes a little something a journal that travels with that quilt, and it the end everyone has their own special quilt to keep, along with the story of the quilt. Since I, however, do not quilt, I have a different task. To dye fabric.

My sister sent me fabric dye before the holidays and I bought the linen here to dye a bit for each quilt within each person's color scheme. Krix and I have been in serious communication for a week now over email and skype as she has been trying to coach me through a technique they all learned for dying the fabric. This invovles sprinking the dye on damp fabric, putting it into a ziploc bag and microwaving it for two minutes. The part about the plastic bag in a microwave concerned me, but both Krix and mom confirmed having used this technique before.

The first attempt was just amusing, as KB was helping me with his advice (including using a fish net for a better "sprinkling" effect). We stared down the microwave nervously during the first two minutes, but other than some leakage, which I was able to clean up, nothing too damaging occured. A few of the other dyes did leave as permanent stain in the microwave, so I decided to set it aside for the night.

Tonight, however, during the second attempt, my microwave burned a massive charred hole into the first plastic bag. I turned it down from 800 power to 600 and the microwave still burned holes into the next two bags, which I quickly removed before they charred. So the question is, are European microwaves really that different from American microwaves? Or should I really just not attempt any work during this holiday and stick to 100% relaxation?

I'm slightly too delirious to make the decision now. Maybe I'll attempt it again tomorrow when I can think more clearly again...

In waiting...

Hooray! Tomorrow is officially the shortest day of the year. As of Monday, we gain back three seconds of daylight. That is the best news all year. :)

Ziemas un Saulgriezu kalnos
Saule un cilveki kapj -
Parlukot darbus, kas veikti,
Sagaidit jaunos, kas nak...

Commentary on the black and white

I've been deep in thought about the black and white world for the last week or so. It was triggered by a concert we attended last week, a legendary Latvian rock singer celebrating thirty years on the stage. The concert was quite well done with a short text, poems or food for thought in between every couple of songs. The thought that stuck with me most was the idea that winter is the time of year that we should use to rejuvenate ourselves much like nature does, to be quiet and still and look inside ourselves to see what work you can do on yourself. In a bleak outside world, you look inside yourself and in other people to find color. Perhaps not the most eloquent translation/paraphrase, but you get the idea.... Also, not this was not a novel idea to me, but somehow it has really spoken to me this time around.

This was followed by our trip to Jaunvitagas to get the Christmas tree. (As an aside, Ojars the Batmobile is officially banned from another trip to Jaunvitagas until spring - this time we got stuck in the snow for only three minutes, as opposed to the three hours we were stuck in the mud the week before.....) KB and I are finally "feeling" holidays again for the first time in years and decided to start creating our own traditions. We chose our own tree to bring home, but also decorated a tree that stays (thus the ribbon tieing in the last post).

There was very little snow on the ground in Riga, but the scene changed quickly as we drove out of town. Everything was breathtakingly, beautifully white and we couldn't help commenting on it the whole drive. It was another cloudy day in LV, but the grey skies have a very different feel when everything else is covered in white. We decided it felt like we were living in a black and white photograph, and suddenly the winter did not seem so bleak anymore, but rather extraordinary. When KB saw the photos we had taken (in particular, the one of me carrying the tree), he said it looked like one of those black and white photos with just one part colored in. And so, at least for now, the way I look at everything around me has changed. During my recess duty this week, I wasn't feeling down about another cloudy day, but I looked at all the color the kids were creating in a black and white world - not only in the literal sense with their multicolored snow gear but also the color and energy they were creating from inside themselves - each one something special enough to be colored in so it could stand out in a black and white world.

Living in the extremes here in LV, the cycles of life are that much more pronounced and I have developed a much deeper appreciation for the way our universe has been created and all that we can stand to learn from it, if we are just open and willing. So here's to the black and white which is winter - of course the white always helps (so send some more our way please, if you've got it), but there's just as much to be said for the grey, too. Because this morning when I woke up with my eyes on a bright, crisp blue sky, it felt like winning some sort of lottery, and I know it's going to be a good day!

Finding a bit of color in a black and white world

Friend or foe?

I bought a new hat. We're not sure if Mima is wildly in love with it or hates it with a passion, but either way, she attacks it any chance she gets. Because of that, the hat strategically lives at the highest place on the coat rack, though I wouldn't put it past Mims to plot out a late night attack while we are sleeping.And here is evidence of how I take winter seriously now that it's my third winter in LV with recess duty. (I don't know why my face looks crooked or what the goofy expression is all about, but it's the only picture I could get KB to take on our way out the door today.)