Off to a Good Start

It's the first of February, the beginning of my two challenges: to write a letter a day and to meditate daily.  I've done the both today by lunchtime.  And combined them, in a way.  I penned (really, typed and printed) a letter to my Aunt Sis in the rehab center recovering from a broken hip.  And then, listening to my lovingkindness meditation while holding the shawl I crocheted for her, I sent thoughts of health, happiness, safety, and ease to myself, my aunt, and all beings.  Done, I packaged the shawl up with the letter and sent it along.

A Magical Journey

We had just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and I was casting about for a new book to read.  We tried Tom Sawyer, but the language was too regional and they couldn't follow all the dialogue.  I didn't want another fantasy novel back-to-back with Lewis's masterpiece but nothing we had on hand--Indian in the Cupboard, various Beverly Cleary books, other titles I can't recall right now--felt right.

Coincidentally, I had recently been exploring the art of storytelling.  While reading Katrina Kennison's Mitten Strings of God, a reflective piece on mothering which I would recommend for those inclined, I came across the works of Nancy Mellon, master storyteller.  Her Storytelling and Children preached to the choir about the importance of stories and the parent-child bond during storytelling; her Storytelling and the Art of Imagination laid out the details of story as soul medicine (almost to the esoteric realm with her focus on humours and healing) but also the symbolism (doors, huts, seeds, underground) and structure of traditional (exclusively European) tales.

Thus, in our book in-between time, it dawned on me to tell them a story.  When they had been very young, I'd told them tales of Sis and Bud Dragon who lived near a medieval-ly village and had adventures; they can't possible remember those, but Mama and I enjoyed them.  Why is the fantasy realm always medieval-ish?  Must be all of those European fairy tales.  Our current story started with the oldest house in Connecticut, where two twins had moved; exploring the house on a rainy day they find a chest--like the 18th-century one I bought at the neighbor's tag sale--and fall through it to a new land.  Funny where you get your inspiration.  In my mind, the house is the stone Henry Whitfield house we visited last year. The entry into the other world from within the house is Narnian but also familiar to us from the Droon series, with the basement stairs to another world.  And the creatures and adventures they encounter in that other world are inspired by The Never-ending Story, the Redwall books, fairy stories, Lord of the Rings, the Merlin stories, and others I probably don't even realize.

Some of Mellon's (regrettably slight) discussion of structure has stuck with me:  the narrative encompassing a protagonist, an opposition or challenge (often a quest or journey), helpers, more opposition and impediments alternating with helpers until there is resolution, well-being, unity, the proverbial happy ending (and she tells feminists not to sweat all the weddings!); the ideas of adventures in threes, fours, or twelves; the passing of the seasons; geographical variety from sea to mountains to forest to dessert; the appearance of the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire (we're adding the fifth element, in Chinese lore, metal).

After four installments, we are hooked.  Every morning Bud illustrates the previous night's chapter for a book he's making.  And they both spend the day and night making suggestions.  They suggests the flavors the characters drink from the magical water; they came up with the talking fire.

We did have to discuss that they are not the characters in the story specifically, which arose during a part when the boy suffered a temporary blindness.  We talked about how protagonists have to undergo trials before they can succeed.  It's not exactly Bruno Bettelheim's advocacy of danger and violence as teaching tools in tales, but it's not Disney either; maybe more Sondheim's Into the Woods.  But Bud is looking forward to hearing what happens to Sis's doppelganger!  And they make sure I balance out dialogue, adventures, and even gifts (she has the magic canteen of water and the firestarter; he has the magic compass always pointing them in the right direction--which means he needs something else!)

Each evening before we start, I panic a bit that I won't have anything for them, that they won't like the installation.  But between their enthusiasm, my bare outline from Mellon, and my own joy in it, the story comes and the only complaint has been that one night's story was too short.

I wonder what will happen tonight?  Once upon a time, remember or imagine . . . .

Firsts

First fairy house and first snowdrops of the year.   Of course, I abhor climate change, but it felt good to be out on such a spring-like January day after a week of hard freezes.

Closed

School is closed because of power outages. 

Gave Up

On sleep, that is.  I tried my best with soothing lullabies, but they are too wound up. Still without power, though storm has abated.  Kids and I are  downstairs where they're playing Narnia-Star Wars Legos.

Powerless

In this amazing wind storm, we've lost power.  The cats are edgy.  And I'm awake listening to the power of nature....

Vegan Again

I just got back from the ENT to see about my continuous sinus pressure and infections.  Because the pressure, headaches, and ear pain and dullness have returned, he's put me back on antibiotics and steroids, also ordering a CT scan to look at my sinuses (his scoping today revealed a deviated septum but no polyps--yay, TMI).   I don't really know what comes after that.  I'd love tubes in my ears so I can hear better again, but I don't think that's in the cards.

Anyway, after some experience and evidence, I've realized that dairy increases my stuffiness (I had an IgE/allergy test previously for all the inhalants like dust, mold, pollen, cats, etc but am not allergic to those).  So I'm doing an elimination diet, giving up all dairy, which essentially leaves me a vegan (well, I guess I get to keep eggs, which is very un-vegan like!).  I had toyed with that earlier in December before the holidays, before the sinusitis.  We'll see if it helps.

But first I had a very cheesy lunch!  The last for a long time.

UPDATE:  A friend has recommended eliminating gluten as well.  Which leaves . . . not much.

The Family Tree

Gommie has long been very interested in our family history, gathering family photos and bits of lore, though leaving much of the archival work of birth, death, and marriage dates to my Uncle T and others.  Years ago, she gave me a binder full of her evidence as well as a chart of our family members.  I studied it then, mainly intrigued by the Confederate ancestor who reportedly fired the first shots at the battle of Vicksburg (and his son who penned his own memoirs as The Littlest Rebel), the Texas blockade runner during the Civil War, and such.  My Aunt Sis, on my dad's side, had always said we were Welsh and Scottish, but I only just found the proof in Gommie's notebook--but we're not Welsh (that it records), we're Irish!  My paternal grandmother has an ancestor, Alexander Mebane, who lived in Ireland from 1716 to 1793; eventually my Irish ancestors made it to Tennessee and then Louisiana.  I never knew we were a little bit Irish!  Now I'm doubly excited about St. Patrick's Day and soda bread, colcannon, and the like.  Turn on Riverdance!

My paternal grandfather's mother descended from Scottish stock, which I've known for a few years and we've celebrated at Scottish festivals and watching Brave.  Her relative, John Hay, was in Scotland, but in 1644 traveled to Virginia.  Family lore has long said we were related to a man executed for the murder of Mary, Queen of Scots's husband, Lord Darnley.  Lo! and behold, a John Hay was tried and executed with others for the plot.  A hundred or so years earlier than my ancestor traveled to the colonies.  Is our John Hay a descendant of the executed man?  I'm still looking into that as best I can.  But until I prove otherwise, I'm going to say yes!  I mean, who can pass up an ancestor who worked for Mary, Queen of Scots, and once was sent as an emissary to Queen Elizabeth I?  Coincidentally (and if I understand this correctly), before he was executed, John Hay was commendator (lay abbot) of Balmerino, a Cistercian monastery--and his descendant, my aunt's cousin, is even now a Trappist monk in France!

One last story has also recently come to us.  My maternal grandfather had a best friend with whom he fought side-by-side in WWII (through North Africa, up through Italy, and into Germany, I believe), Tom Brady, after whom my uncle was named.  Apparently, Tom Brady's descendants recently told us that my grandfather's unit is the one that captured and briefly held young Nazi Joseph Ratzinger, who was later released on the understanding that he had been forced to join.  Of course, that young man eventually became the current Pope Benedict XVI.

Two big mysteries remain:  are we Welsh?  and who are the ancestors of my paternal grandfather, about whose father (who abandoned his first wife and numerous kids to start a second family in the same town, leaving his never-divorced wife to start a boarding house in the early 20th century) we know absolutely nothing.

Thanks, Gommie, for keeping the family history!

Kidbits

In the last few weeks . . . .

The effects of reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:  We just finished our first foray into the Narnia series (albeit with the second book in the series chronologically) in a hours-long final read through the last several chapters, which encompass Aslan's sacrifice and death, plus his return and triumph, as well as the crowning of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.  The death scene--with the muzzling and shaving and mocking--is pretty brutal, which is why we opted for a daytime read as they cuddled up with Mama.  Almost immediately upon finishing, Sis was searching the house for entrances into Narnia, while Bud set to constructing it in Legos.  Later still, on the day Mama went into NYC, we watched the Disney movie.  Their favorite part?  The beavers!  Especially when Mr. Beaver wears armor at the end.  Of course, they had no clue about the Christian imagery of death and resurrection; no need to burden their fairy tales with adult baggage right now.  

80's dance party:  I'm not really sure how it got started, but Mama and I had an 80s thing a week or so ago, on one of those days when Bud felt almost like himself before Sis came down with her own flu.  Anyway, once we were perusing our 80's collection on the iPod, we couldn't stop.  "Mickey," "Eye of the Tiger," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," "Hungry Like a Wolf," "Karma Chameleon," "West End Girls," Heart of Rock and Roll," "We Got the Beat," "Hold On," "Hold Me Now," "American Hero Theme Song," Of all the songs, the kids were fascinated by "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and requested it numerous times a day for the rest of the week, all the while asking for the whole meaning of that song.

Bud and Sis's magic show:  Bud received a magic kit for Christmas from Beloved Babysitter about which he has been so excited.  He's got a hat to pull things out of, a variety of gadgets to do ball/card/rope tricks, and even a few rabbits!  He's working on sleight of hand, slowly, but doesn't quite have the audience participation part under control.  He had Sis be his assistant and did all the tricks to her, instead of to me the audience; neither understood why it didn't look magical to have her "guess" the color or number he had chosen.  Cute, though, with them in capes, waving wands, and coming out on "stage" through the red curtains in the living room.

Inauguration Party:  Even with the flu (and Bud's 103F temperature), we watched the most important bits of the Inauguration, from the two oaths to the Inaugural poet, from Kelly Clarkson to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir to James Taylor to Beyonce.  The kids were pretty much done after the oaths, but we stayed for the whole speech. Seneca Falls.  Selma.  Stonewall.  Brought tears to my eyes to hear about gay marriage.  And Newtown.  And even the environment.  Our cookies were good, too.

Sis's baking pride:  Twice recently I have served as Sis's sous chef, allowing her to be in charge of the recipe and tell me what to do, with my taking control only of the oven activity.  The first recipe was a simple coffee-cake box mix, though we usually work from scratch, but it had a special crumb mixture you had to fold in and sprinkle on top.  She was very pleased with the effort and the results.  We baked a second time, though I forget now what,  this time from scratch, and she didn't even need me in the kitchen much.  Yum!  Homemade on your own tastes the best.

A Preview

Here's the list I've been keeping these last two weeks of topics about which to post.  Let's see how many I get to this week:

• Bud and Sis's magic show
• On sick days--twins, challenges, etc.
• 80's dance party
• Inauguration party
• The effects of reading The Lion, the Which, and the Wardrobe
• Family heritage--Irish, Scottish, and the executed murderer of Lord Darnley
• Knitting a prayer shawl
• Birthday party gender politics
• Family song canon
• Body issues, weight, and Motherlode's post
• Sis's baking pride
• Caregiving and death and dying
• Reading and watching Call the Midwife
• Culinary diversity--Jamaican, Ethiopian, Greek, Indian, Tibetan, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Italian, 

Up to a Challenge

I know that January is usually the month of new beginnings, but I'm taking on a couple challenges for February, namely daily letter-writing and daily meditating.  I will write and mail something--a letter, a card, even a postcard--each day through snail mail.  That's 23 pieces of mail.  I was a wonderful pen pal as a child, sending hundreds of letters to my Greek pen pal Martha Bitsopoulou, in addition to correspondences with Lambeth, my Aunt Sis, my great grandmother, and other pen pals from camp, a Star Wars fan club, and such.  Nowadays, I send a ton of email and make some phone calls, but very few letters.  Though, I have sent my Aunt Sis approximately a letter a week since her illness.

And I'm also joining Sharon Salzberg's 28-day meditation challenge, which means meditation everyday.  I'll breathe in and out, do lovingkindness meditation, listen to some of my meditation CDs.  I'm really looking forward to the month to jump-start my practice, which had fallen behind with Mama's surgery and recovery and then the holidays and then even the flu, which kept me from the meditation workshop.

Lastly, though it's not specifically a February challenge, I've pledged on my Goodreads account to read a book a week and I'm making good progress.  It's time actually read all the books I own!

I'll keep you updated on these challenges--it'll be a busy if short month!

A New Possibility

After more than two weeks of tending sick children, who are now thankfully well and back at school, I have a long list of things to post, from developing our family song canon to my Goodreads goal and two other challenges I've undertaken for February.  But last things first:  I want to post about the Boy Scouts.

Gommie called last night, "Are you ready to be a Boy Scout leader?"  She relayed the announcement that the BSA is considering allowing local troops to decide the gay and lesbian issue.  I told her that until the national office eliminated their anti-gay policies, we still couldn't support Boy Scouts on the local level.

But as I later read the news reports, I discovered that the BSA is actually considering eliminating discriminatory policies from their national office but leaving choices on LGBTQ leaders and scouts to the local level.

Which means we can join.

Yep, if Bud still wants to be a Boy Scout, and, if the troops in our area accept us (and I have it on the best authorities that there will be no problem on that score), we will sign up as soon as we can.

Of course, that's a lot of "ifs" but it's still much further than I expected to be while Bud was still young enough to join.

At Last

Sure, there was a delay this morning because of ice, but both kids are off to school for the first time in 16+ days!!!!

Sure, I'll be at the school in less than 3 1/2 hours for their winter concert, but I'm enjoying this bit of time right now.

UPDATE:  The concert had been postponed.  I didn't read the notice thoroughly and had sent them in their concert clothes.  Sigh.  It's just been a hard few weeks over here . . . .

Today

It's snowing just a bit (Sis said it looked like falling sugar), with sleet on the way, so the school called an early dismissal and both kids are laughing together upstairs.

Sis didn't go to school today, as advised by the pediatrician who we saw Friday about pneumonia (it's not), which means I spent my third Monday in a row with a sick child at home.  I would say that's oppressive, but then I think about the truly ill children who are receiving long-term care for critical illnesses--like their classmate with cancer--and I feel for their parents.  Especially because I know that our normal life resumes tomorrow with both kids healthy and back in school, something parents of ill children can only dream of.

Thoughts and Prayers

Please hold my father-in-law, Gong, in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.  He is meeting with another doctor, this time at a major cancer hospital in NYC, about his recent prostate cancer diagnosis to consider various treatment options. Mama will meet her parents in the city and go to the appointment. We told the kiddos this evening about his illness and our hopes for the best possible outcome.  They took it in stride but will no doubt have questions, especially considering their sensitivity to illness after Mama's summer and their classmate with cancer.

Spoke Too Soon

Fifteen minutes after hot water returned, a pipe or fitting has revealed itself as broken.  Our dear plumber neighbor is already here.


-=-=-=-=-

UPDATE:  He had to disconnect our filtered water system to stop the leak.  :(

Frozen

Thanks to our friendly neighbor plumber, the hot-water pipe under the kitchen sink that froze overnight is FINALLY defrosted.  (Yes, just the hot water pipe, probably because it has more oxygen bubbles, he said.  And just under the kitchen sink because the pipe is most exposed in the basement.) It took a few space heaters in optimal locations to work their magic.  And we'll have to drip the faucet overnight to keep it from happening again.  But thankfully, no pipes were damaged.  Mama is getting insulation tonight at the hardware store to try to seal things up.

Maybe it will keep out our winter mouse, too.

103.1F

Yep, Sis has finally hit the high-fever zone, two days after falling ill with flu A.  She always was slow to grow a fever.

And it tickles my fancy that her temperature is about 100 degrees higher than outside!

A New Strain

Sis officially has influenza A, which is a different and more difficult strain than Bud's flu B.  She must have gotten sick from school or gymnastics, not from him.

Which also means she could still give it to him.

So, even though he is only about 75%, we'll probably send him off to school tomorrow if only to keep him away from her (no worries, he's not contagious anymore).
 

And she'll probably be home all week.

So, like last week, probably not much blogging, or anything else.

Second Round: Same as the First?

Sis awoke with chills, headache, and a rising temperature.  We'll go to the doctor in a few hours to learn if it's strep or flu, or both like her brother.