December, anticipating Christmas

December, anticipating Christmas festivities and joys

It's hard to beat the gratitude and joy I feel at Thanksgiving, especially this year with so much family here, but Christmas is always joyful and exciting, with so many magical events.

December 8, some of our family (here with siblings and cousins) and friends gathered at an Oakland redwood lodge to honor the life of my brother-in-law Norman Lovelace. Although death is sad, he, as chief of Environmental Protection Agency for the South Pacific for many years, was lauded by many Pacific islanders (some in attendance) as having "saved" their islands. I am happy to think he is now reunited with his wife, my sister Eloise, who passed away a few years ago of ALS. 

We have finally gotten the long-anticipated rain to relieve the long drought that has caused so many California wildfires. The hills are green again, but the San Francisco sea lions take it as an excuse to lounge along the wharves. 

On a cold quiet Monday morning my brother Roy, sister Irene, niece Lisa and husband Mike, and Irene's childhood friend Adrienne visited Pier 39 and especially enjoyed the very amusing Musee Mecanique one of the world's largest privately owned collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade

Everything made of toothpicks

Mike had to arm-wrestle Batman

An evening concert by the Mountain View High School Madrigals, was part of our 32nd annual Creche Exhibit "Star of Wonder, Star of Night"(250+ nativities from all over the world, beautifully displayed in our whole church building, with exceptional working artists...this year, sculptor Leroy Transfield and painter Linda Etherington and others...and live vocal and instrumental music throughout the five days). (photos of the exhibit are not permitted). Around 10,000 attend and enjoy this "gift to the community" each year.
roy Transfield YouTube
http://lindaetherington.com/

December is filled with wonderful concerts: This baroque chamber group performed works by Biber and 4 sons of JS Bach at Stanford Church. I learned that several works they played had been preserved by the Moravians (Schweinitz ancestors) who brought them to Salem, NC; otherwise lost in fires and wars in Germany.

I always try to attend the Holiday Musicale the first Saturday afternoon of December. It was gorgeous this year. I will attend the Christmas eve candlelight service tonight, too. Such a delight.

We had a fun Palo Alto Foothills ward (our local congregation) Christmas supper, Santa appearance and sing-along; and Sunday a "linger-longer" after church. The kids had their own low table. The Hunts' cute foster boys (sister and foster mom and sister at the back table). It is wonderful to have a close and caring ward "family" where all are welcome.

My friend Ruth spent months making the very detailed, realistic, precisely functioning tracks and landscape of places from their 2019 road trip (Charleston, SC, Civil War sites, New Mexico pueblo Acama, and more) with 3 electric trains running through tunnels and countryside. And then she inserted the tree! I emailed the local paper to see if they would write a feature article which it deserves! We'll see!

I held my annual holiday open house (started in 1972, only interrupted by 4 missions away from home) for friends on Sunday. I was so busy I forgot to take photos except at the end, as my former students and their families were leaving. It was wonderful to hear about the productive lives of many students, including Juliana and Pui, and to renew and continue friendships with so many people who have enriched my life over the past many years.
And thanks to so many who have sent holiday cards and emails. I treasure them all. Love and connection to people all over the world is so valuable. I know our Heavenly Father loves each of us, as He sent His son Jesus Christ to teach us correct values, inspire us to be better, to serve Him as we serve those near and far, and to invite us home again to live with Him in a better place without so much strife and turmoil. But we can still find peace with our friends and family here. My your Christmas be filled with the light and love brought into the world with the tiny baby born long ago in humble circumstances. If He had been born in a fancy inn, would the shepherds and poor felt as welcome as the kings? 

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Frohe Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad and many more ways to say it) .Wishing you a blessed 2020.

Halloween Plus

Halloween Week

I displayed my "witch" and "Trauco" (evil little man who lures young girls into the forest, part of the folklore of Chiloe Island in Chile). Maybe they have put a temporary hex on Chile, which is still suffering from violent protests for better wages, schools, healthcare, lower transportation rates.

I often wonder if there is enough of interest to report, but always find there is so much packed into one week!

Sunday afternoon I thoroughly enjoyed The Saint Michael Trio concert at beautiful Villa Montalvo Center for the Arts in Saratoga, CA, built in 1912 by 3-term San Francisco mayor and first popularly elected senator from California, Phelan.
Russ Hancock (piano) Irene Sharp, (violin), and Michel Flexer (cello) played a variety of Scherzos (humorous third movement added to classic sonatas/trios, a tradition introduced by Beethoven)...magnificent!
 

 And a fun celebration dinner afterwards celebrating Marguerite Gong Hancock's birthday. Her mom, Jean, is looking great at 93. Nanci prepared a really delicious dinner for friends.

and another yummy dinner....

Joan Van (pink shirt) hosted a fun gathering of some of the moms of Palo Verde students, all having attended our neighborhood elementary school 30-45 years ago! In the blue top is a favorite teacher Ruth Carlton, who taught 4 of my 5 children in the first/second grade. It is so fun to reminisce after so many years. We all still enjoy the company of one another and have lots to talk about.

Jim Welch (center) gives a traditional Halloween concert at St. Mark's Church. This year was outstanding with a good variety of organ, piano, bass, singing.

Erin McOmber was as hilarious as Little Red Riding Hood as Christian Bale was as the Wolf!
Nicholas and Jim Welch played solo and duet pieces: toccatas and other delightful pieces on the piano and organ, as did a young student of Jim's.

It's not always fun to spend time getting flu shots, blood tests and such at the clinic, but Kaiser Permanente joined in the Halloween spirit, which is alive and well in the Bay Area. I don't know which department won the jack o' lantern contest. Which would you have voted for? I carved pumpkins but was disappointed to have one sole trick or treater this year!

Colette Taylor loves Winnie the Pooh (her son Brigham produced the recent film "Christopher Robin") and found Pooh and Tigger while visiting sons Brad and Tom and their wives serving as mission President and teacher of English training missionaries in South Korea. I have been helping her produce a fun play called "Rats" she has written for kids, youth and adults of our ward, to show November 22, in Palo Alto Chapel at 7 PM. Come and enjoy it!

Here's Colette, who has lost none of her charisma, spunk and creative talent, working with the "Pets", the older girls who are all quite talented

....and the younger Young Women (are they paying attention? They will!)

We are young older women, but we work hard to write stories about our lives and thoughts to share with our posterity in Life Stories class held at Ruth Cantwell's home on Thursday mornings.

IMG_20191018_192742.

Ruth has amazing talent and meticulous attention to detail (down to the rocks, lighthouses, etc. she has built in her re-creation of various historical sites she and her family visited this summer. This one is a model of the Acoma pueblo (with 4 authentic communities) in New Mexico.Three electric trains weave through Shiloh, Tennessee Civil War national park (where some of her ancestors fought), Holland, etc. We love to see the weekly progress she has so carefully and accurately made on this masterpiece.

If we are also on "track"with our long and short-term goals, we can feel the peace, satisfaction and joy that come from our efforts. It's comforting at this busy season to set and keep straight our priorities. I'm grateful to have the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to remind me how blessed my life has been. All of my ancestors made sacrifices to help build our wonderful country. I try to honor them through vicarious temple work which provides them with the necessary sacred ordinances (if they choose to accept them) that will allow them to be reunited in the next life with family members who have died.

Ruth has amazing talent and meticulous attention to detail (down to the rocks, lighthouses, etc. she has built in her re-creation of various historical sites she and her family visited this summer. This one is a model of the Acoma pueblo (with 4 authentic communities) in New Mexico.Three electric trains weave through Shiloh, Tennessee Civil War national park (where some of her ancestors fought), Holland, etc. We love to see the weekly progress she has so carefully and accurately made on this masterpiece.
If we are also on "track"with our long and short-term goals, we can feel the peace, satisfaction and joy that come from our efforts. It's comforting at this busy season to set and keep straight our priorities. I'm grateful to have the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to remind me how blessed my life has been.

If we are also on "track"with our long and short-term goals, we can feel the peace, satisfaction and joy that come from our efforts. It's comforting at this busy season to set and keep straight our priorities. I'm grateful to have the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to remind me how blessed my life has been. All of my ancestors made sacrifices to help build our wonderful country. I try to honor them through vicarious temple work which provides them with the necessary sacred ordinances (if they choose to accept them) that will allow them to be reunited in the next life with family members who have died.