How I See Things

How I See Things
Cartoon-like drawing in shades of dark to medium purple. Eyes with beautiful eyelashes, looking through a pair of glasses.

Friday, December 25, 2020

Let There Be Peace On Earth



A special post. My family is now spread across the United States. (I also have family spread across Canada, but I haven’t met most of them, sadly. Some day!)

One of my brothers lives on the west coast of the United States. I live on the East Coast of the United States. 

I sent him this music. He played it on his keyboard - piano style. And I listened to his music on my earbuds and played violin. I put them together using iMovie. 

I hope you will enjoy this music. 

I wish you a beautiful and comforting holiday season!

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

My son is driving

My older son has just started taking driving lessons. I have been remembering when I was his age, learning to drive. 



I remember being about 16 or so, and I had a babysitter for like a week or two when my parents were out of town. She was a friend of the family. Maybe in her young 20s or so. 

We were driving down a main drag in my large neighborhood, toward a traffic light. And no one was around. So she had me sit in the drivers seat and drive us maybe 1 1/2 blocks to the traffic light. At most, it was 3 blocks. 

I remember getting in the car, having never driven before, and saying “I feel like I am going to hit those cars!” (The ones parked on the right side of the road.) she told me, “you won’t”

And I drove us those miniscule blocks. It was so weird to me. 

Later, in driving class, I learned to gage where cars were to the right of me, by centering them on the hood. Like, if their left side is at the half point of the hood, then I won’t hit them. 

Do you all measure cars this way? I don’t know if I am adapting to my 2D vision by doing this, or if this is how everyone gages where cars are. 

I am not sure if I am in a position to teach my son to drive. Thus - him going to driving school. A gal picks him up and he drives her around. I saw her today and she said, “he needs to practice!” His dad has been driving with him, or rather, our son is driving his dad around in large parking lots. 

My parents didn’t want to teach me to drive, because they didn’t want a ton of arguments with me. That’s what they said at the time anyway. 

But now I am in the position they were in - my oldest is learning to drive. He has normal vision, as far as I know. And I don’t. 

Maybe as he gets better from the school and working with his dad, maybe then I will feel ok going with him. 

Ever since I became a parent, one of my big goals has been to “not screw up my kids.” I don’t want to screw him up by teaching him to drive since I may have things I have adapted to because of my vision, and he doesn’t necessarily. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic last week of December! 

Monday, December 14, 2020

Yuletide

In a week, it's a holiday I celebrate - my biggest holiday of the year, actually - Yule. December 21. The longest night of the year. It is the day the Sun is farthest away from the Northern Hemisphere. 

I just want to share my perspective / the way I see things around this time of year. Thank you for indulging me.

A bunch of years ago, I started re-evaluating my life to see if the way I was living harmonizes with my heart and my intentions. I suppose this is an ongoing thing for me. But one of the things I learned about myself was that I love Mother Earth and Mother Nature. And I did some research on Yule - the Pagan holiday celebrating the Winter Solstice. And I decided it harmonizes with me as a concept. 

We can all see the days getting shorter, the nights getting longer. Many people buy a sun lamp (I got one this year too, for the first time!). It helps to combat "Seasonal affect disorder." That's a time when people feel less happy than usual because they don't have the big amount of sun in their lives.

So my kids and I have come up with some ways to celebrate Yule that resonate with us. It's a simple and nature-forward inspired holiday. I can't speak for how others celebrate it. But I can share how we have celebrated it for the last 5 years, and you can see if you would like to do this next week, too!


First off, I love pinecones. I collect them year round and put them in various places around my front yard. They are my pinecone collection. I love the way they look after it has rained - all their colors come out and they are extra beautiful. 

For Yule, there are usually pinecones under some Virginia Pines on a path not too far from our home. So I pick up a few pinecones. Then, on December 21, my boys and I go out and watch the sunset. Just acknowledging that the shortest day has just happened, and the longest night is straight ahead of us. 

As the sun sets, we think about things we would like more of for the upcoming year, and things we would like to let go of for the upcoming year. We write these thoughts on tracing paper scraps. Then we roll up the papers and tuck them into the pinecones. 

Also during the sunset, I have done smoke cleansing of my boys and they do it for me. Taking a dried sage bundle and light the tip of it on fire. Then we "wash" off the essence of whatever is old and needs cleansing from us. Wash us in smoke. 

After that, we head home and start our Yule fire. We put our pinecones in to help start the fire, and we watch the papers burn. Then, we settle in for a nice family evening. The fire burns, we get warm apple cider with cinnamon (yum!) and my boys each open a few gifts. Every year, I give them a sketchbook. They love this and look forward to it every year. They use their sketchbooks all year long. I have always encouraged them to do art and I am grateful to say that they love it. 

Then, I have one other gift that is nature-themed for my boys. This year, it will be handmade pottery mugs made by a local artisan. So many artisans this past year had their fairs and shows cancelled and they couldn't make a living. So I looked for several months at different offerings offered by local artisans. I found some beautiful earthen ware mugs. One for each of us. 

You can see the mugs at this site, in case you would like to also support crafters and get something beautiful for your morning tea or coffee or hot chocolate. Or your hot cider on Yule!

https://www.facebook.com/DancingPigPots/posts/10157709564782615

So, I just thought I would share the way I see things around the holiday season. This year I am hitting the reset button on Christmas too. I haven't celebrated Christmas in a few years, though I grew up with it. We will see how it goes this year! 

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season - no matter what you celebrate!

Blessed Yuletide Season from me to you and your household. 

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