RANDOM MUSINGS DECEMBER 2011

It's a week before Christmas and we're expecting some snow tomorrow to add to what's left on the ground from two weeks ago.  Snow that falls tends to stay put because it's cold here in winter.  It's not unusual to have many days of sunshine with snow everywhere, which is great except for those pesky ice patches.

I put up the Christmas tree, relying solely on lights and silver bows to decorate it.  This was in anticipation of youngster cat Aidan Patrick and his mischief making.  He ignored the tree decorations, such as they were, while he concentrated on burrowing under the tree skirt.  After a long afternoon of wrapping gifts, I arranged the whole batch and was so pleased with how everything looked!  As it turned out, I should have snapped a photo then.  Later when I realized he hadn't come to bed, I crept out to the living room to find most of the ribbons and tags chewed on the gifts.  Aidan was sleeping amidst the mess!  Here is the tree now, bereft of gifts:


 One ornament I did hang was a special glass one custom made in 2010 by my friend and high school classmate Don Merrell of Glass Art by Don.  (Click on the link to see his beautiful work.)  It's a memorial ornament for Holly Berry, my little white cat who died of breast cancer surgery complications on June 22, 2010.  He inscribed her name on the glass in gold and the tiny cat has crystal blue eyes.  It's just beautiful - this photo doesn't do it justice.

The other night there was the hugest, lowest, yellowest moon hanging over the prairie and I stopped alongside the road and shot an altogether inadequate series of photos with my little point and shoot camera.  It was really cold and there was snow everywhere.  We always seem to look west from here to see the majesty of the mountains, but the view to the east toward the prairie has its own beauty.

When I moved into this house in late August, I set a deadline of December 31, 2011 to get it all together.  I got most everything done pretty quickly, but used the master bedroom and its big walk-in closet as the "staging area," a euphemism for dumping ground.  One thing led to another and I avoided even looking in that closet and I sort of got used to all the lamps and extra things in the bedroom.  Yesterday was closet day and as with the tree gifts,  I only wish I had taken a photo of its (horrific) "before" condition.  I tried on every single thing and any item that didn't fit perfectly or in any way wasn't ready to wear went into the donation pile.  I have four big boxes, two 40-gallon trash bags and a suitcase full of shoes and purses and socks and hundred of items of clothing and this morning they are all going to The Arc, an organization that supports developmentally disabled citizens of the northern Colorado area.   Here's the ultimate result of my ruthless approach to divesting of excess:



This project took about nine hours and one more run is needed, because it's still too much.  I'm hell bent on lightening the load caused by unused, redundant possessions.  How many pairs of black pants does one person need, anyway?  I feel great about my progress!