Winter Wednesday

Winter Wednesday

I keep meaning to make a little time to sit down and get some real writing done, but it seems like there are so many things to be done and so little time to do them all in...

The last couple days have been spent doing a deep clean and organization of the kitchen. Westya's shrine has been kept dark while all of this chaos is going on. At the end of this (tomorrow afternoon, I'm hoping) I have a new candle to dedicate for Her.

I've also been trying to take advantage of this mild weather we've been having, getting out before the snow sets in. Well... assuming it does to any considerable degree. Guess I'm still having flash backs to last year, foot after foot just piling up. This year is apparently going to be warmer, and not so bad - and so far, that's been true. I believe the news said every day in December was above average, except for two or three days. Still, mid to late January through February is when we usually see our cold and snow...

Snow Moon

The first full moon of the year, and although it is the Snow Moon... there's no snow yet. Nature follows her own rules, of course. (Rules that apparently include a blizzard at Samhain.)

It's actually fairly mild for a January night - only 24F. Chilly, yes, but still warm enough to be out enjoying the moonlight without discomfort.

Winter Wednesday

I know it's not exactly the most wintery picture. No snow, no ice... it's hardly been cold at all this last week. However, people here know it's only a matter of time. 

New Year's Dinner

In my family, we have a tradition of celebrating the first day of the year with a big dinner of Japanese foods. When I was younger my Grandmother (Mama) made tons more food, but then, she was younger too! Now there's still a ton of food mind you, and every year we say how there will be less next year... but there never is.

I spent much of yesterday and some of this morning helping Mama get all the food ready. Always part learning (or remembering) how to make some of the more traditional dishes, and sometimes a bit of the history behind the foods, but also part hearing the history of the family. Often many of the same stories come up, but sometimes a new story will be told. Or more details added to a story that was never fully told.

Sometimes the stories are happy, fun... sometimes they're sad. How Mama's mother died before she turned three. Or how her good friend died of cancer - how hard she fought, and how Mama promised she'd take them both back to Japan if she would get better. How the doctors only gave her one month, but how she held on for two and tried so hard to get better, to live.

Sometimes the stories are more recent, the times of my childhood, or my Father's - other times the stories go back a few generations. My Grandfather and his brother know a good bit about their family history. Odd little things, such as how one of our relatives was on the Titanic, died on it. Or how one woman would sit on the porch drinking beer out of a teacup, so she'd still look lady-like.

I do my best to remember it all, to write down what I remember - both food and memories - so I can continue to pass these memories down... while adding in some new stories of my own.

Happy New Year

Happy 2012 folks, hope it's a great and fulfilling year!