Snowflake surprises

When I was growing up, one of the things I always enjoyed leading up to Christmas was making paper snowflakes. This year, we cut a Christmas tree from our own yard (it was diseased, and it would have been cut down in the spring anyway when condo “development” starts on this property). My daughter has been supervising the decoration of the tree with cat-safe ornaments (see my posting from last Christmas for the reason why), including a paper chain, origami animals and paper snowflakes. Here are a few of the snowflakes I made (I seem to remember them turning out better when I was younger). It’s a simple craft, but the moment of unfolding the cut triangles to reveal the completed snowflakes is always exciting.

Wishing everyone joy and peace in the holiday season!

Stories are all around us

I was walking through a different part of town the other day, when I looked up and saw all these shoes hanging from the utility lines. I couldn’t help pausing to wonder what the story was (or could be) behind how they got there. Who threw them up there? Why? Why this spot? How did the people feel who lost their shoes? It reminded me of a section of road on Vancouver Island where people come from all around to leave their jack-o-lanterns after Halloween is over. Will people be coming from all around to throw their old shoes to the sky or pay a kind of homage to the ones already up there?

Home

The theme of today’s post is “home.” That is where everyone sane stayed during the cold and snow this past Sunday. I, on the otherhand, was outside at the free (and freezing!) Avril Lavigne concert:

Over three hours in the bone-chilling cold (about 2 1/2 hours of waiting and 1 hour of concert), but my daughter and niece say it was worth it. I have to agree that Avril put on a good show, but by then I was too cold to fully appreciate it. It was a great setting, though (note the tall, snow-covered fir trees beyond the stage), but my body extremities still haven’t recovered! (The weather here is now back to its usual milder December rain.)

Also, I can report that George, the kitten we were looking after, has indeed found a home, where he is apparently already much loved (Curious, his sister, is staying with us). Here he is exploring his posh new digs:

24 days until Christmas!

Just a quick post to let people know I’ll be joining authors Ellen Schwartz, Diane Haynes and Linda deMeulmeester Saturday, December 8, 1-3 pm at the Metrotown Chapters store in Burnaby to sign books, give out treats (courtesy of Chapters) and host a table of activities for kids. (The photo shows us with our newest books, but we actually have 23 between us!)