On the seventh day of Christmas...

Last year I went to an ornament exchange with an owl made of twigs and other natural things
I came home with this one. Kay says this must mean something....

I’m on vacation this week, taking some cottage days as Cylia* tells me they call it around here. As I understand, this means I’m vacating the job and not generally available to invitations, but I’m not removing myself geographically. Kay and I are staying put.

I taught in New Mexico for 5 years after I got out of college. 
Chili peppers remind me of a place I love.
(These are ceramic. I found a few pair of them in a thrift store last year. 
I also have three 30-year old stuffed, cloth,ones.)

Still, it’s vacation and I’m taking a computer fast this week. So while you’re thinking “New Year” as you read this, I’m thinking about Christmas just ahead as I write this.

As a lighter – and hopefully easier – posting, I thought I’d share some pictures – just ornaments, nothing fancy – and why they matter to me.

* per my practice, Cylia is not her real name. Nor is Kay.

I bought this at a co-op in La Palma, El Salvador.
Women worked in the room behind the "showroom" painting while
their children played around them, or slept in hammocks.
I feel good that I could help support this family-friendly place with all the gifts I bought there.

 

This is a relic from a honeymoon visit to Frankenmuth.
The marriage is no more, and I really ought to trash this -
it's only an imprinted plastic coat over a styrofoam ball.
The picture is all crackled now, but I smile each year
when I see the music on it.

Knowing my fondness of all things Central American since my trip to El Salvador,
Kay found this and gave it to me last year.
We have to be sure we don't hang it wear it can spin as her dress is rather like a hospital gown.

 

We hang bells at the bottom of our tree so we can hear when
our cat Dagger tries to climb the tree or pull of decorations.
He was the terror of the tree when he was young.

I raise a glass hoping that you have seen or read something that made you smile. I'll be back in the new year.