Winter Creativity

Having Julia home has been lots of fun, as she adds to the general creative air in the home, especially in winter when Adam and I tend to hunker down and let our minds wander along those creative paths. Julia and I worked on gourds together last week. Here's a video of what we did.

Hers is delightful with all its colored windows. Here's how mine turned out:

 There's a little door to put a tea light inside ... or for the fairies to welcome their guests.
Plus two windows with beaded curtains.

 Adam studies and writes a lot in winter. Whereas I churn out a children's book every couple of years in a slapdash sort of way, he's been writing and rewriting his book for about 25 year or so. It's called Tubalcain, and traces the family history of Adam and Eve's children and grandchildren.  My hubby's creative mind at work on the front porch (which gets a bit chilly in January):

 Working on Adam and Eve's family tree:

 He peruses various ancient texts to get cultural detail.

 Right now though, he and Julia are on the back porch. She's using a dremel tool to decorate a piece of bone.

 I ditched many of the books I was struggling to read with interest, and changed to an Elizabeth Goudge book (of course), The Rosemary Tree.

If I didn't already know and trust Goudge as an author, I'd never choose a paperback that looked so much like Grace Livingston Hill. Goudge writes massive tomes and slim children's books, but The Rosemary Tree is in the middle. And it's written so strongly in a 3rd person omniscient style that it nearly jolts me; Goudge leads me by the hand and dips my brain deep into the minds of one of her characters after another. Do you know the pensieve in the Harry Potter books? Imagine dipping your head into one pool after another until you fully understand each person in a story, in a village, and can then tie their lives together in the lightest of plots. I'm halfway through it, and we've covered one ordinary day in a family's life. 

In one paragraph I read last night, she switched seamlessly from the mind of one old lady to her great-nephew's mind. If I hadn't been looking for it, I might not have noticed. All that to say ... it's not heavy on plot, but the characters are very rich and compelling. I appreciate the challenge of reading chapter after chapter with limited dialogue, no 'action,' and subdued plot. I worry about how we're becoming addicted to action in stories. I want a mind that is patient in reading and still relishes the wait for the slow revelation of what the author has to say.

Speaking of story, Julia and I saw Mary Poppins Returns, and we absolutely loved it. I cried when she sang "Where the Lost Things Go." If you haven't seen the movie yet, please do go! I've never seen a new movie so beautifully parallel and embrace its elderly partner. Dick Van Dyke and Angela Landsbury make appearances too! It's delightful and feels like OLD Disney -- sweet and hopeful.

I take Julia back to college later this week. It's bittersweet for me. She is maturing into a different person and I'll miss her a lot. Life is painfully short and we have little time with those we love. My daddy left this life a year ago today, and I know I had not enough time with him. He's who I cried for during that movie, and I haven't cried much over his death -- I believe he's alive in Heaven and we're parted temporarily. I cry for myself, I think, as I traverse the rest of my years without him close. Well, now I've gotten distracted with Mary Poppins youtube videos (terrible confession!) Here's the song that made me cry.