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Archive for the tag “Celebration”

09 Apr 2015
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celebrating Naima

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is my cat, Naima—the cat I definitely was not going to get. First of all, I wasn’t going to get another cat, period, after Tashi (my previous cat) died. Secondly, I certainly wasn’t going to get a kitten. But three months without a cat wore down my cat-free insistence. After some deliberation, I decided a 1-1/2 to 2-year old cat would be a good idea.

So off I went to Animal Humane in search of a young adult female. Unfortunately, the gal who was assisting me had to go in search of keys to unlock the doors of the individual rooms in La Casa de Los Gatos, and she left me standing in front of a room full of kittens. When she returned a long five minutes later, she went right to that door and opened it. Of course, I followed her inside.

Naima4And there was my cat—a 3-1/2 month old kitten—curled up next to a look-alike sibling. The difference between the two was that my cat got up, stretched, and went off in search of a bite to eat, checking first one food bowl and then another (a cat with a mind of her own) till she found one to her liking. When I picked her up, she immediately started licking my arm. Sold! I said and adopted her on the spot.

There are so many things to celebrate about Naima, also known as Naima-the-Wonderful and Best-Cat-Ever! She’s ridiculously smart, extremely well-trained, and sleeps through the night (usually curled against my legs). She is more amusing than any other cat I’ve had. She’s quite affectionate and interactive and greets me whenever I come home. And she’s damn cute, not to mention cross-eyed. Here she is in action:

https://youtu.be/lDP64CPVHTo

Every morning after breakfast, I take my coffee into my bedroom and sit in the comfy wicker chair by the window. Naima jumps into my lap and hangs out with me, sometimes getting brushed, sometimes watching birds in the yard or keeping an eye on the neighborhood activity. It’s the perfect way to start a day, every day.

Naima will be five years old this summer. I will celebrate by getting her another catnip filled fluorescent green plush mouse. She will love it.

Do you have a furry or feathered friend to celebrate?

This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the Celebration category link.

Posted in Celebration and tagged , ,
08 Apr 2015

celebrating the senses: smell

roasting chilesSmell is different from our other senses. It has a direct connection to the brain, and its signals are in a hurry (per John Medina, author of Brain Rules). Smell immediately stimulates our emotions. But we don’t all like or dislike the same odors or feel the same emotions when we experience them.

One of my favorite smells is green chiles (yes, that’s the correct spelling) roasting outdoors in the fall. Come August or September in Albuquerque, chile roasters spring up all over the place. You can sometimes get a whiff as you drive past one. The local Whole Foods operates a couple of roasters right outside the front door. I’ve been known to stand in front of them with my eyes closed breathing in the intoxicating aroma. It’s too bad the internet isn’t scratch-and-sniff capable. I’ve yet to encounter anyone who actively dislikes the smell of roasting green chiles—or at least who’s willing to admit it.

coffeeOther smells I love are coffee, pine trees, rain on hot pavement, strawberries, jasmine and gardenia (both in moderation), wood smoke, popcorn, rosemary, citrus, ginger, and libraries.

cilantroBut my second favorite thing to smell, after roasting green chiles, is cilantro—which also makes the list of my favorite tastes. Every time I rinse a bunch of cilantro leaves I have to stop and inhale the scent before using them. Cilantro used to come in at number one but got bumped down a notch after I moved to New Mexico and got my first sniff of roasting green chiles. If either of those scents could be bottled, that’s probably what I’d be wearing, so maybe it’s good they aren’t available.

In thinking about celebrating the sense of smell, I’ve realized that although I go out of my way to create a visually appealing environment for myself, I don’t put much thought into the way things smell. I’ve fallen out of the habit of using essential oils on a regular basis, maybe as a result of getting a curious kitten. But the kitten is going on five years old, so I think it’s time to bring out the tea lights and the oil burner and reintroduce some celebratory scents to my space.

What are your favorite things to smell?

This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the Celebration category link.

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07 Apr 2015

celebrating jazz appreciation month

jazz appreciation monthJazz Appreciation Month was created 13 years ago at the Smithsonian, which considerately provides this list of 112 ways to celebrate jazz. My own appreciation for jazz developed late in life. Although my partner of 30 years was a professional jazz musician, I’m just a little bit resistant and considered jazz to be his music. I didn’t listen to much of it at all.

But a character in a story I was writing turned out to be a big jazz fan. I knew enough to make the guy’s interest in jazz believable, but somewhere along the re-write route—a few years after my partner died—I started along my own path to becoming an actual jazz fan.

If my partner were around to compare notes (sorry!) now, we would probably discover some shared interests, although he might be a bit surprised to learn that I named the cat I have now Naima, after the John Coltrane tune of the same name.

I’m sure we would also find that our preferences don’t completely overlap. For example, I’m a huge Sonny Rollins fan, and I can’t recall ever seeing a Sonny Rollins LP or CD among my partner’s music collection.

Jazz has all kinds of moods, high and low, fast and slow, sunny and blue. But this post is about celebration, so I give you the most celebratory Sonny Rollins tune of all, Don’t Stop the Carnival, performed live at the International Jazz Festival in Montreal in 1982. Simply joyous! So please enjoy it.

https://youtu.be/XiYms26Y098

This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the Celebration category link.

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06 Apr 2015
4 Comments

celebrating with Fiesta ware!

fiestawareThis isn’t the inside of one of my kitchen cupboards, but it’s close enough. Fiesta ware—known affectionately by those of us who collect it as “kitchen crack”—makes everything that involves dishes a celebration. That includes emptying the dishwasher because, of course, it’s full of Fiesta ware goodness.

fiestaware2Exchanging all of my more practical and mundane dishes for Fiesta ware has definitely added the element of celebration to my life on a daily basis. No matter how preoccupied I am or how low my mood may be, when I open a cupboard to get out a bowl or plate I always stop for at least a few seconds to gaze upon all the beautiful dishes.

The only thing I don’t understand about Fiesta ware is why anyone would intentionally choose black, white, or ivory. Doesn’t that defeat the festive purpose?

fiestaware3Choosing a color or putting different colors together never gets old. The enjoyment, like the colors, never fades.

Everyone should have at least some Fiesta ware in their lives. But beware. This stuff really is addicting. I’m fortunate to have a relatively small kitchen; otherwise, I don’t think I would have been able to stop when I did.

Is there something in your home that gives you a feeling of celebration every day? (And if you don’t have any Fiesta ware, don’t you want some now…maybe a small fruit bowl or a little bread and butter plate?)

This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the Celebration category link.

Posted in Celebration and tagged , ,
05 Apr 2015

celebrating special occasions

lensicLast week a friend treated me to what turned out to be an outstanding performance by Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe. I haven’t heard any live music since last summer and I’d never been to the Lensic before, even though it’s directly across the street from one of my favorite places to eat in Santa Fe, The San Francisco Street Bar and Grill.

The concert was a benefit for the Espanola Valley Humane Society, so we were treated to a revolving selection of adorable cat and dog photos on the screen at the back of the stage before the show started. It was great to learn afterward that the money raised far exceeded the evening’s goal. I’m always up for celebrating cats—and dogs are OK, too.

mary chapin carpenterIt’s been more than two decades since I owned a Mary Chapin Carpenter CD. And my musical tastes have taken a lot of twists and turns since then. I’ve gotten quite a bit older and so has she. But in comparing her live performance with some of the studio recordings from her younger days, I’ve decided I much prefer her more mature voice.

She and the two musicians in her band are extremely talented musicians and performers who had the audience from the first number and kept it all the way through the show. I stayed out past my bedtime (it was the middle of the week, and I had work-related appointments the next morning), but it was well worth it. After all, I had another opportunity to sleep the very next night but not to hear this great music again.

Thank you, John!

https://youtu.be/NVBiNQr2osA

This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the Celebration category link.

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04 Apr 2015

celebrating red shoes (the angels wanna wear my)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI have to buy shoes online (narrow feet), so to avoid the hassle of returning the ones that don’t fit, I’ve settled on a couple tried-and-true brands. Back in the day, I had a pair of Enzo Angiolini Liberty flats in two-toned purple that I loved, as much as one can love a shoe, and finally wore out.

This style still comes in an amazing variety of colors—and in my size—but, alas, no more purple.

However, they do have this fantastic chili pepper red. As soon as I saw them, I had to admit that I really, really wanted a pair of red shoes. But red shoes seemed like an indulgence. They were definitely something I could do without, so I kept doing without them.

This spring, when I found them at half price, I went for it and indulged my desire for red shoes. They have turned out to be a celebration not only when I wear them but whenever I see them in my closet.

I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.

The red shoes definitely help!

Is there something, shoe or other-wise, that you’re happy you indulged in—or that you want to?

This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the Celebration category link.

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03 Apr 2015
2 Comments

to celebrate the waking, wake

Muriel RukeyserIt’s National Poetry Month!

To celebrate, here is a poem by Muriel Rukeyser.

She’s the author of my all-time favorite quote: The world is made of stories, not of atoms.

Song

Make and be eaten, the poet says,
Lie in the arms of nightlong fire,
To celebrate the waking, wake.
Burn in the daylong light; and praise
Even the mother unappeased,
Even the fathers of desire.

Blind go the days, but joy will see
Agreements of music; they will wind
The shaking of your dance; no more
Will the ambiguous arm-waves spell
Confusion of the blessing given.

Only and finally declare
Among the purest shapes of grace
The waking of the face of fire,
The body of waking and the skill
To make your body such a shape
That all the eyes of hope shall stare.

That all the cries of fear shall know,
Staring in their bird-pierced song;
Lines of such penetration make
That shall bind our loves at last.
Then from the mountains of the lost,
All the fantasies shall wake,
Strong and real and speaking turn
Wherever flickers your unreal.

And my strong ghosts shall fade and pass
My love start fiery as grass
Wherever burn my fantasies,
Wherever burn my fantasies.

I’ve written (very little) and written about poetry fairly often on this blog, which is named after some lines in an e.e. cummings poem. You can check the posts by clicking the Poetry category link.

This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the Celebration category link.

Posted in Celebration, Creativity, Inspiration, Poetry and tagged , , ,
02 Apr 2015
2 Comments

celebrating trees in spring

springtrees6Spring is absolutely my favorite tree time of the year. Trees in spring almost—almost—make winter worthwhile. In winter, the leafless trees seem barren and forbidding. But in spring, the delicate green tracery of budding leaves dresses up the branches, showing off the trees’ underlying architecture to best advantage. (The architecture of trees is amazing!)

springtrees4It doesn’t last long, this lacy phase. And it’s ephemeral. Trees in summer—resplendent in green—and trees in fall—outrageously dressed—are easy to capture in photographs; trees in spring are not. So I celebrate this brief, ephemeral moment of trees in spring that signals winter is really over, life is being renewed, and brighter days are ahead.

springtrees1

What is your favorite “tree time” of year?

Note: This post is part of April’s 30 Days of Celebration. To read more, click on the category link for Celebration.

Posted in Celebration, Nature, Trees and tagged , , ,
01 Apr 2015

celebration is a state of mind

celebrate 1At least that’s how I’ve decided to look at it. Recently I noticed that celebration hasn’t been present in my life as much as I want it to be—or as much as it has been many different times in the past. I could identify a few reasons for that, but the reasons don’t matter. What matters is that I want it back!

So I’ve decided to create 30 Days of Celebration to help me get back into the celebration habit. That means I will post something about celebration every day from now through April 30th.

In thinking about what represents celebration for me, I quickly came up with a list of at least a dozen things. One of them is music. To kick off this 30 Days of Celebration, I created a celebration playlist of 20 songs and put it on a CD.

Levels (Avicii)
Shut Up and Dance (Talking Is Hard)
It’s Time (Imagine Dragons)
Wings (Jimmy Buffett)
Wonder What You’re Doing for the Rest of Your Life (Train)
Bright (Echosmith)
Hands in the Air (Timbaland feat. Ne-Yo)
Wonder (Emili Sande & Naughty Boy)
Good Life (OneRepublic)
Leaving Winslow (Jackson Browne)

Glad Tidings (Van Morrison)
Earthquake Driver (Counting Crows)
The Moment (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
Avalanche (Talking Is Hard)
Terra Nova (James Taylor)
Downtown Train (Patty Smyth)
Good Feeling (Big Idol)
Wake Me Up (Aloe Blacc)
I Lived (OneRepublic)

The songs that represent celebration for me may not feel celebratory to you. I invite you to consider which songs do feel like celebration to you—and to play them today.

If you, too, would like to amp up celebration in your life, please visit throughout the month and share the things—and the ways—you like to celebrate.

Posted in Celebration, Creativity, Dance, Music and tagged , | Leave a comment

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