Sometimes I wake, and, lo! I have forgot,
And drifted out upon an ebbing sea!
My soul that was at rest now resteth not,
For I am with myself and not with thee;
Truth seems a blind moon in a glaring morn,
Where nothing is but sick-heart vanity:
Oh, thou who knowest! save thy child forlorn.
-George MacDonald
Overall the plants in my garden look as though the gardener has been absent. Too true — and the sky is lacking rain. So I at least did take the hose to everything yesterday, and found one “tree” that seems to be thriving under neglect.
It’s the tree collard that a dear friend gave me. I knew that these perennial vegetables grow very long and tangled stems, so I had planted it in a corner of my cramped yard, out of the way of annual beds.
My photo doesn’t show much of the curly stalk, and the pictures I found online are of plants that grow tall and straight, not like the more recumbent ones we seem to have around here, which get very complicated twining around themselves. The trunk-stem gets longer and longer and the leaves grow mostly at the end of it.
If I had more room I’d love to have a large plantation of these hardy greens.
Today the Orthodox Church celebrates Theophany, about which I have posted a time or two in the past. This year I found a blog by a young woman in Greece who has posted a rich mix of photos, videos and accounts describing the celebration of this feast around the world, and its meaning for us.
It all well illustrates the message of this short quote from the newsletter of my parish:
WORSHIP AND DOCTRINE:
“In the Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, doctrine and worship are inseparable. Worship is, in a certain sense, doctrinal testimony, reference to the events of Revelation. Thus, ‘dogmas are not abstract ideas in and for themselves but revealed and saving truths and realities intended to bring mankind into communion with God.’ One could say without hesitation that, according to Orthodox understanding, the fullness of theological thought is found in the worship of the Church.
This is why the term Orthodoxy is understood by many not as ‘right opinion,’ but as ‘right doxology,’ [that is,] ‘right worship.’”
—Archimandrite Zacharias, Ecclesial Being, pg. 88.
Those movies of people diving into icy waters make me consider in a more bracing way the scriptural exhortation to “present your bodies a living sacrifice….”
Some friends of ours celebrated Theophany at our Northern California beach last year, where the current brings chilly water from Alaska, giving the children who dove for that cross a bit of the experience of their fellow Orthodox in colder climates.
To all who celebrate in worship and truth, a most blessed feast!
 |
| Lucy on Christmas 2010 |
Lucy would call me “Great-Grandma” if she could talk, but I don’t expect that ever to happen because she is a doll. She belongs to my granddaughter Maggie, and once before her picture showed up here, modeling clothes that I made.
This year I made some more outfits for Christmas presents. When the family flew across the continent to California Maggie couldn’t fit Lucy into her carry-on, so her Aunt Kate’s doll Felicity who still lives with us modeled the new togs the night before Christmas.
I only got two outfits done in 2011: black silk pants with a corduroy jacket (McCalls 6137); and a cowgirl skirt, blouse, vest and boots (McCalls 6257). I guess the boots are really moccasins, because I didn’t want to put foam board on the bottoms as the pattern called for.
Everything was made out of used clothes, either my own or things I found at the thrift store, such as a leather skirt that worked nicely for the vest and boots instead of the faux suede that had been suggested on the pattern envelope.
 |
| Felicity |
While she was visiting here, Maggie had Felicity wear all the clothes, and she brushed out her hair and braided it nicely as well.
But as soon as Maggie returned home, it was time for Lucy’s 4th birthday party, so she wrapped the new clothes in pretty paper and ribbons, and a tag attached, “From Great-Grandma.” They were presented to Lucy along with chocolate cake for the occasion.
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Lucy!
After the holiday I got word that a new (18-inch) “great-granddaughter” has arrived in Annie’s house, and her name is Elizabeth. I don’t think I’ll stop sewing doll clothes anytime soon!
Gladsome Lights 