All posts by GretchenJoanna

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About GretchenJoanna

Orthodox Christian, widowed in 2015; mother, grandmother. Love to read, garden, cook, write letters and a hundred other home-making activities.

I contemplate holy snow.

Theophany, water, , ,

We have come to the Feast of Theophany, when we commemorate Christ’s baptism by John in the Jordan River. On this feast we have the Great Blessing of Water, which often is done outdoors at the ocean or a river or lake. I was interested to see a collection of photos from 2025, of Holy Theophany Church in Colorado Springs, a parish that I happened to visit a few years ago when my son Soldier’s family first moved to that state.

A few hardy members of the congregation trekked up to the crest of the Rocky Mountains, where along the invisible line that is the (hydrological) Continental Divide, or Great Divide, the rivers flow on one side toward the Pacific Ocean, and on the other toward the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, and to the Gulf of Mexico.

Christ blessed the waters of the entire earth when He was baptized in just one river, and renewed the nature of all of Creation, as one of the hymns below explains. To whatever extent we participate in His continuation of that blessing, whether we symbolically perform the rite on the water in an urn or lake or a single ocean, the blessing is equally cleansing and renewing.

Still, it is a joy to contemplate the blessing of many waters, so to speak — many, many rivers flowing into many oceans, from that snowy point in the mountains. Why not do this, if you can? It may be for the same reason we baptize by immersion, if we can, and not sprinkling.

I’ve seen many pictures of holes cut in the ice for this ceremony, but this is the first time I’ve seen its celebration without any liquid H2O at all. Below I will share a few lines from various portions of Orthodox Theophany services, and a few more photos of my brothers and sisters in Colorado.

Thou didst wrap Thyself in the streams of the Jordan,
Who dost clothe Thyself in light as with a garment;
in the waters, O Word of God, Thou didst renew the nature of Adam
broken by wicked disobedience.
Therefore we praise Thee and glorify Thy holy Epiphany.

Jesus, the Source of life,
came to free from condemnation Adam the first-formed man.
As God He needs no cleansing,
yet for the fallen He is cleansed in the Jordan.
In it He brings an end to hostility
and grants peace beyond all comprehension.

Sent from the Father, O most radiant Word,
Thou hast come to dispel the evil darkness of night
and to uproot the sins of mortals,
and to draw up by Thy baptism, O blessed Lord,
radiant children from the streams of the Jordan.

With piety and vigor let us run
to the pure springs of salvation’s stream
and gaze on the Word born of the all-Pure Virgin,
He gives living water to satisfy our holy thirst,
and gently heals the sickness of the world.


The true Light has shone forth granting enlightenment to all.
Though He is beyond all purity, Christ is baptized with us.
He sanctifies the water, and it becomes a cleansing for our souls.
What is seen is earthly, but what is known is above the heavens.
Through washing comes salvation, and through water comes the Spirit.
By descending into the water we ascend to God.
Thy works are wonderful, O Lord, glory to Thee!

Here is the key to the power.

music, prayer, Psalms, quotes, , , , ,
From the Psalter of St. Louis and Blanche of Castile, 13th c.

“…how did the monks train? By singing the psalms. Here is the key to the power, such as it is, of medieval communal prayer: it was focused on the psalms. And why on the psalms? Because, as every medieval Christian knew, they are focused on Christ the Lord, the Word who is with God and who is God, through whom everything was made (John 1), who set his tabernacle in the sun and came forth as a bridegroom from his wedding chamber (Ps. 18:6), the king of glory mighty in battle (Ps. 23:8) who entered into his temple (Heb.) to rescue his people from their sins (Ps. 21).

“Religion, properly speaking, is about worship, and it is the object of worship that defines the community. If the community worships itself (as a city, nation, or empire) then its religion is about belonging to the group (see, pagan Rome, and its opposition to Christians). But a community worshiping Christ is defined by Him—and its individual members have strength to stand up against other communities who define themselves by something other than Christ.”

-Rachel Fulton Brown, interview

Images of 2025.

calendar, history, time, ,

Here is a smattering of pictures, one from each month of 2025. It was hard to choose just one per month. I can think of possible thematic collections from the year that might be done, so that I could re-post more — but I probably should keep looking to today instead, and the many household projects I want to do that don’t involve sitting at the computer. Still, it was fun to briefly scroll through the months and assemble these:

January – pomegranates in the back garden
February – Eucalyptus along the creek path
March – Memorial for my husband, 10 years
April – Gathering nettles in the North
May – Paros, Greece
June – Thessaloniki, Greece
July – In the High Sierra
August – Boba tea
September – My tallest sunflower ever
October – Maggie’s wedding in Wisconsin
November – Seedy crackers
December – Christmas with Lori

And there it went! I had already forgotten some of the blessings that came to me, as each day and week and month raced past. I wonder what images will be worth saving in 2026?

Halfway, the cactus bloomed.

Christmas, family, food and cooking, grandchildren, my garden, , , ,

My Christmas cactus opened its first bloom on Christmas Eve. We were already halfway through our family celebrations at that point, and I had moved most of the houseplants into the Morning Room upstairs, in anticipation of needing all possible space for human bodies.

Several days before actual Christmas Day the family started to arrive, from five locales in four states. Three days later, the first departures happened, and by the afternoon of the Fourth Day of Christmas, I was alone in the house again.

Once Pathfinder and I were the only ones left, I brought the cactus with its stand downstairs again, so I can admire it throughout the day.

Before I continue with the Christmas theme, I want to show other current floral happenings in house and garden. Blooming orchids, my first picking of Chinese Broccoli, and a last Japanese anemone. The pomegranate bushes are decorating the garden with their changing color.

It was a lovely, lovely Christmastime. Soldier’s and Kate’s families couldn’t come this year, but Pearl and Nate and two of their children’s families were able to make it. The youngest child was my great-granddaughter Lori, who is 6 1/2 now. She is a lot of fun!

Lori met several family members for the first time. I wonder if in 2026 I will manage to meet my two great-grandsons who will soon be a year old. They live in two different states, but were brought together for an early Christmas, from which meet-up I received a picture to share:

It rained a lot the whole week of our festivities, but not constantly. There were enough breaks that a few short walks were taken, and one outing to the coast. While most of our group was gone on that latter trip Pearl and I both took naps. She did much of the cooking for several days, but I made one large dinner and breakfast for the crowd. Pippin and the Professor served in the kitchen one night as well. The food was abundant and appreciated!

This year I didn’t make any cookies myself. Lori’s cookies were from a King Arthur gluten-free recipe, and the spice profile was really nice. I did make some goodies to eat and give away: This  Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread was the most popular recipe in all of 2025 on the New York Times Cooking site. I’ve unlocked it as Christmas present from me to you ❤

I forgot to take a picture of mine. I followed the advice of several cooks who added ginger, more cranberries, and less sugar. It was enjoyed very much by everyone, with a dollop of whipped cream on top. I want to make it again soon.

I made Candied Espresso Walnuts, and our longstanding traditional California Fruitcake/Jesus Birthday Cake/Nativity Cake, which I hadn’t done for some years. People sliced from one big loaf for breakfast and snacks here, and I gifted the others. This time I made it with a gluten-free flour blend, which worked pretty well.

Lori took the initiative to find this felted hummingbird ornament among the things her family had brought, and gave it to me early. She had seen other hummingbirds on the tree and didn’t want to delay.

When she was ready to go out and explore my garden and greenhouse, her shoes were in the bedroom where her mom was sleeping, so her father let her use his boots.

I love my Christmas tree this year! It is a Nordmann fir from Home Depot — amazingly symmetrical and well filled out. Last year the big LED lights I had on my tree were so bright it pained me to look in that direction, so I bought tiny incandescent lights this year and they are perfect.

I had laid in bright materials for making paper chains, in case Lori would like to do such a craft with me. She wasn’t interested, so I made three long chains after everyone had arrived and were doing all the work around me. We hung them on the black railings that had recently been painted; after that, I somehow had the energy also to hang up the ribbons pinned with the prettiest old Christmas cards.

Because of the comings and goings all week, I didn’t wait for Christmas Day or Epiphany, but put the Baby Jesus and the Wise Men in their places at the outset. I’d like to wait until the Presentation of Christ on February 2nd to take down the tree, and to put away the Nativity scene. I’ll need to gather some fresh greenery from the bike path before then!

I know that by today, most people are thinking ahead to the new year coming in, so I wanted to post these images of the end of 2025 while it is still December. Happy New Year! I wish you courage and Hope in the coming year, and may the good desires of your heart be fulfilled in 2026 ❤