Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

It’s Still Christmas Here at the Cottage

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In a small act of defiance:

Mondayfinalbokeh

Another Christmas photo. Because, for us, the Christmas season is still here. Try as I might, I can’t understand removing all traces of Christmas as soon as that particular day ends. What?? It seems so abrupt, like pulling a rug out from under someone’s feet, or dangling a beautiful treat in front of someone’s eyes and just as it gets close enough to be fully experienced, it’s gone. Poof!

To me, the Christmas season lasts until New Year’s Day. To others, it lasts even longer – until Epiphany. And last night, as we were watching the Kennedy Center Honors and admiring our beautiful tree, we decided it will stay up until at least this Friday, which will be January 3rd. I’m in no hurry to get rid of the tree. I’m in no hurry to get rid of Christmas. This is one of the reasons I wait until the second week of December to decorate. I want to experience the holiday season fully and if I chose to decorate too early, I’d run the risk of getting tired of it all much too soon.

Of course, I know very well that everyone has different traditions. But, to me, the holiday season doesn’t end abruptly at 12 am on December 26th. I can only remember a couple of times in our almost twenty years together that we took down our decorations before the New Year and that was because we had to leave our house for work out of town.

Didn’t like it.

Though I am tired of all the Christmas decorating posts, however beautiful, that have been going on since right after Thanksgiving. So I promise to post only this one photo!

We had a lovely visit with our friend yesterday with stimulating conversation and lots of laughter. It ended much too soon. As always, when someone we know and love sees the house for the first time, it was dark and rainy. Go figure. When we first moved into the cottage, we were treated to a visit by Don’s brother and his wife. We were so excited to share our house and our beautiful property with them; they had been such a source of support for us as we made the move into home ownership. They drove up here from NYC, where they had been staying on business, and it rained torrentially. A rain the locals ended up dubbing ‘a hundred years rain.’ You could barely see anything for the rain. It didn’t stop until they had left to return to the city.

It’s happened repeatedly since then. What can I say? It’s strange, but true.

Practicing some close-ups of the dollhouse (forgive any specks of dust you might see):

dhchair

dhshells

dhwickerchair

dhfireplace

dhredsink

dhsofa

Happy Monday.

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Old Friends, Movies, Books & Television

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scoutie&monty

Monty the cow is temporarily on the floor. He had to vacate his usual space on top of the lab stool so that we could put up the little white Christmas tree.

Scout has found a napping companion in Monty. My two kids are bonding.

Scoutie&monty2

I’m thinking that Monty rather likes this temporary arrangement. He looks a bit surprised, but then again, he always does.

I’m having trouble remembering just what day of the week it is. That always seems to happen around the holidays. Is it Friday? Is it Monday? Oh, right, it’s Sunday. An old friend of ours who lives in Los Angeles and is visiting New York City for the holidays is taking the train up our way today to spend a few hours with us. I’m so looking forward to seeing him again. Don’s known him for years and years and I got to know him when I worked with him in a couple of productions at the Old Globe. It will be the first time he’s seen our house. (I always wish these first visits could be in the summer when the gardens are blooming instead of during the rather bleak landscape of winter. Ah, well.) The important thing is that we’re going to get to spend some time with an old friend.

Recommendations from Yours Truly

Movies: We’ve been watching lots of old movies lately. I introduced Don to The Bishop’s Wife the other night and last night we watched Gaslight. I hadn’t seen Gaslight in a long time so I didn’t remember all of the plot, which was perfect, because I was surprised. Such a great movie! Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for her role and Charles Boyer is chilling in the role of her husband. Did you know that the plot of that movie (and the original play) inspired the use of the term ‘gaslighting?’

From Wikipedia: Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse in which false information is presented with the     intention of making a victim doubt his or her own memory, perception and sanity. Instances may range simply from the denial by an abuser that previous incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim. The term “gaslighting” comes from the play Gas Light and its film adaptations. The term is now also used in clinical and research literature.

It’s a wonderful movie, directed by the great George Cukor, with incredible set design and lighting, with all the contrast in highlights and shadows that can only happen in a good old black and white film.

Books: I’m currently reading Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon. Have you heard of this book? It’s the true story of Dr. Alexander’s rare and almost certain to be fatal illness that resulted in his being in a coma for seven days with the part of his brain that controls thought and emotion shut down. He had a Near Death Experience (NDE) that was simply extraordinary. As a scientist who previously discounted NDE’s as fantasies the brain created while in a state of being half-in, half-out of this world, this experience completely changed his life and his beliefs. The mere fact that he came back from almost certain death to tell his story is a miracle beyond imagining.

I have to tell you, this book is life-changing. Find it. Read it.

Television: If you love the Arts, as I do, watch The Kennedy Center Honors tonight at 9 pm on CBS. Simply the best awards show ever, head and shoulders above anything else in that genre. In fact, we think it is the best show on television, hands down. You will be inspired by the accomplishments and careers of the honorees, you will be entertained, and if you think the Arts are essential to our culture as I do, you will take heart. The show is always done stylishly, with impeccable taste. I find myself, each and every year, crying with joy throughout the show.

If you’re interested in education and the benefits of going back to school, read my post about my personal story, sponsored by Kaplan and BlogHer.

Happy Sunday.

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On Animals

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sundaydeer

This morning, and yesterday morning, as I walked into the upstairs bathroom, I could see the shadowy figures of deer walking through our property. One, then another, then another, then another, walking slowly, looking for food, stopping to nibble on a branch here and there. I purposely delayed going downstairs. If I went downstairs, I would have to let Scout out and that girl would scare those peaceful animals. Animals who do no harm to anyone. Animals who are hunted by locals who, trust me on this one, don’t have to hunt to eat.

But you know how I feel about all that. It’s the same reason I won’t watch a certain ‘reality’ show that’s been very much in the news lately. I cannot, in conscience, watch a show that stars a family that made their millions from manufacturing a ‘call’ that leads innocent birds to their deaths. Sorry. No can do.

How can I admire and love the geese and ducks we see every day on our walk or in the park in Hartford and then turn around and watch a program that is built on money and notoriety earned from their deaths?

If you know anything about me from reading this blog over the course of the almost-six-years of its existence, you know I am passionate about animal rights. I believe that all of us, human and animal, have the same right to live peacefully, without fear of a bullet or a bow and arrow or a knife. Sadly, that isn’t the case for many of our fellow humans or for many of our animal friends.

These are the things that haunt my dreams.

That some of you will disagree with me is certain. I’ve had these discussions before on this blog. I’d rather not have them again because, you see, nothing anyone can say is going to change what I believe deep in my heart, what I hold to be morally right. I’m 61. I’m pretty clear about what I believe at this point in my life. And most likely, if you believe differently than I, nothing is going to change your point-of-view.

Same thing as the time I was in grad school, already in my early thirties, and a classmate urged me to try cocaine. After hearing me say I wasn’t interested, he responded with “If you try it with me, I guarantee you’re going to like it. You’ll have fun.” Really? Do you really think I’m going to abandon my moral beliefs that quickly? For a reason that I don’t believe in and cannot, in conscience, support?

Any arguments for hunting get the same sort of response from me.

Since this blog is about my thoughts and worries and beliefs as well as the happy things in my life, I’d be less than honest in not writing about this occasionally because, believe me, it is part of the framework of my life – every day. I try to live that belief to the best of my ability. I don’t eat animals. I do my best to respect them. I’m not perfect, by any means. But I do the best I can.

We used to see about a dozen deer grazing on a hill during our daily 4 pm walk. When the hunting season brought the sound of gun shots, they were no longer in evidence. Every day, as we walked, I would tell Don I was worried about them. Where had they gone? Had they been killed? Or had they, hopefully, changed their pattern to avoid hunters? I prayed it was the latter.

Recently, we’ve seen four deer grazing again on the hill. Perhaps the same four deer that walk through our property in the early hours of dawn, as we live just over that hill. What happened to the others? I don’t know. I am happy to see these four. As Don said this morning, “You are welcome here.”

I’d add: “You are safe here.”

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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