Soul Humming

Holiday Boutique

 

this thursday, december 4th, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. i will be selling lots of jewelry and colorful things that i have made at a holiday boutique.

 

i understand that there are at least 30 vendors with everything from toys, to jewelry, to Avon, to ornaments and more for sale. and the sixth grade class will be selling snacks to raise money for their class trip.

a percentage of show proceeds will benefit the Oak Creek Elementary School PTA.

 

the boutique is being held at the elementary school. 

 

i would LOVE to see some friends' happy faces. so if you can, spread the word and please come by!

holiday shuffle

"let's be naughty and save Santa the trip." - Gary Allan

my neighbors have already put up their Christmas lights. every year, right after thanksgiving, they go up and are turned on every single night. the city has also hung the holiday lights, and banners, and signs. Christmas music is playing on the radio and the commercials are already assaulting me throughout all media. the holiday shuffle has begun!

i have friends who put their Christmas tree up right after thanksgiving. i don't mean to be a bah-humbugger but that's too early for me. i have two little boys, an 80 pound dog, and a wild cat, and a small area for my tree right in the middle of them all. our tree gets two weeks of showtime tops. otherwise i go nuts trying to run interference day and night.

every year, it becomes more difficult to turn off the machine of Christmas. Christmas celebrations have suddenly begun as soon as the last Halloween candy wrapper has been unwrapped. the commercialization of the holiday bombards me and makes me numb to the love that is the true meaning.

"Tinsel is really snake's mirrors." - Stephen Wright
(i think this quote is hilarious. it really has nothing to do with this post otherwise.)

but, this year i've almost finished my shopping. and i am doing it all online. no more freaking out in the mall with all those people driving like maniacs and rushing around. i have been taking advantage of free shipping online. i am buying lots of books. i am trying to find things that last instead of the junk the television commercials are pitching. this time of year, i find it is good to limit the television the kids watch. otherwise, they change their wish list every day. the commercials are too tempting for them.

and this year i am trying to make more of the presents, spend more quality time singing my own holiday songs and reading the Christmas story (the real one about Jesus' birth, not the one with Santa, although that one is good, too). i want to step out of line from the holiday shuffle and find a seat by the fire with my family and friends. i hope you find the same sense of calm this year during the holiday season.

"I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year." - Charles Dickens

 

volcano

volcano

lyrics by beck
from the album Modern Guilt

I've been walking on
These streets so long
I don't know
Where they're
Calling me anymore
But I think
I must have seen a ghost
I don't know
If it's my illusions
That keep me alive
I don't know what I see
Was it all an illusion?
Or a mirage gone bad?
I'm tired of evil
And all the things
That I don't know

And I've been drifting
On this wave so long
I don't know
If it's already
Crashed on the shore
And I've been riding
On this train so long
I can't tell
If it's you or me
Who is driving us
Into the ground

I don't know
If I'm sane
But there's a ghost
In my heart
That's trying
To see in the dark
I'm tired of people
Who only want
To be pleased
But I still want
To please you

And I heard
Of that Japanese girl
Who jumped
Into The Volcano
Was she trying
To make it back
Back into the womb
Of the world?

I've been drinking
All these tears so long
All I've got left
Is the taste of salt
In my mouth

I don't know
Where I've been
But I know
Where I'm going
To that volcano
I don't want
To fall in though
So I want my bones
On the firing line

with thanks

each day, even when it seems to be a difficult day, there are things for which we can be thankful. today i rejoice in this beautiful life and celebrate all the glory of my Creator. no matter how small i may be in the grand scheme of things, i feel very large in spirit. i wish you all much joy on this Thanksgiving day.

The Thanksgivings
by Harriet Maxwell Converse
Translated from a traditional Iroquois prayer We who are here present thank the Great Spirit that we are here to praise Him. We thank Him that He has created men and women, and ordered that these beings shall always be living to multiply the earth. We thank Him for making the earth and giving these beings its products to live on. We thank Him for the water that comes out of the earth and runs for our lands. We thank Him for all the animals on the earth. We thank Him for certain timbers that grow and have fluids coming from them for us all. We thank Him for the branches of the trees that grow shadows for our shelter. We thank Him for the beings that come from the west, the thunder and lightning that water the earth. We thank Him for the light which we call our oldest brother, the sun that works for our good. We thank Him for all the fruits that grow on the trees and vines. We thank Him for his goodness in making the forests, and thank all its trees. We thank Him for the darkness that gives us rest, and for the kind Being of the darkness that gives us light, the moon. We thank Him for the bright spots in the skies that give us signs, the stars. We give Him thanks for our supporters, who had charge of our harvests. We give thanks that the voice of the Great Spirit can still be heard through the words of Ga-ne-o-di-o. We thank the Great Spirit that we have the privilege of this pleasant occasion. We give thanks for the persons who can sing the Great Spirit's music, and hope they will be privileged to continue in his faith. We thank the Great Spirit for all the persons who perform the ceremonies on this occasion.

sweat and such

yes, that's right. i said sweat. this morning i am not only sweating i am perspiring, dripping, melting, and flat out steaming. prior to taking tamoxifen i could go outside on a hot day, work in the garden for an hour and rarely find a bead of sweat anywhere on my body. i just do not sweat. (hee, hee. are you saying to yourself, where the hell is she going with this?)

but, tamoxifen, in spite of its grand cancer fighting qualities brings with it the sour symptoms of menopause. i still laugh when i remember my aunt going through menopause. my mother would roll her eyes at my aunt's craziness and say, "minnie has got her."

that's how i feel this morning. minnie has got ahold of me and is dragging me behind her car. and it's a big black lincoln with suicide doors.

 

i am not having a hot flash. i am having a rolling hot flash, a tidal wave of heat. it comes on as the hormones shift in my body. i am sitting here typing this in a sleeveless cotton nightgown. it is very cool in the house. and yet i am dripping sweat on my face, legs, and arms. don't even get me started on the crease behind my knees! it is just the most bizarre feeling. to never have perspired even when i was seriously working out to come to this. i may catch up on everything i missed in this one morning. it is surely a curious experience that affects how your mind works. it is a distraction but i'll get over it with constant cold water on my hands and lots of powder.

boy, it probably sounds like a slim news day if a girl is actually writing about SWEAT.

but i have another thing going on to tell you about. i finally, finally, finally got all my Christmas ornaments in the mail yesterday. i had to go to two different post offices (and one of them twice) but they are on their way.

how i wrapped them is a story in and of itself. i was at the end of my rope and let my crazy lead the way. i like them but they are a trifle helter-skelter. i didn't bother trying to reign myself in to make anyone else happy. so they are sort of funky but that's how i like things. they include some pretty art papers i've had for a few years. the sorts that i thought were so pretty i just never used them. well this time i used them along with poems ripped out of water-damaged copy of Falling Up by Shel Silverstein. so someone (hi Deryn!) will have a snake haired medusa and a poem about her on the back of their gift. everyone got some Shel with their gift. hee.

i added my own little doodles to the envelopes...

and as i was trying to find some rubber stamps (don't even get me started) i came across a stack of very old black and white snapshots i had accumulated along the way. one of them was absolutely perfect for my gift tag. here, check it out...

 

isn't their tree just so beautiful! well, this is a fairly small version of the photo. i hope you can see it all right. click on it and see it bigger, if you are so inclined. and look at the fellow in the chair holding the little boy. look at those boots! i wonder if he was a soldier. and there's a train track at the base of the tree. i especially love, love the blurry faces. they are all moving and reading. everyone in the photo is reading! boy howdy. i just love this picture. and i added the tiny words in the lower left corner so the girls will know when to open my crazy package.

okay. that's all i can say right now. i have to make hard boiled eggs for the little man. he refuses to eat cereal or just about anything else. and he only eats the whites of the egg. he's a funny little dude. i have no idea where he gets it...:0)

beautiful birthday wishes

i am so late! the day has almost slipped away but this special day has been celebrated here in my heart. i've just not had a minute to post until now.

Today, november 24th is the birthday of my mother AND my father. when i was a little girl i always thought that was the most special thing for them to share a birthday. and it is still nice to wake up on this day and celebrate two of the most amazing people i have ever come across.

happy, happy birthday, mama!

my grandmother, virginia workman, and my mother, betty whitlow

happy, happy birthday, daddy!


my father, william english


Family faces are magic mirrors looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. -- Gail Lumet Buckley

Christmas is Coming!

 

my wrapped ornies from 2007

every year i am very excited to participate in a 12 Days of Christmas ornament exchange with some of the most amazing artists who are also the sweetest group of girls. and this year is no exception.

my ornies from 2007

i am still a bit away from finishing my ornaments for this year. i have been literally working my fingers off on these. i couldn't seem to talk myself into starting them. i had chosen a medium i wasn't completely comfortable with and i think that held me back. but these sorts of challenges really do teach me the most. and in the end i've been finally enjoying them so much. when i reach the place where i really do not want to give them away i know i'm good to go. and if it weren't for the fact that i know i will receive the most outrageously gorgeous special ornaments in return it would be hard to part with my own. but these girls are precious to me and i'm so happy to exchange gifts with them. it is just the greatest fun.

   

angel elmo, another ornie i made for fun last year

so if you are looking for a new holiday tradition you might consider a 12 Days of Christmas ornament exchange. we each receive a number which corresponds to the day our gift will be opened. for instance, i am number five and my gift will be opened by all the girls on december 5th. we send our ornaments wrapped with a tag that has our name and number on them. and we have to promise not to peek, which is really, really hard. but it is well worth it as i always feel like i will float right out of the house every morning waking up knowing i get to open a beautiful handmade gift. it is just the best fun!

more colorful ornies i made a few years ago

so stay tuned. the unwrapping begins on december 1st.

Think Pink Charity Fundraiser

My sweet friend, Amber Dawn, along with several fab artists has a beautiful pink charm bracelet for auction on Ebay right now. The proceeds of this lovely collaborative project will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation which supports breast cancer research.

You can read more about the bracelet and see additional images at Amber's blog here. And this LINK will take you to the listing at Ebay.

If you can, please help to promote this auction on your blog, too. Thanks!!

cocoon

 

The Cocoon by Robert Frost

As far as I can see this autumn haze
That spreading in the evening air both way,
Makes the new moon look anything but new,
And pours the elm-tree meadow full of blue,
Is all the smoke from one poor house alone
With but one chimney it can call its own;
So close it will not light an early light,
Keeping its life so close and out of sign
No one for hours has set a foot outdoors
So much as to take care of evening chores.
The inmates may be lonely women-folk.
I want to tell them that with all this smoke
They prudently are spinning their cocoon
And anchoring it to an earth and moon
From which no winter gale can hope to blow it,--
Spinning their own cocoon did they but know it.




New earrings.

What People Do

What People Do

By Naomi Shihab Nye

November    November    November    the days crowd together
like families of leaves    in a dry field
I pick up a round stone    take it to my father
who lies in bed waiting for his heart to mend
and he turns it over and over in his hands

My father is writing me the story of his village
He tells what people did    in another country
before I was born    how his best friend was buried alive
and the boy survived two days in the ground
how my father was lowered into a well on ropes    to discover
clay jars a thousand years old    how each jar held seeds
carob and melon    and the villagers chose secrecy
knowing the British would come with trucks and dig up their town

My father's handwriting changes from page to page
sometimes a wild scrawl and disconnected letters
sometimes a new serious upward slant

And me    I travel the old roads again and again
wearing a different life in a house surrounded by trees
At night the dropping pecans make little clicks above us
Doors closing

More and more I understand what people do
I appreciate the daily braveries    clean white shirts
morning greetings between old men

Again I see how    once the boat tips    you never forget
the sensation of drowning
even if you sing yourself the familiar songs

Today my face is stone    my eyes are buckets
I walk the streets lowering them into everything
but they come up empty

I would tell my father
    I cannot move one block without you
    I will never recover from your love
yet I stand by his bed saying things I have said before
and he answers    and we go on this way
smoothing the silences
nothing can heal

#  #  #

 

- i couldn't have only a sad poem today. for if you know me at all, you know i am the roller coaster girl and i need some other extreme to find some balance. so, good to part with something else instead of a buckets of tears...

this is a poem of mine for which this blog was named. 'hope you dig it.

soul humming - kelly snelling

who am i?
king of all i survey, 
the dust on the path, 
last light of day. 
i am a constant contradiction. 
a healing infliction. 
i am the sound of laughter
of fast moving water 
hopes and dreams together, 
little bird's daughter. 
i am dreaming realized, 
i am running, 
not in fear,
only in strength, power and love. 
i am awakening. 
i am becoming. 
i am transforming. 
i am soul humming.