Reading · Spirituality

A New Year Reflection on Hope

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If asked to summarize my feelings about the year just ending, I would admit 2025 did not inspire confidence even as our personal lives were less chaotic and pessimistic than most.  However, just hours into this new year I am struck by the number of references I am finding on the theme of hope. Here are three –

This morning, I discovered an upbeat article in a most unusual source, The New York Times, where author Lauren Jackson urges the reader to move from cynicism to hope.  She cites research conducted by the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma which specifies that hope is “one of the strongest indicators of well-being.  It helps improve the immune system and aids in the recovery from illness.”  Chan Hellman, Director of the Center, goes on to say, “while optimism is the belief that the future will be better, hope is the belief that we have the power to make it so.”

Today’s musical earworm is a favorite winter hymn, Come Sing a Song with Me, included in the Unitarian Universalist hymnal with words and music by Carolyn McDade, ©1976.  And, when we join in song, the chorus predicts: 

And I’ll bring you hope when hope is hard to find, and I’ll bring a song of love and rose in the wintertime.

And to conclude my triad on hope, I will give a nod to fellow bloggers, Bonny, Kat, and Kym who regularly offer poetic inspiration in A Gathering of Poetry every third Thursday of the month.  While I know it is only the first and not the third, it is a Thursday, so I am sharing an original composition by Jane N., age 9.  As we move into 2026, may we skeptical adults take inspiration from the children in our midst.

Hope

Hope winds its way
Through the branches of the bare trees 
Like silk ribbon.
 
It snakes through the villages
 And into the homes of the people. 
It settles into their hearts 
Lighting the way.
 
Hope.

I am enjoying my holiday and starting this new month with a cup of Chocolat Vitale made from Belgium and Swiss chocolate and curled up with my copy of Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver ©2017. 

Happy New Year and may your days be healthy and hopeful. 

Knitting

Celebrating the New Year with a New Sweater

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close up of shoulder and collar of a handknit sweater in silvery gray and maroon checks
handknit sweater in silvery gray and maroon checks
close up the sleeves of a handknit sweater in silvery gray and maroon checks

As I begin typing, it is midnight in Chișinău, Moldova – the most eastern locale I have visited. To celebrate 2026, I am shaking a vintage noise maker and presenting Kleine Cardigan. I began knitting this sweater in February as part of Knit Camp’s first ever virtual travel club and Marie Greene’s annual winter knit-a-long (KAL) workshop.  While I completed the knitting in August, this organic merino project was packed away for our move to Solstice Place. Just today it came off the blocking squares and it is ready to wear in the new year.  The sweater’s repeating check pattern pays homage to the Swiss flag, although I did take the liberty with my colors as the silvery gray and maroon combo will better suit my wardrobe palate.   

Happy knitting and Happy New Year! Or, more appropriately – Viel Spaß beim Stricken und ein frohes neues Jahr!

Other items of interest · Spirituality

Christmas Eve Reflection

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deep blue background with frosted plants in the foreground

I try and fool myself into believing that I am skipping news broadcasts because of my busy calendar. A schedule that included months of preparation for a move and then unpacking our life here on Solstice Place. And, once those tasks were complete, I shifted into everyday routines of knitting, baking, cleaning and, sometimes, even writing. Activities that admittedly require a degree of concentration and therefore provide a quasi-believable excuse not to turn to 24/7 reporting. But, if I am honest, my lack of attention is not attributable to mundane tasks, rather a weary knowledge that once I turn on the radio or the TV I will learn of yet another unthinkable injustice.

With lifelong experience living in the Midwest, I know the briskness of December. This is why I bundle up for my daily walk down the block to the neighborhood mailbox. I know that the winter temperatures in Minneapolis, St. Paul, or other quadrants of Rochester are certainly no warmer than at my doorstep. Yet, news coverage shows early morning raids by masked ICE agents as they remove Minnesota residents from their homes without coats, hats, or mittens. The recent scenes of a woman pinned down in the snow and dragged through the street prompted a public statement from Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara in which he said, “This egregious disregard for human dignity is appalling. It is deeply concerning that there appears to be a lack of accountability from our federal partners.”

Such masked behavior is not limited to Minnesota’s major cities; it also occurs in Rochester. Recently, an immigrant chef who, just months ago, prepared my dinner was taken into ICE custody. This is a man seeking asylum in order to escape Ecuadorian gang violence, violence that caused him to be shot in the head when, as an independent restaurateur, he refused to pay protection money. His location, well-being, and legal status are currently unknown to his family or to the church members who are sponsoring his legal efforts to navigate our complicated asylum process.

During this Christmas season when the gospels recount this ancient, yet well-known story, I can only wonder what might happen should there be another family seeking refuge on this oh holy night with stars brightly shining. 

Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and placed him in a manager, because there was no room for them at the inn.
Luke 2:4-7

Photo credit: pexels-pixabay

Knitting

Dragon Lace Scarf

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lacy handknit scarf in burgundy yarn
details of a lacy handknit scarf in burgundy yarn

While knitting this scarf, my imagination turned to George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, as well as several other paranormal titles featuring dragon protagonists since independent designer, Tanya Lavine, described her lace motif as resembling dragon scales. As always, the Kenzie yarn was a joy to work with and the blend of fibers – merino, alpaca, angora, nylon, silk – will be soft and cuddly on a frosty day.

Fingers crossed, I completed this December gift-a-long (GAL) project in the allocated time which makes me eligible for randomly selected prizes. Now, I only need a recipient.

Baking

Palmiers: Deuxième partie

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three french palmier cookies on a white christmas tree shaped plate

A new cookie recipe for a solstice celebration in our new house on Solstice Place.

With the correct ingredients (finally) and baking errors aside, the two ingredient pastries emerged from the oven picture-perfect. Using two techniques, one rolled and the other folded, these light and airy confections with caramelized sugar shapes may be representative of books, hearts, or the traditional elephant ears found at local pâtisseries.

Bon Appétit! 

Baking

Palmiers

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palmiers (cookies) on a white plate

As baking fiascos go, my first palmiers rank with 1970s baked rum balls and pumpkin pie sans sugar.  What looks easy-peasy as YouTube pastry chefs deftly handle the puff pastry sheets, adroitly fold, evenly cut, and perfectly place each sugared confection which then blooms into a delicate crunch resembling a heart or elephant ears (depending on your perspective) my batch resembled fireplace kindling twigs.  As they came out of the oven, I blamed the results on the gluten-free product but after a more careful review, the problems were operator-error.  Since I bought pastry dough instead of puff pastry sheets, I had cinnamon sugared crusts reminiscent of the pie remnants at my Grandma K.’s. Not to be deterred, I am off to the store for the correct ingredient.

PS – The picture perfect palmiers are courtesy of food photographer Elise Bauer. My mistake definitely did not resemble these dessert treats.

Spirituality

A Sunday Reflection on Hope

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large stone gate at Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

During my library career a favorite activity was introducing new library boards to their responsibilities. And, not just those duties required by Minnesota statutes, but those responsibilities entrusted to them as caretakers of a community jewel. While there are certainly those individuals who seek such an appointment (especially these days) with a goal of controlling the collection or banning certain books, over all the years, I found most people were interested in doing good within their community. People who believed in the importance of reading, the importance of a safe place, the importance of lifelong learning. They rarely recognized it, but library trustees are individuals of hope. After all, who but a person with hopes for the future builds a library, or a school, or a church? Who but a person hoping for positive change spends time and money supporting something that they might use only for a brief time but builds beyond themselves?

Acts of hopeful resistance take many forms:

  • When Richard and I submitted our Breaking Ground pledge form so that we can do just that this spring – break ground at Eliza Place.
  • When the offertory plate is passed and the funds we collect go out the church door to be shared with our social justice partners.
  • When we don our gold scarves and Side With Love t-shirts, whether on a sunny summer day or a frigid afternoon.
  • When we work side-by-side, shout out the injustice and work for change.

As this hectic month begins and I wonder how I will accomplish all the tasks – which cookies to bake, how to decorate the new house – last weekend’s snowfall served as a reminder to slow down and take a breath. To remember in these days of Advent that we are waiting for the gentle lights of Hanukkah, and Solstice, and Christmas. In these challenging days, I take solace from the poetic prayers of Rev. Victoria Safford, who reminds us we are at:

The gates of hope … The place of resistance and defiance.
The piece of ground from which you see the world
Both as it is and as it could be
As it will be;
The place from which you glimpse not only struggle,
But the joy of the struggle.
New House · Travel

$61 – exactly

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stacks of quarters on a black granite countertop

From spring through fall at our First Street house, Richard, ever the car guy, would carefully coordinate the shade on the driveway and car washing to avoid direct sunshine and water spots. Later in the year, on those less frigid winter days, having collected quarters for months, he would use them at the self-service car wash thus keeping winter salt and slush to a minimum. These days, Med City Detail keeps our vehicles shiny and up to his standards. Since we no longer need this cash reserve sitting on the dresser, we decided a better use would be as an extra contribution to the Building Our Future-Beyond Ourselves church building fund.

As I lined up the coins from the Mason jar on the new kitchen island, I wondered if they might total 264 – just for kicks.  While I only reached $61, they did trigger a conversation about our 1989 western vacation, which mostly followed that historic highway and included touristy adventures such as dinner at the Big Texan in Amarillo, hiking the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest national parks, and spending the night at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, as well as a day at the Bob Bondurant School of Performance Driving. Definitely a chance to get your kicks on Route 66!


Knitting

Joining a Gift-A-Long

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two skeins of beetroot colored yarn

Just in time for holiday gift giving, over 200 indie designers are hosting Gift-A-Long 2025. Launched last evening at 5:00pm US EST, this knit-a-long / crochet-a-long (KAL/CAL) will run through December 31 at 11:59pm US EST. 

Unlike other KALs in which I have participated when there has been one pattern shared by one designer, the gift possibilities of this KAL are endless – from caps to cowls, from scarves to sweaters, and even stuffies. While all patterns by the participating designers are eligible to be knit or crocheted, only projects made from purchased patterns will be eligible to win prizes. This unique marketing technique had me scanning patterns and checking my in-house yarn inventory last evening.  And, this morning, with pattern and stashed yarn selected, I cast on a lacy scarf in this vibrant beetroot colored New Zealand merino tweed.

Happy knitting!






Baking · Reading

A – Apple Pie

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1886 illustration of A Apple with children dancing around an apple pie
apple pie on wooden pie rest sitting on gray granite counter

For many years, during the children’s librarian portion of my career, I collected alphabet books. This A to Z selection of titles included an eclectic mix ranging from Anno’s Alphabet: An Adventure in Imagination by Anno Mitsumasa ©1988 to Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet, written and illustrated by Betsy Bowen ©2002. These picture books, while certainly appropriate learning tools for children, could also be appreciated by the adult reader due to the intricacies found on each page. Interestingly, my collection did not include the popular 19th century edition by Kate Greenway but as the first dessert baked at Solstice Place was an apple pie, I will give a nod to her 1886 original wood engraving A – Apple Pie.