Nengajou

I haven't been spending much time in cyberspace lately. Something about this season brings out my need to connect with the sensible world of sights, scents, and touches.

Since embracing the idea of haiku-writing as a lifelong pursuit, I have posted almost 100 original haiku here on my blog, and have written a bunch more that are "not quite ready for prime time." I have also found some of the places here in cyberspace where other 'ku writers hang out, and, through my association with one of them I have joined up with over 60 other haiku aspirants to participate in a variation on the Japanese tradition of sending nengajou, or New Year's cards.

The picture above is of my cards "in production"... I had them printed with a photo (of me, by me) on one side, and my haiku on the other (thank you, WinkFlash!), and then added some high-touch details by hand with pens, stamps, and glitter glue. For me, the feeling of anticipation that preparing a piece of mail that I hope will brighten someone's day is a gift unto itself.

If you're visiting here at But Wait, There's More! as a result of receiving one of my nengajou cards, won't you please leave a comment? And thank you for your card.

And for those of you who are not plugged into the whole nengajou scene, here's the haiku I wrote to go with my cards:

one more year
and a snowflake on my scarf ~
melting away

(Now if we could just get the snow to go with it,
I'd really be a happy girl!)

Giving Haiku

The winter village atop our six-foot-long bookcase in the livingroom is a tradition of many years that we look forward to from about Hallowe'en on.

Caroling with a bunch of folks on our street with a new friend from school...

...followed by cookies and hot cocoa was a new tradition this year. We're hoping it might be here to stay!

Tradition ~
when the wrapping
becomes the gift.

(Thanks to the good women at One Deep Breath
for their continuing inspiration.)

Peapod

It's been an interesting study in marketing effectiveness. Peapod (Stop & Shop's home delivery service) has been sending me postcards for MONTHS. Maybe even a whole year. But I kind of like getting out and seeing people, and I often wait until I'm almost out of things before I actually get myself out to the grocery store, so I kept thinking, "Nah." Last month I finally hit the exact right combination of factors... an almost empty fridge, several evening commitments in a row, and some nasty weather that made the idea of sitting at home shopping from my laptop especially appealing. So I signed up and started shopping.

The online store doesn't have everything that the real world store does, but it certainly has the essentials. One feature I especially liked was the "sort by unit price" option; when buying something relatively generic like corn chips, it was really easy to figure out which brand represented the best deal. And the starter coupon I'd received in the mail effectively negated the delivery charge (which didn't seem inordinately high in any case).

Once you've put together your order, you get to select your desired delivery window. The most popular delivery times (e.g. right after work) sometimes have a several dollar premium on them, but my meetings meant that a 7-10pm window on a Thursday night was just fine.

Sure enough, that night I heard the vehicular backup "beep beep beep", and the Peapod delivery truck appeared in our driveway:

And here's the haul on my kitchen floor, before I put it all away:


I don't think I'll be using Peapod for ALL my shopping anytime soon, but the night I used it, Mr. D and I got to hang out and play family games instead of schlepping to the grocery store and back at the end of an already long day, which makes me think that there's probably some more Peapod shopping in my future. But maybe not over the holidays. Their delivery selection page currently says, "We suggest you reserve your delivery time now as popular times fill up quickly during the busy holiday season."

Another Gift Idea

How about buying the folks you love a chance or two at the fabulous prizes over at the Menu for Hope?

T's got the world's worst sore throat and D's warding off a cold, so I'm too busy doing the Florence Nightingale thing to write much. Send healing vibes!

Nothing Sweeter

Is there anything sweeter than the sound of a sleeping child's breath shushing in and out?

Didn't think so.

Are you holiday shopping right now? Because I am, and I keep finding stuff for me.

Which is a good thing, I think. Last year one of my students gave me a gift certificate to a bookstore as a present, and the first thirteen things I thought of buying with it were for someone other than me.

(That is all.)

What Will He Hold?

The second thing I remember thinking after we found out that Mr. D was going to be a Mister was, "Some old white guy is going to want to put my baby in harm's way."

So when he mentioned having seen an awesome "real" lightsaber "what you could hang on your wall," the other day, I couldn't take it.

"I will not have a weapon hanging on the wall in my house!" I fumed. Stunned by my vehemence, he burst into tears.


I wasn't raised Quaker. And one of my all-time favorite childhood memories is seeing the original Star Wars movie with my dad when it first came out.

I have a weak spot for the Force, and so Star Wars slipped past my defenses. Part of why my son was so surprised is that he knows I like Star Wars. Or at least that I like the story. He sometimes plays with weapons at friends' houses, but our house has remained a weapon-free zone. Except for the plastic light sabers. It's so confusing.

I apologized. I explained to him that I'm afraid some bad leader will think that something is worth sending other people's sons off to die for, and that it makes me scared to think that it might be him some day. I also told him that I wouldn't change my mind.

And then I remembered all the times that he has been moved by beauty.

And music.

And I held him close, singing a prayer for peace in my heart.

(How do we raise peaceful children
in these violent times? Your thoughts?
PS: Mr. D is featured on the Anti-Racist Parent site today)

Busy Busy

I'm super-busy, but it's mostly good stuff. Here's what I've been up to:

Participating in a Japanese New Year tradition (nengajo) and thinking about the design of my postcard.

Refining the notes for my Tech Talk on wikis this afternoon.

Working on my wish list.

Helping my niece find a poem worth memorizing.

Gleefully corresponding with a friend I've been out of touch with (hi, Lorraine!).

Hoping no one will invent a "switch-to-straight" pill.

Re-designing the front page of my professional wiki.

And worrying about the polar bears.

WHEW. Wish I could go take a nap!

Poems to Learn By Heart

We had some snow swirls earlier this week, and Mr. D and I reveled in the crisp freshness of it all.

"Mommy," he asked in his serious scientist voice, "is snow attracted to light?"

"No," I said, "but the light helps us see it better."

"Oh," he said, immediately understanding. "It's beautiful."

Yes it is.

Meanwhile, down in MD, my niece Super T is in search of a poem worthy of memorization... I'm putting together a list of suggestions here. (My sister reminds me that this child went to a Waldorf school through 2nd grade, and so can handle fairly substantial chunks of verse.) Got any poems to add?

Two Part Plan

Part one: Aunt Chelle comes to visit!
Wrestling, games, and Christmas elfing ensue.

Part two: Mommy holes up in the kitchen
for her annual biscotti-a-thon.

(Part three? Crunch!
Thanks again, Aunt Chelle.)