"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth,
for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside
the fire: it is the time for home."
EDITH SITWELL
With the mix of grey hazy days alongside sparkly blue-skied ones that darken so early in the afternoons, a person needn't look at the calendar to determine that we're deep into November. The holidays are fast approaching. Already there are houses in the neighbourhood with roof tops and trees all aglimmer with lights, while others, like ours, are easing into the Christmas mood at a slower pace.
I won't say I'm not in the mood because I do get the twinkle in my soul as the sun sets so early now. But life is a little discombobulated around here so I'm holding off before going full tilt into Christmas. Thankfully, twinkle lights are a simple addition to creating a certain coziness to our dark evenings.
I want to say, before anything else, a big heart-felt thank you to everyone who reached out to me, both here on the blog and elsewhere, with your good wishes and prayers for my mom after her recent fall. She is still in hospital. Regaining her strength and now awaiting re-tests to ensure her head injury is indeed on the mend and her medical team can confidently send her home. And where I will stay with her until she's back on her feet.
As you can imagine, with that on our minds, I haven't done much of anything else except the absolute basics these past couple of weeks.
Let me quickly share what I've been reading. Thank goodness for books at times like these. First, I've been quietly dipping into Sarah Clarkson's soul nourishing volume entitled Reclaiming Quiet, Cultivating a Life of Holy Attention. Her words are brushed with grace and beauty—and gentleness—that feels heaven-sent to me right now. Let me share a couple of lines from two prayers she wrote:
"Help us to recall the grace in which we already stand, the love that need never be asked for because it is already given." p. 29"When the darkness looms large, help us to look up, and find the constellations of your love. Be gentle with us as we learn again to listen, as we enter once more the world-making joy of your voice." p. 41
There is one poem she refers to that really touched my heart one morning in the wee hours. Called Psalm Fragments by Denise Levertov, one line especially melted into my heart: "Yet You hold me minute by minute from falling". I felt a deep sigh of release as I cradled into those words (click HERE for the whole piece).
Then, for entertainment and distraction, I have been re-reading the series Her Majesty the Queen Investigates by S.J. Bennett. There are now five books in the series. The latest was delivered the other day and I am now in the middle of The Queen Who Came in from the Cold, a story set in 1961 when a murder is witnessed from the Royal Train.
And for some relaxed nature writing as we head into the winter season, I'm dipping into an old favourite, Winter, An anthology for the changing seasons, edited by Melissa Harrison. I find when I can't get out into nature directly, reading other people's descriptions about the changing seasons helps me imagine what I might see and hear and smell—and it's amazing how restorative that is.
So far, my other seasonal and Christmas books sit in small piles on the floor waiting until I can set them front and centre in our living room, for easy access by our comfy chairs as the nights draw closer. I do look forward to rereading some of my old holiday favourites again.
Otherwise, life is simple and focused on my mom. I will try to post next week - I won't promise. Please take care, and best wishes for a beautiful, grace-filled day.
❦
Heart hugs,
Brenda
Photo credits:
Image by Frauke Riether from Pixabay
My Blogging Schedule:
I post on Fridays
