A few years ago evidence was found that humans have been using fire for a million years.
A million years.
A million years of warmth.
A million years of cooking.
A million years of fires…
… and those moving flames are still captivating.
You would think a million years of experience ought to turn something mundane. Or, more realistically, a winter’s worth of fires in the wood stove, but I still get stuck watching the flames. Thanks PhoTrablogger for hosting another Mundane Monday Challenge!
I love going to the zoo.
The child in my heart loves the pure fun of seeing the animals.
The parent in me loves to see the wonder in my own children’s eyes.
The former raptor educator in me firmly believes that people have to see and experience an animal to care enough to really learn about it.
And the eavesdropping busybody in me loves to be appalled at the misinformation other parents bestow on their children.
It baffles me that people guess at the name of the animal before them when the enclosures are covered with signage. I cringe to hear a mother shout to her son that the caribou are moose.
But the biggest overheard misnomer was at the iguana enclosure.
A mother standing next to me was trying very hard to point out a snake that was in with the iguana. Her kids were looking but they couldn’t see it. I looked and didn’t see it. Then I looked at the signs (because that’s what I do at a zoo – read the signs) and didn’t see anything that said there was a snake in there. So I moved on, following my own kids. John however had a hunch. He stayed. He looked. He peered. He read signs. He listened to her describe the snake’s position in detail. It was confirmed. The mother was trying hard to show her children “snakes” of iguana poop.
Go to the zoo, bring a child, look at the wonder in their eyes, teach them something new.
It’s OK, you don’t need to worry about me, I’ll still love the zoo for all it’s fun, and wonder and education. It’ll be fine if you read the signs first.
Christmas Day we took a walk down to the unfrozen lake to catch a beautiful, peaceful and serene sunset.
At least, it looks that way after my efforts in Photoshop.
In actuality that moment, like the rest of our Christmas break, was full of kids (our three plus my two year old nephew), numerous dogs and not quite enough tired adults to field all the whining, barking, “Look at me!”‘s ,rolling in dead fish, crying and bouncing off the walls that was going on.
There has been a huge amount of material written about how we skew our internet presence to make our lives look better than they are. And to that I say, of course! I’m not taking a selfie in the clothes I’m wearing. Nobody wants to see the jeans I’ve been wearing for three days, combined with the top I worked out in, while I sport my “hairstyle” created through the subtle use of pony tails, sweat, and winter hats. Including me.
Including me.
I blog because I’m trying hard not to become one of the ferrets that eats it’s own young.
I blog because, if I look at this picture and squint just right, I can see all the fun, giggles, snuggling cousins and laughter that was mixed in the chaos.
I blog because sometimes, in the midst of the snot and the tears and the stinky dogs and the whining, it’s hard to remember that those happy moments are existing right along side. But if I share a moment like the one above, I’m sure to remember that life with kids is more than just accidents on the floor, snot on my shirt and sleepless nights.
I don’t need any help remembering what sort of mess I look like today, all that takes is a mirror.
Need a little inspiration when spending those amazon gift cards found under the tree? An idea for your next library visit? Something to read as you recover from the holiday?
Click on my gargoyle friend in the sidebar to scroll back though a year of book reviews. 
Follow this link to see the latest of my recommended reads.
Or click on the guy below to browse last five years of book reviews!
Then keep an eye out on Twitter over the next day or so as I revisit some of my favorites from the year.
I’ve heard said (from a favorite author of mine no less) that the best gift a reader can give an author is a book review. So, Merry Christmas to all my favorite authors! May you have a wonderful year of writing. After all, the best gift a reader can receive is a new great book!
Silently on Christmas Eve,
the turn of midnight’s key;
all the garden locked in ice —
a silver frieze —
except the winter cluster of the bees.
Flightless now and shivering,
around their Queen they cling;
every bee a gift of heat;
she will not freeze
within the winter cluster of the bees.
Bring me for my Christmas gift
a single golden jar;
let me taste the sweetness there,
but honey leave
to feed the winter cluster of the bees.
Come with me on Christmas Eve
to see the silent hive —
trembling stars cloistered above —
and then believe,
bless the winter cluster of the bees.
Merry Christmas and a special thank you to Annette for sending us this poem!
Jane turned four today!
Happy Birthday to our biggest little Frozen fan!
When I said I was hoping for a white Christmas…
…this wasn’t quite what I meant.
Jane: “Mom! Cut this foil and do everything for me that I want you to!”
Me: “Uhhh… No.”
Jane. “Ok, then I’ll do it.”
And that is why three going on four is a pretty fantastic age!
Note: I used this photo with the nicely blurred scissors so no grandma’s would have heart attacks when they saw how pointy they were. Aaaand also because I was so flabbergasted by her response I forgot about things like dark rooms and back-lighting when I went to document the situation.
High School Popularity Drama.
Big Oil.
Mermaids.
Three incongruous topics seamlessly melded together in one novel.
I know it sounds implausible, but I assure you not only is it true, but the book even includes a good dose of environmental lobbying, coming of age, and journalism in today’s online world.
I read this novel with what can only be described as awe that the author was not only able to pull off this plot line, but do it in a way that left me thinking, “Well, maybe it could happen…”
Then I got to the end.
I won’t spoil it for you, but it was one of those endings that left you satisfied that the book ended just exactly how it should have.
Would I recommend it? I didn’t much care for all the high school drama when I was in high school. I like it less now. It’s only because of that aspect of the book that I wouldn’t outright recommend it to my adult friends. But, I think back to myself as a teenager, and I would have loved this, drama and all. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to the young adults it was written for!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I discovered this book because I’m a proud member of Rosie’s Book Review Team!
Walk out our door and in three out of four directions you’ll find a field of corn stubble before you find a road. Take the fourth and you’ll need to walk down the driveway and cross the road before you hit the stubble.
This is a good thing, for I am a field watcher.
This isn’t my favorite time of year to watch the fields. It’s not like spring when you can watch to see the mist of green appear when the seedlings first come up. Nor is it like early summer when it feels like you can see the plants grow right before your eyes. The remains of the stalks have none of the sea rippling beauty of the tall plants in a late summer wind. Even late fall when a strong wind can send a twisting flurry of corn leaves through the air is more exciting than the fields at rest for winter.
But I still watch them.
The turkeys have flocked up for the winter. A group of twenty or more is hard to miss in a field of stubble, if you are looking. The deer stand out in silhouette on the field edges. And I am always looking, hoping to see them before they bound into the road.
Some afternoons (crazy, warm, rainy, December afternoons) when a little sun peeks through the dark, grey and blue storm clouds and sets the stalks to glowing, I watch them just because they are beautiful.
A field of corn stubble may be my most mundane-ish thing so far. Head over to PhoTrablogger and see who else is finding beauty in the mundane this week!
Behind the Willows 