My collection of Saint Nicholas/Father Christmas figurines seems to be dwindling, for reasons I can't explain. But here are some of them, out for the feast.
And more . . .
I like this Polish one, who actually looks as though he's supposed to be Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. But honestly, I like them all, silly or sacred or just strange in their turn, as figures for God's incarnational generosity. I love that every Christian culture --- almost --- has had some such figure for Christmastide gift-giving: the Swedish Tomten, the Magi who visit at Epiphany, the English Father Christmas. The Germans, of course, have the Christ Child himself. But all these others are his friends and servants, even if only in our imagination. We're a long way to Christmas yet (well, not really, not that I'm lying awake in a cold sweat about it or anything), but St. Nicholas Day, falling early in Advent, feels like a preparation of our hearts and imaginations for the flowering of that divine generosity in the mystery of the Nativity.
And even without any children at home, I still do these things. There's a lot I don't do anymore, but I put out my Father Christmas figures for Saint Nicholas Day for my own soul's benefit.
Here's Michelle LaRosa at The Pillar on Saint Nicholas, fiction and fact, including the provenance of that whole meme about punching Arius.
Christmas shopping continues. I found a pretty Scottish cashmere scarf on Poshmark for my mother, plus a Smartwool zip-up long-sleeved tee for my brother, who a) loves secondhand things, b) spends a lot of time outdoors, and c) doesn't to my knowledge own any wool yet. I bought a Bandi pocket belt for one of my traveling children, and a set of stainless-steel sheet pans for another. I still have a lot of my list to get through, but I'm thinking that some people are going to get canvas prints of Norway photos, which process I should probably set in motion today. There's a shot of my husband looking like a male model on "Norway's Most Beautiful Beach" --- I'm going to make a print of that for my mother-in-law.
St. Nicholas Day seems like a good day to get a lot of gift-shopping done.
The Artgirl's birthday was yesterday: my baby is twenty. No more teenagers in the EffYears household. That book is closed. We tend to use birthdays, rather than Christmas, as the time to give things that people ask for and/or really want, and/or are bigger-ticket items --- she had wanted a set of really nice headphones, so that's what she got, in a shade of rose-gold that matches her bass. Likewise, the Fire Son, whose birthday was All Souls, got a gift certificate to Wool& Prince, enough to buy himself a really nice shirt. Christmas, on the other hand, is when we have ten people, plus stockings . . . so the gifts tend to be smaller and sometimes quirkier. Father Christmas is not spending big bucks these days, because that's how things get out of control. But then everybody is giving gifts and getting gifts. There's just no need for individual extravagance, because the day itself is extravagant, and nobody is a little child anymore, with a child's highly specific dreams. Not that I don't miss having little children at Christmas, or yearn for a grandchild at all times of the year, but this is a nice feature of the all-adult Christmases which are our lot right now, not by anybody's conscious choice.
In other news, getting dressed . . . wearing, then styling my clothes.
Here I am, wearing a dress.
*Wool& Willow (medium long) in Ocean Teal.
Again, I love this dress --- but then I honestly think that about all my Wool& dresses. BUT there are things I particularly like about this dress: I like the 3/4-length sleeves, the open neckline, and the length. My Willow in Wisteria, worn on Monday, is a medium regular, and while I love that dress, I really prefer this length.
And she's great just as she comes. Next summer, this will be it: toss on this dress and a pair of sandals, and I'm out the door. This could really be enough, this one decision. Which dress? This one.
But it's chilly out today, so I need to make more decisions in any case. I could just throw on a pair of leggings and be done with it --- and that would be a decision, a a style choice. What I did decide to do is
*Wool& Willow dress
*Snag merino tights (size D), originally Sand Dollar, redyed Jacquard Sapphire
*Xero Tari boots
This too could be enough. Truly. It's still very simple, and I really did have to put something on my legs as well as my feet. I am dressed, wearing clothes. And there's even --- you could say --- some real style to this. The lines of the dress are nice, just as is. The tonal effect of the dress and tights, with the pop of contrast in the shoe: it works. It's not just random. I didn't think hard about this, and it required virtually zero effort, but clearly I'm not wearing my pajamas. I hope it's clear I'm not wearing my pajamas.
But then . . . well, for one thing, it's Advent, and you know me, so you know that more must be coming. So far I'm not wearing any purple. Where's my Advent purple? Also, it's chilly in the house, as well as outdoors. I could use another layer for function as well as style.
And so
I bought this purple cashmere poncho in the bougie consignment shop with Marly, back in September, when we were both resolving to be cute little old ladies, whatever exactly that meant to each of us. To me, among other things, it meant this poncho. I had been wanting a poncho for a long time, just because I think they're cool. This one pretty much literally fell off the hanger into my hands, and that was that. It's soft and airy, but a very warm layer. I don't really buy new cashmere, because of sustainability and animal-quality-of-life issues, but I don't mind buying it secondhand. If it's already floating around out there, and I like it, I will give it a home.
So I've had this poncho all fall, but not worn it until now. I will probably need to go for a pullover and scarf with my coat when I go outside, but for in the house, this is perfect. It's a light, warm, funky layer, and I really like it. AND it's something striking and unexpected with my basic outfit. The diagonal line feels flattering. The whole thing adds a little drama. And again, it was effortless. I was going to put on a sweater anyway, but I had this --- so why not choose it?
This is exactly the way I like for my wardrobe to work.
Damp-refreshed Day 3 hair --- again, I just got it wet under the shower attachment, leaning over the tub, which took about three seconds. I combed it out and scrunched in a little Treluxe Reflex Serum, then a little Not Your Mother's Curl Talk foam, another product I like a lot. It's good for a refresh: very light and, again, not really crunchy. I'm going to let my hair air-dry for another hour, then diffuse it the rest of the way dry before I go out to walk. Just noting this routine because it's working for me --- I was not happy with how my hair was looking on days when I didn't wash it, and I really didn't want to wash it every day, or otherwise spend a lot of time on it. This is quick and easy, and it just looks a lot better (I mean, not right now, because it's wet and kind of Medusa-like, but when it dries it will look a lot better than it did when I got out of bed).
Really, the great question of my life, and it is kind of an existential-level question, is: how do I look good without trying all that hard? And the answer is: maybe I don't look good to other people, but I'm figuring out what to do, without trying all that hard, so that I look good to myself.
And I think --- as maybe I've said before --- that my personal cute-old-lady aesthetic is something like "AARP Preschool." I'm not really ethereal and elven and folkloric, except in a kind of Hanna-Andersson-for-little-girls way. I can do some funky grownup things, like this poncho, but my basic vibe is "at last I can just dress the way I used to dress my daughters, and it won't be all that weird." I do love soft little elven boots, though. So I'm not totally devoid of that Rivendell spirit. I'm just a little old nursery child in Rivendell, that's all.
And now to glower at my novel while my hair dries, then go out for a good long stride with the dog in the winter sunshine.
LUNCHTIME UPDATE:
Per my step-counter app, because I bothered to carry my phone and then check it after, Dora and I walked for 51 minutes, covering 2.4 miles of reasonably hilly neighborhood terrain. We'll do a short outing sometime this afternoon, then our late-night half-hour-ish walk before bed.
Neighborhood creek in the sunshine. Just a little Lothlorien moment here in North Carolina.
It's not especially cold out, and the sun is bright, but the wind has an edge to it. I was glad of my puffer jacket, but stayed plenty warm while I walked, even when the wind was blowing hard. I was especially pleased to note how warm my merino tights kept my legs in the wind. Granted, these aren't below-freezing temperatures, but my legs do often get cold in, say, bamboo-cotton leggings, which I otherwise love. These Snag tights are thin, and really a case of you get what you pay for, but I am always happy with how they perform nevertheless. I love being outside, but I loathe being cold --- it's so good to have clothes that let me enjoy the outdoors year-round in my admittedly gentle climate.
And now to work.
LATE-AFTERNOON UPDATE:
I've written an essay and a half (short ones, but still), plus about 500 novel words. I've also put my bedspread into the washing machine to dye. It's a white matelasse spread that came from my mother's, and it had been growing dingy around the edges, and sustained some faint stains that weren't coming out with much washing. So I procured some green Rit dye, and now the bedspread is bathing in it. Just another easy craft day around here, folks . . . really, as projects go, this is ludicrously easy. It's just a big thing.
It's been soaking in the dye for over an hour, so in a few minutes I think I'll go out and let the machine go through its cycle, then wash, then see where we are. I think it's going to be a pretty light green in the end, but I hope it's a pretty light green, if you know what I mean.
The wind out there is getting colder --- I went out with Dora briefly a while ago, without my coat on, which was a mistake. Tonight is looking like being fairly bitter. I think our projected low is 25F, which is not cold to people in North Dakota, but is cold enough for me.