Reading through The Prophet...

Friendship

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.

He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.

If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?

Seek him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. 


The Prophet,

Khalil Gibran

Christmas Tree: Take 1

  The last three years, I’ve been welcomed into the homes of friends and shared in their decorations. Christmas at the Lagans has grown into something of a tradition now. I hope I can keep it this year but I’m not sure.

  In any event, putting up a tree this year was symbolic for me. Recognizing that this was home. The holidays always make me homesick. And for some reason in recent months, where home is has grown fuzzy. So this is my way of making 'here' home.

  That and the fact that it is my turn to give.  To have friends over.  To welcome people into my house and give others the gift of friendship and love that has so generously been given me at this season in the past.

 So here goes.  

 Take 1. Christmas at John’s. 

 First step, setting up the tree.  Perhaps strange and somewhat unclear how decorating an evergreen came to be linked with the birth of Christ. But since it is and reminds so many of us of time with our families during this season, definitely a necessary step. 

Trussed up and hostage.

Getting the ornaments in place.

Firguring out the tree mount. The carpet, I guess is going to look like I have a big green dog for the next month :P

...lights....and the fun part!

     

 And it's done....for now at least, I guess I can keep throwing things on :)!

And now the whole living room has a lovely pine tree smell!

Come vist!

 And finally, a couple of quotes about this season.

I do believe in remembering the significance of Christmas and not some nebulous notion of giving, celebrating and feasting.  But even those very activities celebrate the fact of grace given to us at this time.

 Happy advent!

"I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses."

Taylor Caldwell

"Christmas, in its final essence, is for grown people who have forgotten what children know. Christmas is for whoever is old enough to have denied the unquenchable spirit of man."

Margaret Cousins

First Thanksgiving in Baltimore

  I finally have time off.

 My second whole weekend off since July. 

 A few days where I don’t have to wake up with an alarm clock after four or five hours of sleep.  Of course, my eyes flap wide open at 5:45 out of sheer habit but it’s nice to know I can go back to sleep.

  I thought I’d drive up to Connecticut for the break but I’ve just had too little sleep and too little slowing down time in general that I decided that this was precisely what I was going to do.

  Sleep. Read a book from beginning to end. Have no sense of urgency whatsoever. Go out to meet friends whenever. Eat more than a couple of bites on the run for a change.

  It’s been lovely, the whole first day of that ; )!

  Here are some pics from Thanksgiving. Clare, my lovely Irish co-fellow and I went for a walk around Fell’s Point and then later we all met up at David and Courtney’s for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner that they pulled together. Inspite of the fact that they both worked 10-14 days without a break right into Thanksgiving. Just saying that you’re never too busy to show love. If you really want to. Just saying.

 Hope you all had a blessed time to remember all the good things in your lives!

One of the many quaint Fell's Point buildings.

Lovely Clare trying to look for a coffee shop open on Thanksgiving.  Outside Blue Moon Cafe which was shut inspite of promising to be open on Thanksgiving :)!

Baltimore's redeeming point for me. It's proximity to the water.

A future destination for sure!

At Dave and Courtney's

Their adorable dog Pepper.

The hospitable Keckichs

Such a pretty rustic house

Apple pie courtesy Dave

The succulent bird

Food and wine always make for great conversation. 

Dave shoulda been a surgeon

The tolerated single guy

Carnage

The fabulous Irish

When I can I'm definitely getting a dog!

Clare's picture of Patrick...very GQ Clare :)!

On remembering how big and different this world is...

I've been meaning to do this over the last week. Slow down and look at the pictures of places I've been to. And I'd like to share my favorite ones. Obviously they're more special to me because I remember the day and what it felt like at the moment and the place. But I like them and so I'm going to share them as I come across them. Here are a bunch from my trip to Peru last year.

At Machu Pichu

Lionel...one of the three llamas that roamed Machu Picchu...and added to the mystery of it i.e. how llama scat was present on narrow window sills.

Again at Machu Pichu

It was a misty day when I visited but I thought it added to the sense of mystery

One of the many plazas in Cusco

A girl and her alpaca..all dressed up for the tourists. 

One of my favourite things to do in Cusco ... just sit around and take it in.

At Plaza de Armas in Cusco by night

Again, taking Cusco in at the Plaza de Armas

Miraflores, Lima

If I can't have my own dragon, perhaps one day a falcon?

Faro de la Marina,  Miraflores

El Parque del Amor, Lima