Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008. My friend and colleague, Susan, designed and created this quilt just for Mattie. Mattie loved it and I still use the quilt even today. Mattie was indeed our "Super Mattie!"












Quote of the day: She is nine, beloved, as open-faced as the sky and as self-contained. I have watched her grow. As recently as three or four years ago, she had a young child's perfectly shallow receptiveness; she fitted into the world of time, it fitted into her, as thoughtlessly as sky fits its edges, or a river its banks. But as she has grown, her smile has widened with a touch of fear and her glance has taken on depth. Now she is aware of some of the losses you incur by being here--the extortionary rent you have to pay as long as you stay. ~ Annie Dillard

It was a glorious weather day in Southern California today. The high was close to 70 degrees and the sun was shining brightly against the most beautiful blue sky. It is ironic that in 24 hours I will be back in Washington, DC and experiencing a completely different climate.

Unlike Mattie, I hate air travel! I find it harrowing and I dislike being in a confined space with a lot of people. But mostly the movement of the plane makes me feel sick. I can safely say that my fear of air travel increased significantly since Mattie's death. There are a lot of things now which affect my comfort zone, and airplanes are at the top of the list.

My mom and I did our usual walk today. This is something that I will miss, because I am NOT inspired to walk when it is cold outside. I went out to lunch with my parents and we talked about a miniseries that I introduced them to entitled, Titanic Blood and Steel. As my faithful readers know, I am fascinated by the Titanic and this 12 episode miniseries was just fantastic. I think a part of me understood the cultural and religious tensions the series portrayed in Belfast because I visited this city in August. But even without knowing a thing about Belfast, this series brings you up to speed quickly!

If my readers get the Encore channel, I HIGHLY recommend the miniseries. It gives you a fictionalize account of the challenges of building the Titanic, but it does it in a compelling way. You completely get absorbed into the lives of each of the characters and it helps you understand the devastation families must have suffered when their loved ones died on the Titanic. Remember most of the working class passengers on the Ship were pioneers. They had the courage to leave their home countries to establish a life of FREEDOM for themselves in America. Any case, if you want to read more about this breathtakingly done series, follow this link: http://www.starz.com/originals/titanicbloodandsteel

I am signing off for today, with the hopes of returning to DC safely tomorrow. My next posting will be from home.