There are times when hindsight gives a clarity that is astounding… I should have voted with the doctor for stitches rather than voting for no stitches. Her wisdom has been so correct…she gave me two scenarios: One: get stitches, likely lose my nail, but my finger would heal faster…but likely probably with more pain. Two: no stitches, perhaps keep my nail, heal slower, but with less pain… and here I am more than a week in and my finger is still not healed and still not fully functional. My frustration level is moving towards the “off the charts” realm and I am sick of the entire process of healing/cleaning/bandaging/etc. (And while I can sort of type… mainly it is an activity that increases my frustration level!)
If ever there was a need in my life for poetry, it is this morning. And today… I am sharing two poems that I truly love. The first, In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti. This poem has always been one of my favorite hymns, but I did not know about Christina or her poetry until I did some research on the poem. Below is a very unique version of the hymn… which is usually sung by a boys choir (and quite beautifully, I might add) but there was something just stunning about this rendition.
And how can one ease into winter without a bit of Robert Frost? This poem sort of sums up my week ahead… I have miles to go before I can be ready for Christmas! lol
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by ROBERT FROST
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I wish I could tell you that my making was on fire… but instead I have to tell you that I have mucked up my making but good. Monday afternoon I had a wee accident (okay, maybe not so tiny) with a bread knife… which meant I spent some time in urgent care. The good news… no stitches… the bad news, my finger is not working at all in the way it should. I, however, am following the doctor’s advice… keep the enormous bandage on (until this morning) and keep it dry! (I will spare you any gory details beyond that…but it was plenty of that!)
So… I am short and sweet on typing today because who knew an index finger could be so integral to that task!
But!! I have managed a couple of rounds on a hat… so there’s that!
But no sock knitting. No spinning. And no Gnome-ing!! Boo hoo!
The reading this week though… I went from The Sentence to my current book… The Lincoln Highway. Can a year of reading end in a better way?
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I never imagine that I can possibly love the latest Erdrich book more than the last (or more than the Master Butcher’s Singing Club, which to date has been my favorite) but then I read The Sentence.
Wow. Brilliant writing! Captivating! Relevant. Timely… and so compelling. I struggled to put it down!
I have just one thing to say… read this book, ASAP!
I hope to be back on Friday…
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
When it seems like the world is collapsing in on itself and bad news is all around, poetry provides a respite that nothing else can.
The bird that came to my mind as I read Mary Oliver’s poem was a Cedar Waxwing with their distinctive white outline around their eyes. (and thanks to Pexel I found a photo to share on a morning as I am fresh out of Cedar Waxwing photos!)
This morning my thoughts are full of all those devastated by the spate of tornadoes that tore across so many states.
It’s been a week, hasn’t it? Is it just me and does it feel like we are racing on to mid-December, except that December just began?! Fortunately, the mailbag has a letter or two to share!
Dear December Weather:
Mild is nice… in January, but I really like wintry Decembers…kthxbai
Dear PowerPoint Insurrectionists,
I am not sure if you all missed the zillions of company trainings that included a PowerPoint presentation from back in the ’90’s… but they were entire snorefests. Really… I think the response is clinically known as “Insta-tune out” but your feeble attempt did provide some hilarious fodder for the Twitterverse this week. I mean… I think we all have experienced Death by PowerPoint at least once in our lives. I am just insanely grateful you have not discovered the more engaging PowerPoint Alternatives! Back in the day, the most engaging Prezi was my go to training device… just sayin’.
This week you found such joy in the simple things like turning a heel and neatly picked up gusset stitches. But the greatest joy ever might have been found in a wee little Gnome Hat complete with a pocket! I love your thoughts on adding a bit of whimsical stitching to embellish that pocket with a tiny snow flake! You go girl!
Signed,
One Whimsically Happy Knitter
And with that… I will leave you all to enjoy your weekend! See you all back here on Monday!
This week has all been about “bite sized bits of knitting” in my house… you know, the things that are easy to pick up and put down.
I have the attention span of a gnat these days and so I am shuffling between the heel flap of a sock, the ribbing of a hat brim (sorry no picture of that hat), and (thanks to Vicki) a “Gnew Gnome”! (also… sorry about the dog hair on the yarn… that is life with a Pug who thinks that they must be next to you/under you/on top of you… in other words, zero separation… when doing all things!)
I have had a spate of Zoom meetings recently that, while enjoyable, were a very good reminder of how nice it is to have a small project (or three) to work on while Zooming.
And The Christmas Explosion was not such a huge explosion at all this year. Why, even the tree is done! Woo! I debated doing some heavy decorating in the dining room… but after thinking about it over the course of several days, I let that decorating go! (Yes, sometimes release is just what I need to do! Ha!) It is enough to have some candles on the table… more than enough.
So there you have my knitting update… now for the reading!
This book! Amazing! Brilliant! And perfect for the reader who wants to learn how to read better!
I listened and I confess that once Saunders gave his “class” on the Russian story, I went back and listened to the story again. It was fascinating what I picked up the second time through with Saunders notes in my mind.
Also… who knew I would like Russian literature so much!
This book is absolutely in the top 5 of books read this year and I highly recommend!
I am not quite sure how I feel about this book. I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did… The story is somewhat engaging (not quite believable, but engaging) but the ending was such a let down.
Your mileage may vary.
What about you… what’s on your making list this week? I will see you all back here on Friday!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
I thought that for the month of December, it might be nice to spend Monday’s with a bit of poetry. I hope you find this a lovely way to start your week!
(And this week is a Two-fer because Jack Ridl sent this yesterday and it is just too good to not share and included is the sound clip of him reading it)
