Winter and waiting

OH MY GOODNESS, it's cold. SOOOOO cold. I had to go in to Drum on Monday morning so we all went to take Donovan to school and grocery shop, etc. Our thermostat on the car said -37 ! That's -35 Fahrenheit! No kidding. And it didn't warm up until we drove home at noon to about -27. Goodness. We hadn't gone shopping for a long time. Our fridge and cupboards were nearly bare, so we stalked up for the next blizzard. In fact, we spent more than we have ever spent on groceries. -- Enough to win 2 free frozen turkeys!

Now our pantry is loaded and we're staying warm best we can. Too close to a window is not good. There is ice INSIDE all our windows. But we're fine. And it is truly beautiful out with all the super white snow and blue sky...

Yesterday Dave and I went with Rosebud students into Calgary to Heritage Park where we sang for a large audience seated at dinner tables. The venue was spectacular. There was an old fashioned plane suspended from the long ceiling. Everything was clean and new in an antique-y sort of way. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I didn' t think of it until I had to scurry out of my dress and back into my cuddleduds to catch the frigid bus back home. So this car picture is from the downstairs holding room where we ate and chatted and my lovely students played a prank on me by stealing my precious Nanaimo bar!

Then.... on the way home I saw a bright orange glow in the night sky, low on the horizon. We could only see out of the driver's window since all the others kept icing over. I thought, "could that be the moon?" "No." --It WAS!!

It was SO HUGE and SO ORANGE. We saw it rise and kept thinking it was a full moon partly covered in clouds, but no -- it was a third moon lying on it's back. Who ever thought? It was stunning. This measly picture taken 6 rows back in a crowded bus does NOT do it justice. We called it "the big orange slice in the sky." It's as magical as Northern Lights when it starts out so big and unweildly on the edge of the horizon like that. Wonderful.

I made Davey sing with me a bit. I could hear a few folks singing around me amidst the muffled conversations and I remembered travelling on school busses as a kid. Growing up I always rode the bus to school, but it was the city bus, and you couldn't always get everyone to sing. Whenever I was on a yellow school bus, however, it was my whole class and we were going on a field trip and THEN we sang sang sang sang sang. I would sing until I was hoarse. I bet it was awful for the bus driver. "Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall..." Ha.

So, we had an unusual Monday and now we're having an unusual Tuesday. It's getting to that time of year where every day starts to feel unusual: special, but fearful; stressful, but fun.

Last Sunday Dave's Sunday School Class did the Advent readings in church. They had each decorated a letter in the word PEACE and then Dave read and even sang a bit from Godspell: "Pre-pare ye, the way of the Lord. Pre-pare ye, the way of the Lord!" It made us want to respond.

The boys are cranky today (well, I guess we all are with little sleep.) I hope we can hang in there and enjoy this season even with its busyness.

One thing's for sure: it sure looks like Christmas.

We're like our Nativity set. All these bulky kings and shepherds and animals trying to get a view of the Saviour, the King of the Jews. We're bigger than the stable we've put him in. It's stifling. Let him come out and breathe and see the world that will one day be his. We're all waiting like we know the story, but we don't know what's coming. We need to watch the skies, not the manger.

Our skies are brilliantly cold with tiny sparkles. The air is dry and the hills are white.

I sigh inside and I sink a bit when I think of all I'm accountable for and want to do well. Then I know that if I just take one task at a time, I will do well.

The moon is up there, and it may surprise me.

The advent message this week is peace.

Peace is what my main character in my play is seeking. It's what the bells are ringing, ringing, ringing, even through war and loss and death. Peace on earth, good will to men (and little girls who lose their moms at age five.)

It's all connected. If I just stop and listen long enough.

If I just wait.