Meet Duke!

My name is Duke. I am sort of a black lab and I am sweet. Yesterday was my Dad's birthday but I'm the one who got all the presents. I like birthdays!

Happy Birthday Scott!

Laundry

I do a load of laundry every morning.

There’s something about doing laundry that makes me feel good. The draw might be the warmth of the clothes right out of the dryer. Maybe it’s the scent of Downy that reminds me of peaceful places.

Really, I mostly think that doing laundry makes me feel like I’m taking care of the people that I love in a very practical, yet intimate way.

Every morning after the washer finishes spinning, I open the dryer door and throw the damp clothes in for their next adventure. The last thing I do before closing the door is to remove the lint screen and roll up the lint to toss it into the garbage.

It's at this point that I have exactly the same thought – every day.

It must have been ten years ago or more that I read something that the Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman said and it has stayed with me ever since. He was making a list of things he was thankful for and one of them was that there was just enough moisture on your hands from clean laundry to pull the lint out of the dryer screen.

Why do I think of that every day??

It’s entirely possible that there’s a part of my brain that suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Wouldn’t surprise me at all. It also occurs to me that it might be a spiritual nudging towards gratitude.

Meister Eckhart, 14th century theologian and mystic, said that “if the only prayer you ever said was thanks, it would suffice.” I believe that could be true.

There are a huge variety of words, thoughts and feelings that relate to gratitude – the continuum stretches from greed to jealousy; from the inability to notice the sacred around us to feelings of entitlement and selfishness. The idea of gratitude also includes feelings and actions associated with appreciation, acceptance and satisfaction.

Most of us spend a good part of our days wanting something more. Something better. Something different. We can’t be grateful because we’re too busy making comparisons and coveting other possibilities. We are either angry and disappointed about yesterday or anxious about tomorrow.

This morning I held a clean sweatshirt up to my face and inhaled the sweet, warm scent. For that single moment gratitude was enough.

Spotlight to Heaven

On my way to work this morning I looked east and saw a sunrise that looked like a spotlight to heaven.

Noticing

This was the view from the inside of my car window this morning at sunrise.



"The frost never paints my windows twice alike." ~ Lydia Maria Child

Winter at 45 Pines

"No one can look at a pine tree in winter without knowing that spring will come again in due time."
– Frank Bolles

Juno Regina and Hemlock Ring Blanket

This is the project I worked on for about three weeks around Christmas. I finished it on New Year's Eve but only got around to blocking it yesterday afternoon.



I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The pattern is Juno Regina by Miriam Felton from the fall issue of Knitty.com. I knit it in Knit Picks Shine - burgundy, size 5 needles.

I plan to wear it to the theater when we go see the Lion King in March!

That is my "good" project! My "bad" one is the Hemlock Ring Blanket. Jared Flood re-worked an vintage doily pattern to make a very interesting and beautiful lap blanket. The pattern is wonderful. . .my choices left quite a bit to be desired.



For the first time in my knitting life I went with a cheap yarn choice. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease. 80% acrylic, 20% wool. IT WON'T BLOCK! I soaked it. Pinned it. Finally ironed it.

Lesson learned. . .you get what you pay for.

I've ordered and received Cascade Eco Wool to do this beauty again!

Finished!

Yesterday I finished reading "Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's" by John Elder Robison.

It's the autobiographical account of a man who lived his entire life on the margins before finally receiving a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome (a very high functioning form of autism) in his mid 40's. He never understood why he didn't fit in - at school or with friends - and the book is a very honest and funny account of his struggles. He takes you inside his head where he very easily describes what it feels like to see yourself as defective.

Robison writes in the same manner in which people with Asperger's speak - clipped, to the point and without drama. Some of the most moving parts of this book were his attempts to describe emotions which he deeply felt, but didn't have the ability to communicate.

This book also introduces us to Robison's younger brother Chris, whom he left to the mercy of their crazy parents. Chris Robison would later change his name to Augusten Burroughs and write the bestselling memoir "Running with Scissors."

I really enjoyed this book. It was like peeking behind a curtain and beginning to understand the gracefulness and amazing complexity of the human mind.

Less Fear

In the last week three people have asked if I intend to write for this blog any more. I told them I didn’t know.

I’m not exactly sure why I stopped writing. I think it mostly has to do with the fact that I wanted this to be a place where I could express myself without censorship. Turns out that’s harder than it sounds.

But, I have some kind of need to express myself that won’t go away so here I sit. Again.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to return to writing with my goals for a new year. They aren’t resolutions. Just ideas. And they revolve around the need to live, write and love with less fear in 2008.

I found the perfect expression of my desire in the writings of Franklin Habit, author of my favorite knitting blog “The Panopticon.” He was writing about creating things with sticks and string without using a pattern – just your imagination and an idea.

“I've decided it boils down to having these things at your command:
1 enough curiosity to want to deviate from written patterns, or make up your own;
2 a willingness to pause and examine what's in front of you;
3 a willingness to try different approaches until you create what pleases you;
4 a working knowledge of basic moves in knitting, including increases, decreases, and the basic effects on the fabric created by knit, purl, and y/o;
5 patience; and
6 the understanding that it's just knitting, it's done one stitch at a time at your own pace, and you can undo it if you don't like it.”

From “The Panopticon,” January 6, 2008 by Franklin Habit, www.the-panopticon.blogspot.com

Curiosity. Really looking at where you are and where you want to go. The courage to try new things. Basic moves. Patience. One day follows the next and each one is mine, to live the way I need to.

I feel better already.