Seinfeld - The Full Story Of Festivus [HD]

f you are a Seinfeld fan, you will love this. Needless to say, I still think Seinfeld was the most brilliant TV series ever produced!

Happy Festivus Everyone!

Santa Claus is coming to town!!

Last night Santa Claus came to Cahoots Coffee Cafe. We (Crystal from Cahoots and Mrs. Claus) planned an evening for families, but we had no idea how many would actually show up! We had wall to wall babies, children, and families. There were no chairs or beanbags left by 7:00. It was a wonderful evening for all. I told stories for half an hour with babies crawling all around and nine year old boys snickering. 

On the last line of Twas the Night Before Christmas when I said, "But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight,...." Santa appeared with a Ho,Ho Ho and the last line of the famous poem.

Oh my! The children did squeal with delight. It was quite wonderful. There were cookies (4 cases donated by the Girl Scouts!) and milk for all the children. I think it is these kinds of events that make us all believe in Christmas. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

At the end of the evening, Jonah and I finally had our turn to see Santa. 

I want to thank Ken and Karen Shelton for being the best Mr. and Mrs. Claus on this side of the globe. I am sure at the end of last night they were glad to head back up to the North Pole and get to work and have a much longed for rest!

Happy Christmas to all!!

Solstice

solstice morning dawns

between the dark and the light

balancing the earth

Today is one of my favorite days as the northern hemisphere begins its descent back to summer. I am one of the unusual folks who love long winter nights. Maybe it is because it is the only time I feel it is okay to curl up with a great book or a good movie. In the summer we are out and about working the garden...the earth.

On Saturday evening friends gathered in this old house to celebrate this festive event. We recited poetry, drummed about out thoughts, lit candles on the Christmas tree, sang old songs, sat around the campfire, and ate each other's cooking. It was a night of celebrating, of holding hands and hearts thinking about what really is important in this life.

So today, take a few minutes from your busy day to reflect on this spectacular world we live in and light a candle for peace.

Lou Ann

Visitor shares life of homelessness at holidays...

Visitor shares life of homelessness at holidays - KPCNews: Kpcnews

Dear Friends,

Here is the link to this week's column. I hope you enjoy it. It was a labor of love to write this one.

All you have to do is click on the above KPC link and there it is.

I was also fortunate enough to be able to do a video interview with Tim. We talked for a long time before I asked, and he was more than willing. I made it into a youtube video. I hope you like the video as well. 

As always,

Lou Ann

Stopping by a woods on a snowy evening...

Enjoy this reading by Robert Frost himself!

I took this photo last year during a horse-drawn wagon ride in my hometown.
Tonight there are rides from 5:30-8...don't miss it!

Our Town...

This photo was taken by Tonya Lonsbury a few days ago on her way out of town. She stopped to snap the photo and to reflect on growing up in this town. I love the photo and I loved her reflections about childhood.

I guess it doesn't matter where we grow up...home is home. 

It always makes me think of Thornton Wilder's words from Our Town. I am sure you know the play well, but in case you have forgotten, here are a few words from the last scene.

Being grateful is important wherever we are and whatever we do. On this third day of December, I take time to reflect...

Lou Ann

“EMILY: "Does anyone ever realize life while they live it...every, every minute?"

STAGE MANAGER: "No. Saints and poets maybe...they do some.” 

― Thornton Wilder, Our Town

The little ones can see right to your soul...

The little ones can see right to your soul...

Here is the link to this week's column. It was certainly written with 

much love. I hope you also enjoy it. Just click on the above

link. As always, thank you for reading.

Lou Ann

I took this photo of Brianna right after our "deep talk."

November's storm with a little poetry!

Ah, so the weekend's storm came as a bit of a surprise. There were a few inches predicted, but as the day wore on, the forecast changed and the accumulation began. 

I was to have gone to Detroit to visit the Museum of Art, but something told me the weather would deteriorate, and I would be stranded somewhere in Michigan. I was right!

By early evening,events were canceled in town, the toll road closed, and it looked like a snow globe out my windows.

I had a call in the early evening from a young couple traveling west from Vermont to Idaho, but couldn't get through. Yes, I had a room for them, and yes, come on over. It was fun letting them in and sharing travel stories. I had a feeling that someone would need shelter on that night.

We had a record low of 11 degrees last night, and it was late in the evening when I realized I had not shut off the outside valve for the hose. Hopefully I saved myself some frozen pipes.

By dark last night I put on my winter cleats (how did I survive without them?) and crossed the street to my neighbor's house. We sat and chatted until the candles burned low eating a late night supper which is always my favorite.

Here are a few photos from the weekend. They were all taken from my front and back porches!

During the storm I entertained myself quite nicely. I finished a library book, practiced on my ukulele, made soup, and watched reruns of Downtown Abby! I also read poetry and worked on my on-line class from Yale...seriously.

I chose for you a poem from Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill. It was originally published in 1961. Each color poem is a delight. I chose white for this day, of course!

What is White?

White is a dove

And lily of the valley

And a puddle of milk

Spilled in an alley--

A ship's sail

A kite's tail

A wedding veil

Hailstones and

Halibut bones

And some people's 

Telephones.

The hottest and most blinding light

Is white.

And breath is white

When you blow it out on a frost night.

White is the shining absence of all color

Then absence is white

Out of touch

Out of sight.

White is marshmallow

And vanilla ice cream

And the part you can't remember

In a dream.

White is the sound

Of a light foot walking.

White is a pair of

Whispers talking,

White is the beautiful

Broken lace

Of snowflakes falling

On your face.

You can smell white

In a country room

Toward the end of May

In the cherry bloom.

Mary O'Neill

I’m longing for a return trip to Paris...

I’m longing for a return trip to Paris - KPCNews: Kpcnews

Here we are...the five women who spent ten days in Paris. I think this photo was before our luggage arrived! It was my second time to Paris as you will read in the column.

This is my weekly column. Just click on the above link and enjoy.

As always, thank you for reading!

So, have you been to Paris lately?

All 154 sonnets...

It was just a normal day biking to school. I love wearing my Ophelia dress with a crown of flowers in my hair! Today was our Sonnet-a-thon at Trine University. The event began at 8:00 this morning and was finished by 1:45.

Two out of my four classes read sonnets. We practiced ahead of time because the sonnets can be difficult. First of all, the students looked amazing with nice dresses for the girls and jackets and bow ties for the gentlemen. 

We read all 154 sonnets today. It is amazing to listen to them from beginning to end. 

This is Megan Miller and she was the only other person to dress in Elizabethan garb. She belongs to the local Renaissance group here in town. I don't remember where I found my dress, but the crown was from a festival in Texas. I love wearing it.

So here we are after the event in the gallery. My caption for this photo is Ophelia meets Queen Elizabeth.

It is a little early for Shakespeare (usually in the spring) but it is being taught this semester.

We plan to have a larger celebration in April as will everyone else! We are hoping to bring actor/storyteller Tim Mooney in for his show of Breakneck Hamlet. I have been having a conversation with him about it, but wouldn't you know, he is in London performing Shakespeare!

So, what is your favorite sonnet? 

Until tomorrow.

November's beauty...

Yesterday was one of those perfect days that we see in October, yet it is November. I spent the afternoon working in the yard getting ready for winter. We say that phrase a lot up north...getting ready for winter. Sometimes it feels as if I am out on a farm getting all the crops in including the hay.

The truth is I once upon a time did live on a farm so I know the real meaning of getting ready for winter. But for me it is simply the raking of the leaves, the draining of the rain barrel, and putting away the garden tools. I still have out a small table and chairs. I don't know what I am waiting for but I do sit out and night for the late night glass of wine. The fire ring and chairs remain as well for those late night campfires which I love.

While working in the yard yesterday I noticed how lovely the trees are without their leaves. I took this photo of one of my crab apple trees. The beauty was stark against the blue sky. And look...there is a lovely bird's nest sitting atop the tree. I wonder what bird lived there this summer and did that sweet lovely bird raise a family and watch me work in the garden day by day?

It reminded me a poem by Emily Dickinson:

A Bird, came down the Walk - 

He did not know I saw -

He bit an Angle Worm in halves

And ate the fellow, raw, 

And then, he drank a Dew

From a convenient Grass -

And then hopped sidewise to the Wall

To let a Beetle pass -

He glanced with rapid eyes,

That hurried all abroad -

They looked like frightened Beads, I thought,

He stirred his Velvet Head. - 

Like one in danger, Cautious,

I offered him a Crumb,

And he unrolled his feathers, 

And rowed him softer Home -

Than Oars divide the Ocean,

Too silver for a seam,

Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,

Leap, splashless as they swim. 

Until tomorrow.

All I need...

Miss Columbia

I am like most of you...absolutely paralyzed when grief comes to our world. I know it comes daily, but when it is foremost in the news, I am unmovable. My friends know this about me, and try to coax me out of my anxiety.

It is good to grieve. We must do it. We must cry as that is how we remain human.

I was glued to the television set yesterday as were most of you until my sister called asking to meet me in Fort Wayne for a movie. "No," I replied, "it seems so wrong."

And it did seem wrong to me. How dare I see a movie...eat popcorn...chat about the family with grief so rampant in our world? But then I changed my mind. It would be good to sit side by side with my sister who understands me so well. It would be good to laugh with her and share popcorn. So I did.

I drove home slowly watching for deer as it is that time of year. When I pulled in to my town I knew I would have to go to Miss Columbia. I think she is often my Holy Ground. I pulled into a parking spot, got out of the car, and spent time thinking. The sky grew dark and full of color. Luckily I had my camera and snapped a shot. I got to thinking about her. She is our Eiffel Tower...our Rockefeller Center...our Mount Rushmore.

It isn't much really in the scheme of the world. We have a small town, a few shops, some nice schools, some old houses...

But it is what we have, and it is where I feel safe and secure. It is where I don't lock my house or my car. It is where friends are free to gather at my house any time of day when I am home or not. It is where I come at night to put on the kettle and live my simple life.

I am so grateful for this simple life...not much, but all I need.

Until tomorrow.

To Paris With Love...

I visited you a few years ago. There were four of us...all women. We stayed for ten days attending concerts, touring museums, and falling in love with you.

We traveled to Monet's gardens, rode the Ferris wheel, and drank your sweet wine.

Nights found us on small boats on the Seine River and up into the Eiffel Tower to see Paris at night. Never once were we afraid...never once.

I will come back to Paris, and I will not be afraid. 

We, who have seen your lights, will see them again.

In the meantime, we lift you up in prayers, in thoughts, and in our conversations with our friends. 

Lou Ann