"I had my own blog for a while ...

posted by Helen

... but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant barking," says one dog to another in the New Yorker cartoon.

I haven't been blogging much because I've been doing most of my pointless, incessant barking at Dave. It has been a tough month and I haven't wanted to dwell in writing on what are mostly minor problems in the grand scheme of things.

And here it is just about February. I've always held that February is the longest month because it falls at that point when it seems as if winter will go on forever. Since our winter weather didn't start until quite late this year, I am hoping February will not be the usual long trudge across Siberia.

In the meantime, I promised Jared I would publish a link to the videos he recorded at the Tuesday night Acoustic Coalition at Marshland Farm. Come in from the cold and sit by the fire with us for a while.

One Big Rock

posted by Helen

Shortly after the last post, it became quite clear that I had just one big rock in the jar right now and it is called work. After working pretty hard for a couple of weeks, we took off for Albuquerque and KlubFest 2007.

For the uninitiated, "Klub" (pronounced "klooooooobe") is a potato dumpling cooked in ham broth. This is a shot of Dave and two of his sisters discussing the proper ratio of shredded potato to flour. Making (and eating) Klub is a Norwegian tradition passed down to Dave and his siblings by their mom.

The best part about KlubFest 2007 was spending time with family. Visiting Albuquerque and Santa Fe for the first time was an added bonus. And the Klub was pretty good, too.

Choose your rocks carefully

posted by Helen

I'm not much for making big, dramatic new year's resolutions, but this does seem to be a good time of year to reflect on how I operate in this world and what I can do to improve.

Bob Fox was in town over the holiday weekend. Over coffee and muffins at the Downer's Mill Deli, he gave me an interesting way to think about my priorities. Let's say your life is a jar. How you fill it is up to you. It might seem that there isn't a lot of room in that jar. Who doesn't feel like they don't have enough time to do everything they have to do?

If you start by filling the jar with water, you're going to find you have no room for anything else. But if you start with rocks, you can fill in the spaces around the rocks with pebbles. Then you can pour some sand in there and it will fill in the spaces around the pebbles. And then, finally, you can put in the water and you have room enough. But you have to start with the important things—the rocks. This week I'm thinking about what the rocks are in my life.

posted by Helen

"Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes--
Some have gotten broken--and carrying them up into the attic.
The holly and mistletoe must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school. There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week--
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted--quite unsuccessfully--
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away,
Begging though to remain His disobedient servant,
The promising child who cannot keep his word for long."
- W.H. Auden For the Time Being