Saturday, December 24, 2022
In bed @ 9:30, awake at 3:15, up at 3:30. Let Lilly out into 5 degree temperature with steady wind of 24 mph out of the West, wind chill of minus 18. She was happy to come in and to go directly back to bed. I emptied the dishwasher, recycling and trash containers. Sunrise 7:21, sunset 4:21, 9 hours of daytime. . . By @ 4:30, Geri was up and about, unable to sleep. Big dinner tomorrow. By 5, Lilly was up and schnorring for some treats. Gonna be a napping day for all of us.
New painting. A handmaid, a la the television series based on Margaret Atwood's dystopia, to which we have moved a step closer with Sammy Alito's and the Supremes' decision in Dobbs.
It's a bit blasphemous but I think of The Handmaid's Tale in thinking about Christmas, the Virgin Birth, and the Annunciation. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy will." Luke 1: 37-38. Many years ago, I did a painting of my conception (no pun intended) of the Annunciation. It was not a happy picture by any means, rather a horror show.
More recently I did a very crude collage based on the Annunciation, again grounded on an understanding of what awaited her as the Mother of God, as told by the gospel evangelists.
The central image is of Renee Falconetti in her title role in Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc. I glued screws and nails onto the inkjet image to illustrate the suffering she was in for as the mother of Jesus. Nest to her anguished face is the first stanza of the mournful hymn Stabat Mater: Stabat mater dolorosa/ iuxta Cruces lacrimosa/ dum pendebat filius. The sorrowful mother stands weeping next to the cross where her son is hanging. Other panels refer to gospel quotes of Jesus rejecting his family and exhorting his disciples to do the same thing. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ” Luke 14:26. And I included that wonderful story of Jesus being an unwelcome troublemaker, told to get out of town. "Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone." Matthew 8:34 The whole idea of the Annunciation and Mary's alleged assent to being impregnated by 'the Holy Spirit' is, to say the least, highly problematical. Luke has the "angel: appearing to Mary; Matthew has an "angel" appearing to Joseph. The angel tells Mary next to nothing about what she is in for except that Jesus will be great, nothing about rejecting her, being (supposedly) unmarried, considered a whacko by many, a heretic by others, a danger to the state by yet others, and of course the Passion and Crucifixion. So the 'be it done unto me according to thy will,' was hardly an "informed consent" for what that teenager was in for.
Brutal Weather is upon us. The birds come to our feeders but in lesser numbers and bulked up with their feathers all puffed to help retain some body heat. How much body heat can a little bird generate in single-digit temperatures and steady 25 mph winds? I threw some extra seeds on the snow-covered ground to help out the snowbirds and doves and squirrels. The snowbirds are very active, almost aggressive on the tube feeders. Lilly still asks to be let outside every hour or so and just came in with her snoot fall of snow. She seems to really enjoy snow and cold weather, regularly laying down in the snow to watch the world go by, but today she is skipping the leisurely lie-downs. She seems to have the good sense to keep her outings short and purpose-driven but I still worry about frostbite on her thin ears, her tail, and her paws.
At Long Last, Homemade Navy Bean Soup! I've wanted to make some homemade navy bean soup for a long time but was stymied by my inability to find any ham bones at the grocery store meat departments' The other day I saw packages of smoked ham hocks and decided to try them as a substitute for a ham bone. They seem to worked fine.
Christmas Music. I have managed, I think, to hear not one single piece of Christmas music this year, not on radio, not on television. Tomorrow I will play Christmas music CDs I have in the basement. Tonight Handel's Messiah on YouTube. "His name shall be called Wonderful! Counselor! The Mighty God! . . ."
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