Holidays Approach

It didn't take long for the cat to discover that there was an empty box in the kitchen!

She thinks I am too busy wrapping gifts to notice what she is up to.

"Oh, you've noticed that I'm in your box? Oh well."

Here is an example of some holiday gifts I have been wrapping. Inside an adorable container is 

home made and natural-fibers items. Yes, I realize the outer wrapping is of plastic cellophane, but it is my hope the recipients will do as I do and re-use/recycle it.

I shooed the cat out of the box and began adding in my gifts. As soon as I turned around to wrap another gift, she hopped back into the box! I tried to explain that the box was heading to Australia, but she seemed completely un-fussed about the idea.

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It took me about a week to get all of the gifts I wanted to add into the box ready to go, and then I added some scrunched up newspaper, sealed it up and as we speak it is winging its way to some of our 

family in Australia.

Every year I put together a holiday box and send it out in November, but it is hit-or-miss whether or not it arrives before Christmas morning. We joke that the delay is caused by the kangaroo post system, whereby kangaroos tuck the packages into their pouches and then hop to their final destinations...sometimes getting waylaid by tempting grasses along the way. It seems the most plausible explanation for postal delays in Australia, doesn't it?

We had a truly delight-ful Martinmas (hoping I find my camera cord soon so I can actually post pictures....watch this space!). We lit our lanterns and walked around our back yard in the dark singing Ich Geh' Mit Meiner Laterne, which we had been practicing (in German!) for a few weeks. We went around the parameter of the back yard three times, singing the song over and over again. It was quite fun and very special. Then, as it was quite cool outside, we returned to the warmth of our hearth. You could see the excitement in the children's faces after anticipating their lantern walk for so long and having it turn out so wonderfully. 

Yesterday it was back to the homeschooling daily routine. We have been a little lax about filling in the Main Lesson Book, so we worked on that a little today. Today we worked on the letter C, creating the shape of a sleeping cat similar to this one.

I decided to use the story of The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat, a Brother's Grimm fairy tale. We happen to also have two cats, which are often a topic of conversation in our home, as you can imagine by peeking at the pictures above. We love to watch their antics and discuss their qualities - soft, agile, swift (when not being lazy), observant, creeping, independent, etc. 

We are now busy getting ready for Thanksgiving, which falls on the 28th of November this year. We have discussed the various different interpretations of the first Thanksgiving. Because I am sensitive to the plight of the Native Americans and their terrible treatment over the course of our country's history, I prefer to honor certain themes for Thanksgiving: the harvest, the travel of a group of people from one country to another in search of freedom, victory over hardships, friendship, turkeys and their sacrifices for our dinner plate, family togetherness, and gratitude for our blessings.

When I discussed the various interpretations of the Thanksgiving story, I was careful to explain to my 6 year old that the Native Americans were historically not treated well by European colonists. I hope in my heart that there is some nugget of truth to the Thanksgiving story in terms of a kind of partnership, if only for a short while, for a harvest feast. It is my opinion that if we can hold onto the moments where we as humans rise up to our highest natures (based on what we have to work with in the moment), then it will create momentum to learn from past events and inspire us to rise to those higher natures more frequently moving forward.

I realize that this may seem (on the surface) to be naive and overly idealistic. I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone, because I definitely honor and respect the fact that there were atrocities committed in our country's past (and present). I am choosing, however, to hold onto the moments that were positive as a way of reminding myself (and my children) that we as humans *ARE* capable of friendship. We *ARE* capable of good acts. We *ARE* capable of so many good things. We cannot erase the negatives, nor should we gloss over them as though they never happened. Instead, we should learn about them and discuss how we would *PREFER* to be as a society moving forward.

Thanksgiving approaches, and I, for one, am so very thankful that there are so many people out there in the world who are consciously living lives of more intentionality, where the intentions are to be as positive-acting and loving as possible, as often as possible.  I am thankful for my friends and family, for basic good health, for the harvest and roof over our heads, for this modern age of technology that allows me to put these thoughts out there to others as well as allows me to read so many wonderful things from others. 

May we give to others as well as to ourselves a better world than we found it, 

and then be thankful with the results.