Hallmark Town

Last Thursday night our community bundled up and met up on our main street for a wintertime block party of sorts. We went last year and it was bitter cold and I remember thinking I wouldn't do it again with kids. But this year the weather was a balmy 30 degrees so we gave it another shot. And let me tell you, it was magic.

When we were looking for a parking spot we drove past the Moravian church where there was a living nativity singing carols, all lit up by spot lights. Mary and Joseph smiled and sang, happily caroling with the people gathered. We got out of the car and looked down the four blocks of sidewalks lined with luminaries and spotted Santa in the bank where he gave us cookies and hot chocolate. Then we found an outdoor petting zoo with a calf, goats, ducks, sheep and a friendly farm dog.

Horse-drawn sleigh rides were cruising up and down the street lit up with christmas lights. We walked into the Armory where local vendors were selling swedish treats, children's books, honey, maple syrup, and all sorts of handmade goods and crafts.

Then we went into the candy store and toy shop where two old men were playing carols on the banjo and violin. They started playing Away in a Manger and Ivar sang the lyrics with them. The musicians were so happy to have a brave little soloists and Ivar sang every word looking right in their eyes. And I was one very proud mama.

We got to see Olaf the snowman and Rudolf and Frosty walking in the street. There was a barrel fire to warm up by in the park and every shop had great sales and window displays and cookies. We went into the fish store and ate peanut butter cookies and picked out our favorite fish in each tank.

On the way back to the car Rory went ahead with Ivar. And Elsie and I trailed behind while she looked inside of every. single. luminary. Looking at the candle inside, watching it flicker and glow.

And the best part, the part that makes it an actual Hallmark Town, is that I knew so many people. It was a magical night, but it really was the felt community made the night merry and bright.

christmas spirit

I was watching a cooking show with the kids when a commercial came on of all of the food network hosts wrapping christmas lights around themselves. Ivar saw it and told me, "Well that's a good idea! We can dress up like Christmas trees!" I thought he'd forget about it, but he was faithful in telling me throughout the next day-and-a-half, "and remember, we have to dress me like a christmas tree."

So I got the leftover green felt I had from making my advent sucker tree, and made Ivar into a christmas tree. He was so pleased.

Ivar has enough Christmas Spirit for everyone. He is so excited about every part. When we were unpacking our christmas decorations, he pulled out a carebear ornament and told me excitedly, "Oh mom! I know this from the last time!!!" His memories are being formed, and he's (maybe for the first time) experiencing the joy of tradition and remembering.

Another night we were walking down the main street in our town after dark and he stopped dead in his tracks. "Mom!" he said, "this store has a Christmas tree!" And sure enough, the t-shirt screen printing shop in our town had a three-foot tree in their front window. We walked a little further and he shouted, "They do too!" And it was true. The eye doctor next door had a tree in their window as well. In fact, every store front was decorated and Ivar was delighted by it all. His awe and wonder was palpable and contagious.

And it has been all season. What a joy to be four!

field trip

Last week we loaded the kids up and drove a mile down the road to our friend's farm. We know Becky and Brian from church and have always wanted to see their place. Every time we talk it is obvious we have a similar vision for our hobby farms. They are about fifteen years ahead of us in what they've tried and figured out and it was so fun to see all they are doing.

We saw their hens, horses and pigs. They had recently raised turkeys but they were processed just before thanksgiving. I was most interested in the pigs. I want to get a few next spring. Ivar was terrified and hated that they kept snorting at his boots and that they grabbed my mitten. Overall he was not a huge fan of the large animals, but Elsie could not get enough. The joy on her face when she was petting the horse made me wonder if she'll be a horse girl. I never was, but I had many friends who were nuts for horses. So far she does have a thing for My Little Ponies... Time will tell.

a winter walk

Today around 4:00 I was talking to my sister on the phone and telling her how stir crazy my kids were. The three of us were going nuts, cooped up all day, fighting, screaming, wrestling, annoying...all of it. I told her I didn't really want to take them anywhere because it felt risky. Meltdowns were many and it was just easier to stay inside.

But Annika told me I had to get them outside. And because Ivar is a hard sell to get outside when then weather is 74 degrees and sunny, I knew I had my work cut out for me.

So I told them both, "Kids! We are going to go on a winter walk! It is a very special walk because we each bring a flashlight and shine the light on our path!"

It totally worked. They had their boots on in record speed. Ivar even went and found a sock since he had taken one sock off earlier this morning. We were out the door, down our lane and even three cats joined in the adventure.

I kept trying to get Ivar to turn around, hoping it would be a short walk (it was windy!) but he wouldn't hear of it. He wanted to make it to the end of the road, which is a decent hike for these kids. When we got to the end we turned around to head home and when we got back in the house all moods had simmered, attitudes had adjusted and the kids played like best friends this evening.

I'm here to say Winter Walks are magic. And will be taken much more frequently now that I know.

Hi-ooo-gah!

Have you heard of this before? The word is actually spelled Hygge, but pronounces Hi-ooo-gah, and is a Danish mindset that the cold should not just be survived, but rather savored.  My friend Katie shared the article and I love the concept. To really sink into winter, not try to wish it away. To use this time to intentionally slow down, cuddle up, to stay put, to reflect and to be still.

I've read the article three times now, and I love it. "Hygge may be the best example of one people’s power of positive thinking, promoting as it does a mindset that life should be savored, not survived, and that comfort, beauty, and internal and external warmth are the keys to a rich existence on the frozen tundra."

Hygge is a reflective time, apparently lasting the whole winter. It is about candles in windows, quilts piled high, hot drinks, crackling fires and sharing kind community with each other. They even try to avoid divisive issues during the dark season.

It's making the decision to slow down. To be still. It's a shift, because I think I've been led to believe that business is a virtue. That to be busy means you're important and making life count. In college we used to rattle off all of the papers and tests and group projects we had to do, a sort of competitive one-up game that led me to believe being busy was important. But I'm realizing now that being busy is not not a virtue. And it certainly does not make you important.

Our stove is helping us find our Hygge this winter, and it is awesome. We all seem to congregate in that room now. The practice of building a new fire, turning over a log, or adding new logs has become a daily practice in paying attention, keeping watch, tending and as a result, staying warm. We have gone many days in a row without turning our furnace on and this little stove has quickly become the heart of the home.

I believe in this hygge thing. My whole perspective has shifted from merely getting through this cold (and it's been terribly cold!) season to now enjoying what it means to hunker down, slow down and quiet down.  So go make some tea, light a candle, get yourself under a quilt, pull out a Little House book and sink into the season of Hygge.