Simply... Peace on Earth

It snowed "a skiff" overnight... just enough to provide the hope for a traditional white Christmas. Though I could feel the more intense cold from the very moment my unslippered feet touched the floor... the ermine coat that greeted me on the lawn startled me and took me completely by surprise.

It did the weather folk as well... for there was no mention of this in their prognostications. Surprise... but not. The only thing that one can predict about the weather in these parts in any part of the year... is that it will surely change every within twenty minutes!

Yesterday was tree trimming day for Deb and I... and it went off with only minor hitches. The light arrangements always add "color" to the festive language... but eventually we sorted them out and got on with the tree decorating ritual.

Out of Pandora's Christmas chest leaped memories of many Christmases passed. Many of the ornaments are handmade... dating back to primary school days for the children. Others bear dates and names of those who either created them or gifted them to us.

I particularly love hanging the dozen or so very primary looking candy cane ornaments. They were the products of a project that Liam, Bryn and I made to decorate one very sparsely-decorated (taken from the wild) Charlie Brown Spruce for our first Christmas together in year one at The Paint Box Gallery apartment in Hillsdale.

They consist of one red and one white pipe cleaner intertwined with each other to form the candy cane shape.They remind me ever so clearly how much can change in one's life... if there is love at home. Home for me is not just a house. It is a place where hearts live in love and harmony. Money plays little part in the presence of those two important home furnishings.

The Order of Good Cheer... Peace on Earth... Christmas 2015

My daughter Allison will arrive later today with her Mom Joan to commence our "Good Order of Cheer" festivities. We will put together my Mom's all time fav "Tater Gem Casserole and make her much loved peppermint and wintergreen flavored hard Christmas candy.

We will spend the time... and NOT... the $$$... to bring us together to celebrate this joyous family season. We have learned first hand during this last challenging year for our family... just how very precious our Time and our Family members are in our lives!

The two lads will join us here at Islandsview for a three day sleepover. Good food... fellowship and board games galore will form "The Order of Good Cheer" at our Rockport "Habitation". During the endless deep Canadian winters of the 1500's, this celebration was formed to lift the spirits of his isolated men by Samuel de Champlain... the Father of New France. He created this merry diversion to help overcome the terrible loneliness and deplorably frigid conditions when Canada was a fledgling French wilderness colony.

Our 2015 version of his "Order of Good Cheer" will melt away the remembrances and pressures of late night College study sessions... quick intakes of Kraft Dinner and assignment deadlines. Our "Habitation" will offer times for relaxation... sharing laughter and stockings to be traded. Gifts are not on the radar. Even the traditional turkey will be spared this year for us. Other arrangements are being undertaken to change traditional expectations ... and thinking.

My personal Christmas tasks are completed. Cards are in the mail and on the way to their various destinations. The yard and deck decorated. My annual Christmas painting has been completed. It will be presented to the boys on Christmas day... to commence its planned annual exchange between their houses each year forthwith. It depicts the relationship as it existed in Nova Scotia... "way back when". That relationship remains unchanged at this moment. The painting speaks its own words:

"Down East Vigil" - oil on canvas 24x20 inches

Last year's version""River Spirit" will be carried by Allison and her Mom to spend Christmas and 2016 at the home of her bro' and my son Andrew, Melissa and wee Mac in Rockwood, Ontario. And so... the beat goes on. 

                                          

                                                "River Spirit" oil on canvas 18x14 inches

Much love... to ALL Sherman Children... from their Snow Santa Plaid Dad!!!

In closing this post... I wish to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to all of you who have shared visits and thoughts here on my blog site. Each of you do much to inspire and encourage me in my personal and artistic lives. As a measure of my deep gratitude, I offer this blog image version of this year's annual card to each of you and your family members.

                                     "River Dance" oil on gallery wrapped canvas 40x30 inches

Merry Christmas... to ALL... and hopefully... more Peace on Earth!