May Our Best Day of 2019, Be Our Worst Day of 2020

For quite a while now, when the calendar pages dwindle to its last few leaves, I've used the quiet of the season to choose a Word of the Year to serve as my personal motto throughout the upcoming year ... When things get hectic, or I feel I've been pulled off course, I can look back at the word I chose (or the one that chose me) and remember how I intended to navigate the months, how I wanted to feel, and in what ways I wanted to move through life.  The year of our Lord, two-thousand and nineteen was my Year of YES, which looked an awful lot like a year of NO. I guess that's what "they" mean by: Saying no to others is oftentimes saying yes to yourself.  It wasn't really a me versus them sort of thing, though, it was more about accepting what is for any given moment, and not forcing myself to do anything, or be anyone, or go anywhere that didn't feel right, or healthy.  If I was sick, I allowed myself to be sick.  If too many opportunities (or those without enough notice) came my way, I declined them.  I had no desire to force myself to perform, or say yes to everything for the sake of saying yes.  I wasn't interested in pushing my body to do more than it could handle, and likewise I wasn't going to stress myself out by over-committing to projects that would've had countless (unnecessary) deadlines dangling over my head...

As I sat on the floor in front of the fireplace coming up with my word last December, I envisioned my Year of YES going a bit differently, but I am more than comfortable closing out the decade with this vibe. 

Let Me Be Frank

Francis Hamilton Spon age 70

This time of year often finds me casually browsing the ol' family tree.  As the year winds down, and time seems to move a little more slowly it's nice to catch up with some familiar (and not so familiar) faces.  Above, is a photograph from 1900 taken at the Bushnell studio in North Yakima, Washington of a 70 year old Francis Hamilton Spon, or Frank H. Spon as he's typically identified.  When I bought the photograph from a book dealer out of California, Barry Cassidy Rare Books, it was delivered with a little sheet attached that, at some point, had been inconveniently trimmed, but appears to be a document someone typed up with Frank's census information that we can cross check with his life story, and some official documents that record his whereabouts.  It's important to remember we are talking about the Wild West at this point, and while I'm not as familiar as I should be with territorial record-keeping for this time frame, there was a solid attempt to keep track of the population, however I am aware of fires that wiped out a lot of history, and records for this period, so we just kind of have to be happy with what we get.  Parentheses below are my own:

(1863) Yakima Co, WT. Spon, Francis H. 34 NY, carpenter
(1872) Yakima Co, WA Spon, Francis H. 43 NY, farmer, wife Minerva J. (Chambers?), dau. Minerva A. 4 WT; dau. Adelia M. 3 WT; son Frank J. 1 WT.
(1878) Yakima Co, WT, Spon, Frank 49 NY stockman, M.J. fem., 27 WT; W.
Max 8 WT; Frank 6 WT; Thomas 3 WT.
(1880) Yakima Co, WT, Spon, F.H. 51 NY; F.J. 28 WT; M.A. 12 WT; A.M. 10...; ...k 8 WT; Fanny 5 WT.
(1900) Ahtanum, Yakima Co, WA, Spon Frank H. 70, b. Dec 1829 NY, ... Germany, farmer, divorced.
(1910) Ahtanum, Yakima Co, WA, Spon Frank H. 81 NY, retired
("Kamia)kin, the Last Hero of the Yakimas", By A.J. Splawn, page 267;

Burn Brightly

Be someone's candle in the window; light their path and show them the way home.

Stille Nacht

DEADLINE EXTENDED!!!

Join Pat's Twitch channel tomorrow (December 18, 2019) starting at 12 PM CST for the FOURTEEN HOUR live-stream after-party event where donations will continue to be accepted until Midnight PST.  Read more about the mayhem here, and I hope to see you all there!

*** 

I've had many silent nights to ponder the state of the world lately, and feel that we need to be lending a helping hand to one another more now than we've been willing to acknowledge in recent years.  Five years in, I've taken a few moments each Winter to hype Pat Rothfuss' Worldbuilders charity, and this year is no different.  We're currently barreling down the tracks to the final day of this fundraiser on behalf of Heifer International, and even though (in the past) the charity has almost always been extended, I would not take my chances waiting for that announcement.  If you would like the opportunity to win prizes in the lottery, or bid on something you fancy in one of the auctions, or help a team meet their stretch goals, now is the time to get your donations in.  "But, isn't this the season of giving - why are we talking about all the things we could be getting??" You may be asking ... Yes!  This is the season of giving, but Geekerati, geek-centric, and geek-adjacent companies from around the world have come together and donated tangible items in the form of books, games, experiences (think, Caribbean cruises / writing mentorships), art, apparel, accessories, trinkets and keepsakes, and one very special book that keeps being donated back to the charity, not because we're all cynical and believe people won't help other folks from the goodness of their hearts, but to make it more fun.  Why aren't we trying to make more things in life fun, is the more appropriate question, I think.  If you'd like to join in, every $10 gets you one entry into the lottery, and a warm and fuzzy feeling to carry with you throughout the new year!

If you're curious about my previous posts on the topic, you can read them here, here, here, here, and here.  And as always, if you're strapped for cash or too young to participate, please do not underestimate the value of spreading the word, your voice can make a strong impact, so don't be afraid to make some noise!  Also, this charity is open to folks worldwide, so if you're worried that donations made from outside of the country won't go through, they will, and you are eligible to win prizes as well.

Wherever you are, take care of each other out there!

xoxo

I See Your True Colors

Fall / Winter 2019 - 2020

"As a form of cultural expression, fashion always reflects the deepest concerns of society.  But unlike literature, music or art, fashion communicates indirectly -- employing a language and a logic of its own.  Fashion's power, to capture the present and even to predict the future, is only revealed with the passage of time."

-Lourdes M. Font, Ph.D.