Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Today I am reminded again to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda for today:

1. Love cycle

2. Intentions

3. Read "The Spirited Walker"

4. March
5. Index to MLK Day projects

Honor my Friendships

I want to honor my friendships, my bond with those essential people who love and support me, teach me and learn from me, and who help me discover my true self. I want my friendships to deepen and grow stronger. I can take better care of all my friendships with a little intentional nurturing.

Agenda:

1. Read "Everyday Simplicity"
2. Resilience tasks
3. Friendship tasks

Mehregan

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr.

Mehr (also known as Mithra) is responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

Agenda Today:
1. October thoughts

2. Journal queries

3. Read "Comfortable with Uncertainty"

4. Make Aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb
5. Set the table
6. Fire

Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine was a third-century Roman Christian who died on February 14. The poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle probably invented many of the romantic legends about Saint Valentine, in the fourteenth century. 

Valentine made by a student of mine.

After that, it became a custom for a man to write a romantic poem to send to his beloved on St. Valentine's Day. Very fancy paper cards, with lace and ribbons, became popular in the 1840's, and that custom expanded into sending cards to Mom and Dad, and friends of all kinds.

Agenda today:
1. True Love

2. Brainstorm generosity practices
3. Make Valentines

2nd Day of Christmas and Kwanzaa

This is the second day of the twelve-day festal tide - a sacred, festive season. In some old traditions, this whole season is seen as a sort of Sabbath: Prepare ahead of time and then spend the Twelve Days doing as little work as possible; rest, reflect, and find peace within.

This is also the start of Kwanzaa, a seven-day African-American cultural holiday - an American holiday inspired by African traditions. The word kwanza is Swahili for “first”, as in "first fruits", because in some parts of Africa this is the season for first fruits harvest festivals. Kwanzaa is a time of thanksgiving for the earth, but also a time to honor ancestors, and a time for African-Americans to celebrate their heritage and learn about African traditions and values.

Agenda:

1. Review the Divine Laws

2. Christmas retreat

3. Kwanzaa principles

4. Love reading

5. Love goals for 2023

6. Prayer Candle Ceremony

7. End of Year work list

8. Christmas pudding

St. Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine was a third-century Roman Christian who died on February 14. The poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle probably invented many of the romantic legends about Saint Valentine, in the fourteenth century. 

Valentine made by a student of mine.

After that, it became a custom for a man to write a romantic poem to send to his beloved on St. Valentine's Day. Very fancy paper cards, with lace and ribbons, became popular in the 1840's, and that custom expanded into sending cards to Mom and Dad, and friends of all kinds.

Agenda today:
1. Brainstorm generosity practices
2. Make Valentines
3. Honor my friendships

Mehregan and the Waning Crescent Moon

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr.

Mehr (also known as Mithra) is responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

And today's waning crescent moon is the final phase of the Harvest Moon cycle. The next new moon, in four days, will be the Chrysanthemum Moon cycle. At the new moon I'll set my intentions for the month ahead.

But right now, at the waning crescent, it's time to evaluate and brainstorm, find purpose, and surrender. I'll open to curiosity and attention, contemplate what I might want in the 30 days ahead, and rest up for the move back into yang-action mode. These next few days are a chance to look back and look forward, and think about the big picture of my life.

Agenda Today:
1. Journal queries

2. Evaluation and Inspiration House

3. Review my purpose

4. Review my priorities

5. Surrender, rest, recuperate

6. Make Aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb
7. Set the table
8. Fire

St. Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine was a third-century Roman Christian who died on February 14. The poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle probably invented many of the romantic legends about Saint Valentine, in the fourteenth century. 

Valentine made by a student of mine.

After that, it became a custom for a man to write a romantic poem to send to his beloved on St. Valentine's Day. Very fancy paper cards, with lace and ribbons, became popular in the 1840's, and that custom expanded into sending cards to Mom and Dad, and friends of all kinds.

Agenda today:
1. Journal
2. Make Valentines
3. Honor my friendships

St. Valentines Day

Saint Valentine was a third-century Roman Christian who died on February 14. The poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle probably invented many of the romantic legends about Saint Valentine, in the fourteenth century. 

Valentine made by a student of mine.

It became a custom after that for a man to write a romantic poem to send to his beloved on St. Valentine's Day. Very fancy paper cards, with lace and ribbons, became popular in the 1840's, and that custom expanded into sending cards to Mom and Dad, and friends of all kinds.

Agenda today:
1. Journal
2. Make Valentines
3. Practice optimism

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today I am reminded again that I need to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda today:
1. Journal queries
2. Study
3. Make a new banner
4. March
5. Index to MLK Day projects

Prepare for Thanksgiving and Advent

Thanksgiving is in three days, and our plans are pretty much set. We will host a dinner at our house this year, for our dear friends, and our son and his partner. Since we are hosting we will make the turkey, stuffing and gravy, as well as pumpkin pies, of course!

Agenda:
1. Make a thank-you card and hand it out
2. Cook the pumpkins
3. Collect greens
4. Make pies

Mehregan

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr.

Mehr (also known as Mithra) is responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries
2. Make Aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb
3. Set the table
4. Fire

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today I am reminded again that I need to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda today:
1. Journal queries
2. Celebrate
3. Study
4. Index to MLK Day projects

Mehregan

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr.

Mehr (also known as Mithra) is responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries
2. Make Aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb
3. Set the table
4. Fire

St. Valentine’s Day

Saint Valentine was a third-century Roman Christian who died on February 14. The poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle probably invented many of the romantic legends about Saint Valentine, in the fourteenth century. 

Valentine made by a student of mine.

It became a custom after that for a man to write a romantic poem to send to his beloved on St. Valentine's Day. Very fancy paper cards, with lace and ribbons, became popular in the 1840's, and that custom expanded into sending cards to Mom and Dad, and friends of all kinds.

Agenda today:
1. Journal:

In what condition are my friendships?

List the friends that I want to pay special attention to this month, those I feel distant from or whom I want to understand better and appreciate more; plan one small thing to do for each to nurture our relationship.

2. Make Valentines:

I like to make fancy valentines, and so over the year’s I have collected a big selection of valentine supplies: Doilies, ribbons, pink glitter glue, heart stamps and stickers, and special papers. 

One of my favorite supplies is an old date book with Victorian pictures that we cut up to use for collage.

Supplies: Piece of mat board (for the base), scissors, glue (glue stick, Tacky glue, and hot glue), special papers, collage pictures, doilies, ribbons, silk flowers, sequins, heart jewels, glitter glue, heart stamps and stickers, tissue paper 

A paper spring, made with 2 strips
of paper folded back and forth.

Paper spring in action

To Make:
1. Glue a doily, a collage picture, or a heart cut from special paper on to the backing.

2. Write a poem or saying on paper with fancy cursive- say something special.

3. Work for a layered look that will create depth- Be creative!

You can mount pieces out from the base with a paper spring, or create pieces that fold out.

4. Final touches: Add ribbons, flowers, lace, glitter, and stickers.

5. Make an envelope of tissue paper, stamped with hearts and seal with a heart sticker.

3. Make something sweet:
Try these Rice Krispies treats shaped like hearts! This is the classic recipe, but molded into a heart-shaped muffin tin.

Ingredients:

• oil 
• 3-Tbsp. margarine 
• 10 oz. package regular marshmallows (about 40) or 4-c. mini’s 
• 6-c Rice Krispies 
• M&M candies or cinnamon hearts 

1- Lightly coat heart muffin tin with oil and set it aside.

2- Melt the margarine in a large pot over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

3- Add the cereal and quickly stir until evenly coated with marshmallow.

4- Spoon the mixture into the oiled muffin pan and press with oiled waxed paper, or with buttered fingers (once it starts to cool). If the mixture starts to harden, put it back on the burner.

5- Press candy on top to decorate. Place each heart in a clear plastic bag.

4. Housework:
February is a time of clearing away the excess to make room for growth. Clutter might give me the illusion that I have important things to do, but it adds one more layer of chaos and confusion to my life.

Now that I've gotten the mold in my house under control I can concentrate on clearing surfaces, sorting the stuff on my shelves, and donating things I no longer need. I take it one room at a time, and this week I will start in the bedroom:

• Clear out the closet, sort and re-arrange it.
• Throw out some papers and notebooks.
• Re-file my lesson plans (the in-basket is overflowing!)
• Give away some more books.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today I am reminded again that I need to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda today:
1. Journal: 
What have I done lately to teach or support freedom, equality, and dignity for all people? 

How can I better define myself as part of the human (rather than white) race? 

2. Celebrate:
Usually I attend the annual NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, but this year I taught a workshop instead. 

We celebrated the day by exploring friendship, how to be a good friend, how to be loyal, and how to respond safely to bullying.

3. Study: 
Each year I read more of the writing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year we read and discussed these two quotes from his sermon book, Strength to Love, published in 1963:

"...we must not seek to defeat or humiliate the enemy but to win his friendship and understanding."

We had a productive discussion about friendship, loyalty, bullying, I-messages,
and much more, and made this collaborative poster.

"A .. reason why we should love our enemies is that love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power."

We also talked about loyalty and this quote, from the Steeler Lecture, November 1967:

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."




4. Make friendship bracelets:

We each made a friendship bracelet using the single half-hitch knot.

Supplies: Embroidery floss, safety pin, scissors, ruler, button or bead

1- First choose several colors of floss- five pieces seems to make a nice thickness for the core, but you can use more or less.

The single half-hitch knot.

2- Measure each piece to 50-inches and cut. Put the ends together and double them over. Tie a knot a little in from the center to make a loop.

3- Use a safety pin to attach the loop to your pants, and start to tie knots, using one strand of floss to cover all the others.When you want to switch colors, put that strand back into the core and pull out a new color to use.

4- When you have enough to go around your wrist, tie another knot, then add a bead or button that will fit through the loop.



5. Make Friendship Soup:
We each brought a vegetable to class and we worked together to made a pot of Friendship Soup for lunch.

Cleaning potatoes.

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Prepare for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is in a four days, and our plans are pretty much set. We are invited to our dear friends' house for a traditional turkey dinner. We'll bring pies and homemade rolls.

Agenda:

1. Cook the pumpkins:
The secret to good pumpkin pie is to use fresh pumpkin. We harvested six small pie pumpkins from our garden this year, and had one big pumpkin donated (thanks, Jeff!). I cooked the pumpkins a couple of days ago. 

After chopping and cleaning the pumpkins, I baked them at 350ºF until they were soft. Then I scooped them out of the skins and put the pumpkin in containers in the refrigerator for later. 

I got about 18 cups, way more than enough for the three large pies I plan to make; I will probably have enough for a couple of pies at Christmas, too!

2. Make a thank you card and hand them out:
I've been having fun painting colorful abstract papers, and decided to use one to make a card. It's pretty easy to scan the paper, then upload it to Pixlr, a free on-line program, to add words and borders. Here's what I made on Friday:

I printed a few to hand out, and I plan to send some by email as well.

3. Make the pies:
On Wednesday I will make pies-- several, because we need one for breakfast on Friday! My pumpkin pie recipe-

Ingredients:

• 4 c. pumpkin
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. each ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg

Makes one large pie-

1- Make the pastry and line the pie plate. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

2- Put half of the pumpkin and half of the milk in the blender with one egg and blend until pureed.

3- Pour into a mixer bowl, and repeat with the second batch.

This is enough for two pies.

4- Add sugar, salt, and spices to the mixer bowl and mix on low, then pour into pie shell.

5- Bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 375ºF and bake for 45 minutes.