Columns

It’s the time of the year to roll out the red carpets and go gaga over the parade of celebrities in gowns, glitter, ruffled tuxes and tattoo-revealing wardrobes. The music world’s Grammy awards were handed out this past weekend and the movies’ Academy Awards will take place on March 4.

Sometimes I feel like I live in my kitchen., On the weekends when everyone is home, the kitchen becomes the main hub. We all flock there at different times during the day to eat, but always come together at night for dinner as a family.

Change. Some people love change, others are uncomfortable with it; some have change forced upon them, others choose change.

What we need in our world are more dreamers. At least, that’s what we say. We need antidotes to what’s gray and dreary, serious and sad, half full and half empty. We need lightness and laughter and cups that runneth over. (Well, at least we can dream.)

This week we closed our local schools for a holiday, something we do just a few other times during each school year. On Labor Day we honor America’s workers and common man. Thanksgiving and Christmas are holidays for families to gather, give thanks and share spiritual messages.

I have a beef. Well, not really a beef, as I am trying to cut down on red meat; call it a “peeve.” Not a “pet” peeve, because I really don’t see this peeve as soft, cuddly and cute. My big peeve is this: these new-fangled chip bags that are impossible to open without a degree from MIT.

I don’t know if you are familiar with the term “hygge,” which is pronounced “hue-guh.” It is a Danish word that captures a feeling of contentment or coziness – alone or with friends, at home or out and about – that strikes one as special and charming. It’s sort of a gathered ‘round the hearth feeling … a safely out of the storm feeling… at peace with yourself and the world.

North County gardeners are in for a treat: top garden author and web publisher Steve Albert is the speaker at the free Jan. 16 meeting of the Windsor Garden Club.

For the first time in many years I made a New Year’s resolution. I promised myself that no matter what, I would faithfully attend yoga classes twice a week. I believe that a rested Mom is a better Mom, a win-win for myself and my two teenagers.

Swiss theologian Emily Brunner, in a provocative little book called “Faith, Hope, and Love,” proposes a kind of timeline by which to apprehend these three spiritual principles. He sees faith relating to the past, hope relating to the future and love centered in the present.