Advent

Today is the fourth Sunday before Christmas and the beginning of Advent.  The season of Advent is a time of reflection, cheer, watchfulness and anticipation.  Children have Advent calendars to count the days until Christmas, and Nova was very excited about starting hers.  For the grown-ups, candlelight gives comfort at this darkest time of the year.  In the ancient traditions of Europe,  folks lit candles on wheel-shaped bundles of evergreens, symbolizing ongoing life.

Could "Black Friday" get any more hysterical and hyped?  Next year we'll be calling it "Black Thanksgiving."  Anyway, it was nice to spend the holiday in a remote little town with our family. Everything (well, except for a bar or two) was shut up tight on Thanksgiving.  No restaurants, no stores, no shopping, not even Christmas decorations up yet. John and I took Maya out for an after dinner walk in the stroller at 4:30 pm, and the streets were so dark and deserted it could have been the middle of the night. 

When we leave on a trip, I'm always happy to see John packing up his camera case because I know we'll get some good pictures. I'm not a slouch with photography, but his technical skills and attention to detail are better.  I take a lot of pictures and then delete a lot, the lazy hit-or-miss method. Even though he has a digital camera, John shoots more thoughtfully like he's still using expensive film.  Trust me, there's nothing harder than composing good pictures of a 4 and 1 year old in continuous motion.

Nova and good dog Roger

Sisters

The evening dance entertainment...

And Maya joins in.

Nova is so grown up! When did this this happen?

Tom plays a Bach Prelude to a rapt audience.