The Christmas Card

I recently saw a rerun of the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer bad mouths the US Postal Service. Why do we need the mail anymore what with email, Facebook, electronic transfers and Bill Pay? I've recently been feeling a bit like this myself - though you have to feel sorry for them. After centuries of reliable service, they are suddenly no longer really very needed. (Though when they are needed, are they ever needed!)

In this vein, I contemplated simply posting my Christmas card here.

But then I couldn't do it.

The tradition. The tangible copy that can be hung on the wall. The physical signature. My hand indirectly touches your hand. So I did send out a Christmas card. To all but a few of you. The special few who I know will automatically have this posting downloaded into your life.

You are part of the experiment. Do we need physical Christmas cards any more? Let me know.

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
- Susan Cooper (The Shortest Day)

It is a sunny day last August, and I am out of breath. It is like I remembered it – exhausting in an exhilarating way. I doggedly place one foot in front of the other and concentrate on filling my lungs deeply. Geoff is far in front of me. He has always been my Sherpa on our mountain hikes – though sometimes I feel like his Islamic wife the way I trail him. Nevertheless I am the birthday girl and it is my wish that I make it up this mountain. The world looks much simpler up here. One can break it down into basic necessities – being warm and dry, having air to breathe, food to eat and water to drink, the strength and health to ascend and descend. And Geoff and I make it even simpler. We leave the kids at home so we can hear the quiet. It has been over ten years and three children that I set out on such a physically challenging mission, and I am relieved that I can still handle it. I am forty years old on this August day – 2010 – and I celebrate by absorbing the infinite views on top of Mt. Bierstadt at 14,060 feet.

This year has been a turning point for me – on top of having a significantly middle aged birthday. I have always felt it takes a person two years to recover from childbirth and begin to regain strength and independent ambition. And now I have gone over three years! After Christmas and tax season last year I began to wonder what I should do with the rest of my life. Okay – I am still wondering, but I’ve put the feelers out in search of direction. I listed some custom paper dolls on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/macraft), and then started a blog (http://dandelionchain.blogspot.com/) to coincide with the shop. Turns out I like blogging a whole lot better. But unfortunately neither turns out to be much of a moneymaker. I still try to keep the blog going – it’s addicting! - but it has slowed to a trickle. Which is really too bad, because I have so much to SAY! I also started building on my bookkeeping experience from our business by doing work for some friends, which has grown into referrals. This seems to be a more practical way of contributing to the family pot, and I love that it’s concrete. I continue to expand my garden, but have reached my maximum in terms of personal environmental effort – I’m beginning to think maybe I should make life easier and buy more prepackaged food. If only it tasted as good. Mainly I am still a full-time Mom and life support for our business.

It has been a hard year for our small little metal work business. Geoff struggles on valiantly, but we are in construction after all, and suddenly people don’t want to buy $25,000 driveway gates quite so readily! We are lucky in that we have received a lot of support from friends, family, customers, and vendors, all who wish Geoff to experience success in his endeavors. It continues to be a struggle, and I was hoping Geoff might consider becoming a bus driver. We shall see.

Marek is in third grade this year. He is eight going on fifteen. I sure hope he is going through adolescence early, otherwise we might have some trouble in the years ahead. The other day he asked me what teenagers like to do. I answered, “They are all different. They all like to do different things.” And then I asked him, “What do eight-year-old boys like to do?” He answered, “Almost all of us are interested in battle.” I don’t know if this is true, but our household is filled with new interests that I never envisioned like bow and arrows, wrestling, tree climbing, pocketknives, and swordsmanship. With all this fierce energy simmering around me in our small house, I frequently command Marek to take a run around the block (“And take the dog with you!”) After I told him boxers jump rope, he started a callisthenic regimen. He also has been pursuing karate with rigor. I wish I could say he pursued his math and reading with such enthusiasm… Marek is awesome at building and drawing, and it is his greatest wish that he could help his Dad work “for real” in the shop.

Oscar started kindergarten this fall. How wonderful for me to escort a child of mine to the first day of school with a smile on both of our faces – the first in line at the door! He has met a great group of boys and is really having fun reading, writing, rhyming, and counting. Sometimes he tells me about the “trouble makers” at school. I’m not sure what this means in kindergarten, but I am glad not to find out! Marek and Oscar walk home alone from school together every day now, and I love living within the community and allowing them to experience this independence. Oscar has become one of those boys who delight in making an array of strange vocal noises ranging from spits and clacks to dolphin-like chirps. He still loves Legos and Star Wars, though he is shaped by Marek’s warmongering ways. Oscar is also quite an artist. He plays soccer and is learning to swim.

Matilda just turned three. She is a feisty girl having fought ninjas and Darth Vader for most of her conscious life. She will not allow me to dress her in clothes that she considers “too pretty.” Tildy is an organizer. Today I turned around and she was handing me dishes to put away from the clean dishwasher. Evidentially this task could not wait another instant. She likes to collect things in little Baggies and stash them in her room – her backpack is a treasure trove of missing household items. Tildy started swim lessons this fall, mainly so her mother could experience sitting by the pool by herself, but she LOVES taking part in the group and is already talking about going to kindergarten. Tildy loves reading and letters, riding her bike and playing with her friends.

“When can we go to Christmas?” Tildy’s question shapes my view of the holidays this year. It is a destination to arrive at – a world of warmth and wonder and abundance and joy. I am so in anticipation of this journey!

We hope your journey to Christmas, this year, and in life is filled with good things also.

Christa for the Newtons

December 2010

Hello Out There!

So I am becoming a more sophisticated blogger. Not totally there yet, but learning a few tricks. I started a Google Analytics account which is totally interesting. Now I can see how many people are reading my blog, where they are coming from, and how they found me.

So I know that for the past three days, not ONE person has read my blog.

Are you all taking National TV Turnoff Week this seriously?

Or should my feelings be hurt?

It's funny. The irony of blogging about TV Turnoff Week was lost on me when I posted that entry. Think about it. Here I am rambling on about cutting back TV/computer time while using my computer.

When I think of my computer lifestyle of last year compared to this year, I am nostalgic. I would go days without even turning my computer on. Maybe I would decide to check email every few days or maybe not. Maybe I would need to patiently research something on my dial up Internet connection. Usually I was very organised in my work support for our business. I would do all the financials in one evening, and then just work on a project once or twice in a week for the business or something personal. The computer was a very simple tool, and I could limit it for those tasks that were vital.

My life was a little smaller, but a whole lot simpler.

Now I frequently restrain myself from checking my Etsy and Dandelion Chain accounts. Has anything happened or changed in the Christa Marek Newton Universe in the last two minutes? I've learned about online Bill Pay (Wow!) and can check my bank balances in an instant. I read blogs of people I have never met, but who allow new thoughts and visuals and inspiration. I am acquiring bookkeeping work in an online capacity.

My life is a whole lot more complex, but so much bigger.

Simpler or bigger. Bigger or simpler. I have always known technology would find a place in my life again. I was just not sure when or what that would look like. And to be honest, I still don't know. It will continue to evolve.

And if it seems that I am alone in the blog universe, will the blog continue?

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Tea or TV

It is early morning. Way too early in my opinion. A school morning. I am trying to rouse myself which is difficult enough. And now I am back for the third or fourth shake awake for Marek. If he doesn't get up soon, I will grab him and yank him out of his blissful bed.

I stumble out into the kitchen, and there is Tildy looking for me, the center of her universe. I wonder why on earth this child willingly crawls out of bed just so she can be near me when she could be enjoying her dreams. Especially since the child who should be getting up is a puddle of resistant goop on the top bunk of his bed.

Like it or not, I no longer have peace in the morning. For my morning ritual. The same one I've had my whole life as long as I can remember in which I make a cup of tea and toast, prop myself up in front of a book, and refuse to interact with another being until I am finished. My college housemates avoided the kitchen in the morning. They knew and respected my patterns. They knew what battles were worth fighting, my habits not being one of them.

My children - that's another story. Why, oh, why won't they leave me alone in the morning? But they don't, and so I have found a tool in which to engage them. So they will leave me alone for a few minutes. So I can drink my tea, and eat my toast, and read my book. The magical tool - it is, of course, the TV.

So this is National TV Turn Off Week. And I'm sorry, I believe in it. But I just can't do it. Not now. Not this year. Not yet.

I did seriously consider pulling the plug this year. The TV usage in our house is actually quite minimal. Tildy still doesn't understand commercials, and I love that! We limit TV (and DVDs) to early mornings, hair-cuts, and special movie events. That's pretty much it for the kids, and since Geoff picked up the Lord of Rings Trilogy, that's been mostly it for us too.

However - THE COMPUTER USAGE! Sick of this! The past few weeks the Star Wars game was banned due to inappropriate behavior (i.e. ignoring their mother), and things have been so p-e-a-c-e-f-u-l. So I did not need National TV Turn Off Week as an excuse. It - the computer - was already turned off. So no need to interrupt my teatime as yet.

I fantasize about being one of those households without a TV or computer. I think we could easily live without a TV. When my children are teenagers and coming home to an empty house and watching TV after school, that is when I might throw out the TV.

But a computer. How could I live without a computer? And really, by the time my kids are teenagers, won't TV and computers be about the same thing?

And so I must limit, limit, limit. What a drag. To be the limiter all the time.

So to encourage instead, if you are actually trying to turn your TV off this week, there is an awesome list of things to do that can be found at: http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/turnoffweek/TV.turnoff.week.html

And in the spirit of National TV Turn Off Week, I will conclude with facts from screentime.org:

How many people are in the average American household? 2.55

How many televisions do they have? 2.73

We are a society of more televisions than people!

50% of American homes have at least 3 televisions or more
19% of homes have only 1.

In 1975 only 11% of US households had more than 3 TVs…and 57% only had 1!

The average American home has the television on for well over 8 hours every day. That is an hour more than just a decade ago.

The average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of television each day.

Young people 12-17 years of age increased their television viewing by 3% just this year…a pretty big increase in just 12 months.

Teenage girls have dramatically increased their television viewing late at night and early in the morning…maybe they just don’t sleep anymore?

All the above statistics are from Nielson 2006

THINGS TO DO: Build a Chain Reaction

Okay - I really don't know what to call this, but we were inspired by Okay, Go's new video. It combines marble runs, dominos, water works, hammer drops and every other thing that can cause a chain reaction into one big, long glorious video. Check it out for fun and inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

Then try to build your own.

What I really found interesting to behold was the kid's reaction to the chain reaction. After watching, Marek and Oscar both instantly set to work to come up with their own chain reaction creation. Compare this to their behavior after playing their Star Wars Legos video after which they take up swords and try to kill each other.

Here is what we came up with. Yes, this took us an HOUR to create!

Me and My Blog

So I don’t know much about the electronic world. At one point – okay, just last year – I was content with dial-up Internet access. I would open my browser and then go change the laundry before I even bothered to look at the screen. Doing anything online was usually a multi-tasking proposition – a good time to cook dinner while helping kids with homework, while checking my email.

The addition of high-speed Internet was life changing to say the least. How great to be able to look up that plant my son just ate quickly so to know if I should call the poison control center! But I must confess I still don’t take things too seriously in the online world – I am still not a daily email checker. So, you must forgive me if I don’t know what your anachronism means, or if I’m not knowledgeable about the latest online thing. I take it blogging has been around awhile?

There is always a slight war inside me when it comes to technology. I’m not afraid of it mechanically – at one point I actually earned a living in part by building databases for a small company. But I do fear how it has changed our culture. How does one have time to bake one's own bread if one has to check out every new You Tube video?

And what of the kids – always back to the kids – I live daily with the, “Mom. Can I play my Lego Star Wars game on your computer?”

“How about building a fort in backyard?”

“It’s only 20 degrees out and it’s snowing!”

But really isn’t it better that our children get a slight case of frostbite rather than sitting in front of a computer for half of their free time? Blah, blah you’ve heard it all – obesity problems, attentive deficit disorders, violence infused youth.

Those who’ve known me a long time know of my aspiration to join the Amish so I could live like the pioneers. That Laura Ingalls Wilder, she had it good with a fiddling playing Pa and an orange at Christmas. I have romanticized “living off the land.” But when you throw indoor plumbing and antibiotics into the equation, modern times do have their advantages.

So why this blog you might wonder? I must confess I am purely, selfishly motivated. I want the world – okay – at least the USA to think more like ME so I don’t feel like a granola infused, fiscally conservative, eco-wierdo all the time. I have noticed within myself that when I hear of others who drastically change their lifestyles – for example living without a car – it inspires me to change my reality and question what can be.

SO THAT IS MY GOAL - AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS TO CHANGE OUR REALITY ABOUT OUR AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE.

As an aside – I went to my son’s school today and sat in for a few minutes on a presentation by Eco-cycle. Apparently my son’s school is 24^th “in the world” to establish a eco-cycle program. Does this mean that only 23 other schools in the whole world are recycling and composting, or does it mean other schools are taking part in other programs?