New year's joy for the birds, Charleen, Pebbles and me

Last year, for the first time, I hung a store-bought suet ball outside my window, in clear view of my kitchen computer desk. Within the week, I had a flock of new friends who amazed and amused me with their antics... and their pecking order. I didn't know that female nuthatches were the queens of the heap in the suet ball world (as long as the downy woodpeckers aren't around). Then come the male nuthatches, and the chickadees, female and male. I often found myself forgetting my writing when the birds came for breakfast.

Just before Christmas, I went looking for a store-bought suet ball, but didn't find one. I did find some chopped suet, so I brought a package home, warmed it on the stove over low heat, and threw in a handful of raw sunflower seeds and some budgie seed. I searched through the freezer, high and low, but we must have eaten those leftover summer raspberries, so I added a handful of raisins instead before putting the lumpy mess into two small containers and freezing them. Voila, two homemade suet balls. One is hanging outside my window again, and I gave one to my friend, Charleen, on New Year's Day, because I know she loves the little birds as much as I do.

These days, our budgie, Pebbles, sits on the windowsill for long stretches. When he's not throwing my grocery list papers all over the place,



he's waiting for the birds and shouting to them when they come. "Hey, birdie! I love you, birdie-bird! What's up, birdie?!"

Pebbles waits for his friends.

My girlfriend, Cathy, and I have a tradition of choosing a word to focus on for each new year. The word of the year 2011 is Joy. If you want to add a little simple joy to your life, I'd highly recommend a suet ball!



A simple Christmas pageant

In addition to finding ways to simplify our Christmas giving, our family also tries to take a few opportunities to remember "the reason for the season." One of my favourite events in this regard is the annual L'Arche Christmas pageant. Now that I work for L'Arche, I have all the dope on what's happening this year because I spent a good part of Monday spreading the word to various media outlets.

For those who have never attended a L'Arche pageant, it's an experience like no other. The story in the gospel of Luke is re-enacted by our community, with the starring roles of Mary and Joseph often played by our people with disabilities, assisted by people without disabilities. Last year, "Mary" had a "nursemaid" (our board chair) to help her with "baby Jesus" (our board chair's infant daughter). Naturally, the baby was more taken with her "nursemaid" than with being Mary's "son," so Mary gave up and wandered off stage for a time and had to be coaxed back to finish the play. Shepherds, angels and wise men all played their parts as expected, some from wheel chairs. The evening included a very special tradition -- the singing of Silent Night in all the languages represented in our community. Last year, there were verses sung in 22 languages; I'm not sure how many there will be this year.

So if you're in the neighbourhood, and want to enjoy hearing a simple and beautiful retelling of the ancient story that is soon to be celebrated by Christians the world over, you're invited. This year's Christmas pageant will be held at St. Thomas D'Aquin Church, 8410 89th Street, Edmonton, at 7 p.m. on Monday, December 13th. As the L'Arche Edmonton Mandate says, "We want to tell people about L'Arche. We want to have more friends." So feel free to bring your friends, and perhaps a donation for the Food Bank, if you like. We look forward to seeing you!

God's fresh white gift

Remember when you were a kid, and the world turned white overnight?

Remember when you couldn't wait to get out there and make fresh tracks in the new-fallen snow? To roll in it, to catch flakes on your tongue?

What if we could take some of that child-like wonder into our winters now?

When Jesus said we have to be like little children to receive the Kingdom (which I equate with sheer joy), maybe he was talking about snow days like today in Edmonton. If we can't take some pleasure in this white stuff, somehow, we've lost the simple pleasure of living in joy and wonder.

I'm going out to make some tracks! And maybe then I'll be able to relax a tiny bit more when I have to drive through the stuff.

The simple joy of celebration

On Friday night, the Edmonton L'Arche community gathered in a church hall and celebrated its cultural diversity. I invited my neighbour to attend with me, and we were met at the door by a number of welcoming people, one of whom directed us to a table toward the back of the room. After introducing ourselves to the people already seated, we settled in for an evening of entertainment, food and fun. The evening began with a prayer, some jokes and introductions, and a slide show about the L'Arche communities in developing countries for whom the event was being held as a solidarity fund-raiser.

Then there was food from all over the world. Oh my. Everything from English cucumber sandwiches to Lebanese tabouli to Zambian sampo (or was it Kenyan sampo?) An amazing, delicious and delightful array of foods for any and every palate loaded the tables and our plates. The variety rivalled the Taste of Edmonton festival, and my neighbour commented that our tickets for the evening should have cost twice what they did. Had we known the feast we were in for, we would have skipped supper!

After the wonderful sampling of finger foods, the fun began. Little Flower arranged a trivia game that had us all laughing as we guessed everything from favourite tv shows to underwear colours of various community members. The talented Jordan Kaminski got toes tapping with a few selections on his guitar. The Noah House band performed some German dance music and taught us a chorus to sing. A Philippines dance group amazed us with their intricate movements, and Day Program performed an African Dance in international cultural clothing. The evening concluded with the smashing of two pinatas, a very special rendition of O Canada, and more dancing.

Smiles and laughter were everywhere, signs of a little bit of heaven on earth.

Watching the sky

I've always been a sky person. Maybe that comes from spending the first nine-and-a-half years of my life on flat prairie. Watching clouds and seeing stars fill me with a deep happiness that I can't explain. The sky is one of my simple joys in life.

Today my sky is full of flat winter clouds, so I'm happy to have found this video to share with you. Beautiful images for your own simple pleasure: