Plaasabilities

"Solitary" A solitary tree stands in a field in Cades Cove. Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved I had great intentions of doing a scripture-based Countdown to Christmas blog all month but, like with other holiday things, I am learning that I need to reduce my expectations and simply my approach to Christmas this year. That means my blog content will be spontaneous -- the things that are on my heart in the moment. I did something tonight that took much courage on my part, but it was something I needed to do for me -- I attended a holiday memory service at the hospice where my mother died last August. It was the first time I've been anywhere near there since her passing. It was very emotional for me but I think it was also healing. Two large fir trees are a part of the landscaping in front of the hospice. The trees were adorned with golden lights and gold lame bows, the lower branches filled with tags containing the names of ...

I started the New Year by sleeping in, then I turned on the TV to watch the news. On the Today Show they were discussing New Year's traditions. Here in the Southeastern USA, everyone talks about eating black-eyed peas and collard greens for good luck during the year. I can't stand either so I guess I've lived with bad luck all my life. Not really, I seem to be just fine. But when  Kathie Lee and Hoda said the Dutch eat doughnuts on New Year's my ears perked up. I'm part Dutch and I've never heard anything about doughnuts. I confess I had visions of Krispy Kremes dancing in my head, but I went to the source to get the real answer - mother. I asked mother about the Dutch and doughnuts and she started laughing. "Not doughnuts," she said, "oliebollen!" Yes, a long story ensued. Mother is Dutch and lived in Holland for part of her early life, especially after WWII. Both mother and daddy served LDS church missions to the Netherlands, though no...