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Sunday, November 28, 2004

Advent 

It's the First Sunday of Advent. Happy New Year!

That also means it's time to make an Advent wreath. This is the first year in the better part of a decade in which I've attended an Advent wreath-making workshop where I haven't been the one in charge of it. This means, gulp, that this morning, instead of running around checking on supplies, accepting donations, etc., I had no choice but to actually try to make a wreath. I am not gifted at anything crafty. Every Advent wreath I've ever crafted has looked like the horticultural/liturgical equivalent of Charlie Brown's kite. For me it's definitely a penitential, ascetical exercise.

Advent wreaths in San Diego are different than those in Va. or Md. or Mn., because the local evergreens are different. This morning we had what I'm told was running cedar, and some sort of pine, but it didn't look like the pine I'm used to. It was soft and floppy, not smooth and stiff. There was absolutely no boxwood and no holly. So not only did I have to make a wreath, but what previous wreath-making experience I had was useless, b/c of the different materials.

But I persevered. And thereby demonstrated conclusively that it is just as possible to make a demented-looking Advent wreath out of SoCal evergreens as it is out of those found further north. Our curate, a woman just a few years older than me, came by my table to chat and admire our wreaths. She looked at mine, thought for a long moment, and then said, "It's so... so abundant."

I laughed. "That's a good way of putting it." [Do they have classes at Episcopal seminaries in how to come up w/ good pseudo-compliments? Something Princeton Sem should add to its curriculum, IMO.] " Yes, I think my wreath is supposed to be symbolic of the chaos of the old creation awaiting the advent of the New Creation."

The most remarkable aspect of my wreath isn't actually the tortured greenery stuck through with florists' pins. It's the candles.

By the time I got to the supplies table, they were running very low on candles. I got the last set of blue ones. These candles are surely older than I am. I'm not kidding. They were still in their original packaging, which was a color scheme best described as "retro," except it was the real deal. The price tags said, "Pic-n-Sav $0.29" 29 cents for a pair of 12" taper candles. So you know they're ancient! And they're not just plain tapers. Oh, no. They're twisted tapers.

I had the distinct feeling I'd seen these candles somewhere before, deep in my past. Finally, much later in the afternoon, I realized where. The cover illustration on my (and my mother's) childhood copy of Nancy Drew and the Sign of the Twisted Candles. Copyright 1933. Here. Those candles are what's on my Advent wreath. Except that these candles came in 2 packages, one of which had been set in the sun at some point. So I have 2 blue candles on my Advent wreath, and 2 teal candles. Please feel free to invent deep theological and liturgical meanings for the use of teal and post them as "Comments" on this entry.

I did actually light the first candle on my wreath as I ate dinner tonight. But I'm thinking I may have to pitch the poor thing, as the greenery is already a fire hazard, and replace it w/ one of the contemporary interpretations of the tradition I saw at Restoration Hardware or somewhere similar. A "candlescape"--one of those dishes or mirrors w/ 4 purple or blue pillar candles set on it, and glass marbles scattered artfully around. Maybe I'll add bits of greenery, or little cacti or succulents or something.



A new job 

For anyone who's following my life here, I am employed again. As paralegal, legal secretary, receptionist, and gal Friday for Marc Peter Kaplan, CPA, Attorney at Law. As of 8 November. He doesn't have a website, yet, so I can't link to anything, but building him a website is among my assigned tasks for sometime during 2005. Thus far it seems like a promising gig. He focuses his practice on mediating and arbitrating family law cases. No litigation. Whoo-hoo!

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

My life at present. From my favorite comic strip, Rhymes with Orange, which you can check out at http://rhymeswithorange.com

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