Links for Advent Week 2

The parade coming down Main Street.

Good Sunday evening, friends!  Our little Kalliope is going to be in the county youth ballet's production of The Nutcracker...and today all the cast members got to participate in our small town Christmas Parade!  She was so excited to ride the float and feel like a "star".

There is something so comforting and lovely about a small town at Christmas, especially: walking the town today, seeing some familiar faces, hearing greetings of "Merry Christmas" yelled back and forth.  Love it!

Here's the float - I marked Kalliope with a yellow arrow.

On Saturday, we had a very low-key St. Nicholas feast day.  Shoes by the fireplace and gingerbread for breakfast.  The weather was awful, so we ditched some outdoor plans and opted instead to drive to a local house that does an amazing light show.  Then we came home and watched "Rudolph".


Here are some links from the last week:

Anne Kennedy at Preventing Grace with a funny and heart-rending post about Advent.

Faramir, Erik, and Artemisia

An Advent calendar from The Economist - not at all "Advent-y", but interesting!

This is an older post, but I just love the humility and grace she expresses as she shares with us her desire to incorporate Advent into her life.   (Becoming Peculiar)

Christmas Trivia Game - One is more secular, the other has more religious-oriented questions.  I'm going to combine the two to use with my classes for a fun game on their last day before break (Dec 4th)...and then again with my family!

More serious: Ferguson in the Shadow of Advent

Artemisia and I enjoying some Peppermint Mocha
from our awesome coffee shop.

This one isn't particularly Advent-ish, other than that I've put this book on my list to Santa...wonder if he'll bring it?  Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead" books, now a trilogy, are by far my most favorite pieces of contemporary literature.  Some people find them too slow...I adore them for their slow, careful pace.  I haven't read Lila, yet, but I can recommend it highly based on the previous books. And I think it would make exceptional, if un-orthodox, Advent reading. A good review by Amy Frykholm.