Holiday Traditions - The Cinnamon Bear

     In 1937 radio was the entertainment method of the day. Transco (a radio transcription company out of California) developed a fantastic story of two children who are sent to find Christmas decorations and find themselves in a land of make-believe to air in the Portland, Oregon market area. "The Cinnamon Bear" is designed to be listed to six days a week in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

      After several years financial difficulties prevented Transco from releasing new transcriptions of the series, though some stations played previously released transcriptions. In the 1950s the program was picked back up and has been aired in Portland and Eugene, Oregon, as well as the Chicago, Illinois, area. 

     Through the broadcast, twins Judy and Jimmy are sent to the attic in search of the family's silver star for the top of the Christmas tree. There they meet the Cinnamon Bear Paddy O'Cinnamon and travel into Maybeland chasing after the Crazy Quilt Dragon who has stolen their star. Along the way, Judy, Jimmy, and Paddy O'Cinnamon are captured by Ruthless Ink Blotters, befriended by Pirates, encounter a Giant, threatened by a Witch, helped by the Queen of Maybeland, foiled by creatures great and small, and they meet Santa Claus. But will the twins make it home with their Silver Christmas Star?

     I grew up listening to the Cinnamon Bear broadcast each year on the radio. The show is short and sweet with twists and turns as the children chase their star across Maybeland. They're interrupted and helped in turns as they adventure back to the attic and family tree waiting for the Silver Star. "The Cinnamon Bear" has inspired a cult-like following of people whose lives have been touched by the story. 

Flaming Geyser State Park

     This past weekend, for Father's Day, my dad decided it would be fun to take the dogs and go exploring at one of the Washington State Parks in the area. It sounded like fun - (non-sarcastic) yay hiking! So my mom, being the over-prepared mother that she is, looked up a few parks and decided on Flaming Geyser State Park near Auburn and Black Diamond, Wash.
     The park surrounds the Green River and has some pretty neat features including a playground, remote-control airplane areas, and picnic areas, along with the geysers and hiking paths. Some of the reviews we came across described these paths as relatively flat with some challenging options.
     While that is true of the short jaunt up to the Flaming Geyser, the main River Trail which goes down along the river is both gentle and challenging. It goes up and down along the hills the river snakes through, and if you're planning on going down to the river there are several places where you'll want to take your time on the steep inclines.
     The trek up to the Bubbling Geyser is much more challenging. It does have the convenience of several flights of stairs, but they are steep and the wooden treads have gouges behind them where people have walked away the dirt of the hillside. At the crest of the hill, before you'll go down to the actual geyser, is a bench and sort of platform which (when we went in late June) is made of a slick shifting dirt. Our dogs seemed to handle it fine, but the footing was not exactly comfortable for people.
     There is another set of trails, called the Ridge Trail, which goes around the office buildings and park ranger station. These trails were our first foray around the park. They are not meant for the faint of heart: the entrance goes straight up a hill for about 75 - 100 yards, the rest of the trail jogs up and down along the top of the hill until it begins a steep switchback to lead down to the main picnic areas. The duration of the trail was probably only about a mile, but the grade at the beginning and toward the end made it one I do not plan on trying again for quite some time.
     Flaming Geyser was an enjoyable park, fairly close to the Seattle Metro-area and with sights to interest various levels of outdoorsman.

Valentine's Day 2014

     This year I'm celebrating Valentine's day a little differently--spending the day with my dogs. It isn't all that much different than my usual relaxing night at home with a book, but this year my family went above and beyond.
     You see, I'm house-sitting for my parents and they left something behind for me. The dogs didn't get the awesome-ness of the family, but they're not allowed to have any chocolate. It looks like this year I get not one, but four valentines; it's a great improvement!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Stephie

New Year 2014!

     It's a whole new year!

     As exciting as that sounds, it is also completely terrifying! While a year is only a measure of time and there isn't really anything different between Tuesday December 31 and Wednesday January 1 we place so much more on the differentiation between that specific Tuesday and Wednesday.
     This is the time of year when people make promises for the future, when we look at the past and make plans. This is the time when we have hope and expectations are running high. It is also the time when we make resolutions.
     Resolutions aren't just goals, they're promises we make to ourselves. For some, resolutions are plans we don't believe we'll achieve. For others, resolutions are our deepest darkest hopes that we want fulfilled. Making it a "New Year's Resolution" makes it possible, caught up in the hype of a new year, the hope of a new beginning we have the drive to make those goals become reality.
     I've never been good at keeping to my resolutions, but this year I'm making it my resolution to work every single day to keep my resolutions. And, unlike many years in the past, this year I only have two resolutions:

      1. Be happy with me--this one doesn't sound like much, but I'm going to work on finding the things that I've enjoyed, the things that make me feel one hundred percent me, and incorporating them into my every day. 

      2. Keep up with my writing--I love to write, but when life gets going it's difficult to get online to update my blogs or work on my fiction. But I'm not limiting myself to just blogging or working on my stories, I'm also talking about keeping a journal or exploring ideas by writing them out. Playing with language and working with it is something I enjoy and something I'd love to continue working with. 

     This year my goals aren't earth-shattering, but they are things I haven't had time for in the past few years. I'm excited to be getting back to the things that bring me joy, and to have time to devote to them. 

Just a thought...
Stephie

Night Before Christmas Surprise!

     One of my favorite holiday traditions is the Christmas Eve gift. My parents have been doing this since I was born and it's a little odd to think it might be ending soon.
     Each year Mom and Dad will pick a present for each of us to open. When we were little my sister, brother and I were super-duper excited about it because it was the one time we got to break the no-presents-until-Christmas rule and we never knew what it would bring. Now that we're older and have had many years of this same gift we know what it will be, but we're still excited to follow through on the tradition.

Aren't these guys just rockin' the pjs?!

     So what was the gift? Pajamas! Well, one year they were robes (bath robes not wizarding robes) and another they were slippers, but the Christmas Eve gift is always something comfortable we can wear when we open our gifts.
     I think the excitement now isn't so much that we don't know what we'll get. I think it's more that we can still feel like little kids getting to open that one present when all the others are forbidden. I'm sad to see the tradition fade, but it definitely will be something I start with my children.

Merry Christmas!
Stephie

Samhain

     A few years ago a friend asked why I'm so okay with all the "devil worship" of Halloween. I was really confused what she was talking about so had her explain. She was taking the Christian perspective of the holiday while I had already integrated my Celtic background into my Christian faith. Somewhere along the line All Hallow's Eve became a day to be feared because the dead were walking the earth.
     Halloween started out as the precursor to All Saint's Day, November 1st, when all the souls of the dead from the year wandered the earth in hopes of finding rest. Then, on All Saints Day they would travel to the next realm, whether that was the realm of the good (heaven) or evil (hell). We wear masks so that the evil spirits cannot recognize our human souls and therefore take us with them or manipulate our souls after they've gone on.
     Samhain itself is about the transition from summer into winter. It is the time when livestock is brought back from summer pastures and people prepare for the winter. It is one of four holidays in the Celtic calendar, resting almost halfway between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. During the festival bonfires are lit as protective measures against spirits and fairies, but the souls of lost loved ones are welcomed to eat at the table with the living. Samhain pre-dates Christianity, and when the Christian All Saint's Day was moved to November 1st the two began to meld and became something like modern Halloween.
   The holiday is called by many different names and celebrated with different practices
, but most have some connection to the rebirth and celebration. It isn't about terrifying children, or about demons wandering the planet; it's about remembering the people we've lost and indulging in the "what if".

Graduation!!

      Yesterday was Graduation Day for my university! On one hand I'm ecstatic to be finished with my undergraduate years, but on the other I'm going to miss all the friends and the experiences and I'm terrified of the "real world." These last four years have been some great times, starting with my freshman year and learning how to function again after tearing my knee apart and having surgery to fix it and finishing with this last year and the insanity of Capstone and preparation for today--my first day as a college graduate.
     There's that worry and stress about "What are you going to do after college?" Well, apparently I'm going to sit on my computer and talk to the world... I don't have a long-term job lined up like some of my classmates, but I'm positive about discovering what I enjoy and working toward the goals I've set for myself. I'm willing to let those goals change, and move with where the world flings me. I'm not exactly just letting it happen, as my family thinks, but I will look around and maybe do something a little unconventional for a while.
     What will I do after college? I will have fun, make people smile, read for pleasure, do my own research on topics that fascinate me, and I will cultivate the relationships my undergraduate years have allowed me to develop. But I will start all of that by packing up my apartment and moving back home until I have that semi-permanent job and can afford my own place.

     I want to say "Thank You" to all of my wonderful friends, my crazy family, and the myriad of professors, mentors, fellow students, and other people that have supported me, pushed me, and been the person I prove wrong when I accomplish the impossible--you have helped to create the person I am today.

Just a thought...
Stephie

Valentine's Day

     This isn't going to be one of those ushy-gushy love posts, nor is it going to be an "I hate Valentine's Day" post. I just want to question why it is so important to have a relationship on a random day in February?
     I understand the history behind why the day itself is associated with love: in Roman times St. Valentine was marrying couples in the Christian faith against Roman law and was killed for his faith in Christianity and for breaking the law. We celebrate his commitment to love and to his faith (didn't think it was a religious holiday, did you?) every year. But why do we have to go out and fight to have plans on the one day? Maybe I'm happy with my book and music, or maybe I want to spend the day with my boyfriend; why do I have to go to the effort of planning something on February 14th? Answer: Secularization. When people noticed that there was a story that celebrated love and they could make money off of it, capitalism picked up the ball and ran.
     That's all fine and dandy, but why is there such a pressure on girls (I'm not sure guys are pressured nearly as much, or looked down upon for not having a date) to find a date and spend time with them. I love the idea of planning out a time to celebrate love, but quit pushing me to give my time to someone I'm not going to invest the rest of my life in, let alone the next couple months. Let me find love and romance in my own time. Let me make plans with friends and celebrate romance the rest of the year rather than just one week in February. But thank you for February 15th when most people flock to the stores and find chocolate for much cheaper than normal, it's a nice break for those chocoholics out there.

Just a thought...
Stephie

Back to the Grind

It's 2013!

     It was a crazy year, 2012: at least four "apocalypses", a Presidential Election, and some very influential decisions made in Washington State. Yet, we're all still here. What are some of your favorite memories from 2012? Did you ever keep those New Year's Resolutions that we're always making? What are some of the things you wouldn't change for the world?
     I'm back to school after a wonderful Christmas Break full of friends and family. New Year's was great, the party went as planned, and we had a great group of friends there. We counted down that last ten seconds to the new year and watched the Seattle Space Needle firework show on the local news. Then there was the NYC celebration, the flurry of text messages and phone calls from family and friends, and the midnight toast. Overall it was a great time and a fun way to ring in the new year.
     But now we're back. I learned yesterday that my entire January schedule was wrong: my class starts at 11:30 rather than 2:30 and goes Monday through Friday instead of starting Tuesdays. That doesn't seem like much of a change, except that it's right during the time I was scheduled to work. The frustration of figuring out how to balance all of our schedules and have someone on duty at all times is starting to get annoying, simply because January has a completely different schedule than the rest of the year. Anyway, everything is piling up, and homework is still a huge factor in what all of us Lutes are doing this month, but it's great to be back and have everyone else around.

Just a thought...
Stephie

New Year's Eve

     Every year I celebrate New Year's Eve with my family, everybody does their own thing while keeping the dogs calm as our neighbors set off fireworks. Occasionally my sister and brother and I will go over to the neighbors' house, but for the most part we don't do anything more than watch the fireworks and listen to the music on the news--kind of like the Fourth of July. But this year is going to be different.
     This year I am going to attend a party for the first time, well, a party that isn't a family get-together. And that's just kind of sad. Our party is going to be New Years themed, and I'm sure there will be an insane number of people being idiots, but what's a better reason to be silly than the end of the year? There will be music, movies, and the requisite game of beer pong. We've all made the decision to have fun and ring in the new year with some of our favorite people.
     I'm excited, Happy New Year!

Just a thought...
Stephie

Happy Halloween!

     Halloween is one of those holidays that not everyone participates in. I remember growing up a friend from elementary school and her family didn't celebrate Halloween because it was a day of demons and the dead walking. Another friend didn't celebrate Halloween because her family had a big celebration around the Day of the Dead.
     My family never did big parties or anything, but the three of us kids would go out and Trick-or-Treat up and down the street; then we'd trek over to my aunt and uncle's house and walk around their neighborhood. We always had fun, and it was a great time to dress up and be something that, normally, we weren't.
     I enjoyed the costume part of the holiday. Some favorites were Aurora/Sleeping Beauty, Porthos of the Musketeers, Jasmine, and Anna Valerious from Van Helsing. I was also a tavern wench, Laura Croft, Tinkerbell, and a princess (several different times) on top of the usual little kid ghost costumes. I think the ones that are my favorites are the ones my mom made the costumes for: she sewed together both Aurora's blue dress and Porthos' musketeer poncho, and we gathered together random pieces of costumes for the rest of them.
     The costume I was looking forward to the most, at the time, was a princess complete with the Miss United States Tiara. I never got to wear that costume because I got in trouble and grounded, at first. Then, to make everything worse, I didn't even get to dress up and hand out candy because I got strep throat the day before Halloween. (It was not a good year for me.) It's not as big of a deal anymore because I was a much more legitimate princess my sophomore year of college, then a mardi gras masquerade dancer last year.
     For the last couple years I've been at school for Halloween, so I missed getting dressed up and handing out candy to the kids of the neighborhood. Instead I was helping one of our Residence Halls with their Haunted House. It's so much fun! There are scenes where different terrifying moments from horror movies happen: a operation scene, the creepy child playing in blood scene, a zombie dog & owner scene, and a witch, to name a few.
      This year we're going with the much more creepy and realistic side of things: when your tour guide just vanishes, when a family scene goes insane, a super freaky classroom, and a zombie wedding. I get to be the creepy tour guide (I'm not sure how creepy I'll really get) and I'm looking forward to it.

Some tips for a great Halloween:

• Only eat the candy that's been professionally sealed: while there are myths and rumors about people putting razor blades and other dangerous things in candy, 99% of the population is just trying to help the kids have a great Halloween. If you're suspicious, don't eat it. 
• Only go to the houses with a porch light on. It's the universal symbol for "We have candy!! Come and get it!" Unless you know the people, there's really no point in going to a house with the lights out, even if the windows are lit up, it makes people angry.
• On the other side: If you don't have candy, don't turn on your porch light. When the trick-or-treaters come, don't hide in another room: your lights are on, you're home. Don't feel obligated to give them something, just turn off the light. 
• Beware allergies! I don't know about the rest of the world, but I've encountered more kids with allergies in the past few years than when I was a kid. If you're not sure, a simple Hershey's candy bar without almonds is usually a good choice. 
• Most of all: HAVE FUN! It's not about getting the most candy or going to every house on the block, it's about getting to be something you're not, scaring your friends and siblings, and enjoying yourself. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong.

Have a happy, and spooky, Halloween!

Stephie