Nativity Scene Fun

 When I was a little girl our family lived in Sicily while my Daddy served in the US Navy. I know that they didn't have a lot of money but they still bought a beautiful Italian nativity scene.  I loved to play with it when I was a child.  When my mother eventually gave it to me, she said that I was to allow my children to play with it too.  I think I objected some.  She had raised one little girl who was by nature quite gentle.  I was raising 1 gentle little girl but also 3 rambunctious boys. My mother was adamant that she wanted her grandchildren to be able to enjoy the familiar nativity story characters.  

And they did with some notable additions! Some years we had GI Joes attacking the stable or Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles sleeping by the manager.  Or He Man - Master of the Universe helping the shepherds. In spite of all that, it survived and now Isabella is playing with it.  She is more of a 'gentle' girl.

For some reason she loves putting baby Jesus on the top of the stable. I think that Mary, Joseph and one Wise Man are praying for his safe return.  Last year she told me a long story about 'mean shepherds' who stole the baby.  I guess they are up to their old tricks this year too.

I love that she gave Joseph and the angel baskets. I assume they contain presents for Jesus.

Or maybe their lunch??? I'm not sure.

Every child who comes to our house is fascinated by the Caganar in my typical Catalan nativity scene or 'pessebre'.  And Isabella is no exception!

She put him front and center while normally he is hidden somewhere in the scene.

In Barcelona the decorations often consist of a large model of the city of Bethlehem, more than just the typical manager scene.  At the Christmas market you can buy not only the traditional figures but Roman soldiers, women spinning or baking bread, men working....I was amazed by the variety.  You can also buy trees and shrubbery made of cork.  Hiding somewhere in each scene you will find the caganar. 

Mine is the traditional Catalan man with the senyera or Catalan flag around his chest and a Catalan shepherd's hat on his head.

And just in case you are unsure what he is doing, this view will leave no doubt.

Why you may ask? I've heard lots of explanations but I like the one my Spanish teacher gave me.

She says that it is to show our common humanity.

It doesn't matter if you are the King of Spain or a beggar on the street, this is a part of your life.

Sort of like the children's book, "Everyone Poops".

You can buy Caganar figures from every walk of life.

Politicians to football stars to cartoon characters!

Even our own politicians aren't spared.

I really wish I had bought one of these.

Leo Messi with his Ballon d'Or or his World Cup trophy

An interesting piece of Catalan culture!

I love mine.  I love the memories of going to the Christmas Market by the cathedral with friends and buying from the same two sweet older ladies, then carrying it all home on the metro.  

This is truly one of my treasures.

And if you are wondering the caganar is hiding behind the haystack!

Little Things that Mean a Lot

 When my mother died and I was faced with the task of cleaning out her house, I was very grateful that during each visit with her during the last 10 years of her life, she had insisted that we clean out her closets, storage house and attic.  Her feeling was that if I didn't want something that she had, then she should get rid of it.  Of course I did want a lot!  My mother had saved many things from my childhood and those are treasures to me.  Now that I am getting older, I'm also sorting and deciding what is worth keeping.   It isn't easy for me to let things that my mother saved for 60+ years go.  Maybe taking photos of some of them and sharing their meaning will make it easier for me.

Here are 3 souvenirs that I bought during the period of time we lived in Sicily - 1960 - 1963.

The blue vase is from Syracuse,  Italy.  I have no idea why this particular place made such an impression on me.  I was just 6 years old but when we went back to Sicily in 1999 with the boys, I remembered it very well.  Don't you love that in the 60's when you were a tourist in Italy, women wore dresses?

The 'leaning tower of Pisa' was a weather forecaster.  It had some sort of sparkling glitter on the sides which changed color depending on the weather.  Of course the glitter is long gone.  I bought this in Pisa when we made a trip up through Italy to Germany.  

Can you believe there is not one photo of me in Pisa?  My mother didn't take a lot of photos and Daddy was using his movie camera that day.  

I am glad that my Grandma Boyle also was a saver and kept this postcard that my mother sent her.

I especially love the seven cent airmail stamp!  And I guess I did 'take it all in' since I remember the day in Pisa. 

One of my clearest memories is that there were a lot of children receiving their first communion and the little girls wore white dresses that looked like wedding dresses.  Oh, how I wanted one of those dresses since I loved playing 'bride'.  

I found this photo on-line from that time period.  Can't you see why a little girl would really want one?

I never got one.  My parents probably thought it was a bit sacrilegious and I also imagine that they were expensive.

Here is what my mother wrote about that day in Pisa in her trip journal.

I guess the line of girls in white dresses didn't make the same impression on her that it did on me.

I don't really know for sure where I got the small pink vase.  My mother gave me a large round cake plate that is the same color.  I am confident that it came from Catania, Sicily which is the large city close to the base.  When I google 'pink Sicilian Glass' I find that  Williams Sonoma has pink "Sicilian' tableware.  No one around that knows for sure anymore!

All of my treasures aren't from my childhood!

This one was a gift from George when we were dating.

He was a Sunday school teacher in our student congregation.  In one of his lessons he was teaching on the importance of spreading joy by doing little things.  Since it happened to be my birthday, he gave me this small trinket.  Quite the object lesson and I have kept it all these years.  It has been stored in a box but I just put it on display to remind me of the JOYS I've experienced since that Sunday in 1974. My kids may throw it away but I will keep it always to remind me of that skinny young guy that I fell in love with.

Don't we look young?  I was 21 and George was 23.  We WERE young!

The last 'treasure' is one from our time living in Barcelona.  

For most of the 5 years we were there, I led the music in our church's children's organization.  Among the many adorable children were 6 girls from one family.  I loved them and they loved me.  The youngest would often come and sit on my lap during meetings.  George and I have been lucky to attend several of their weddings in Salt Lake and get reacquainted with these girls, now strong women!

Unfortunately I only have a photo of mom and 3 of the girls.

One Sunday they very excitedly gave me these little swans.

Tucked inside were several notes they had written me.

After mentioning that they loved me, they practiced all the English words that they had been learning at school, and wrote a scripture from Genesis.  For more than 22 years I have kept this memento of these little girls and one of the sweetest times in my life when I learned that love knows no boundaries, not language, culture, or age.

In the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up when discussing how to sort 'sentimental items', Marie Kondo writes this, "It is not our memories but the person we have become because of these past experiences that we should treasure.  This is the lesson these keepsakes teach us."

So what have the experiences associated with these keepsakes taught me:

1.  Travel changes you when you 'take it all in'.

2.  Find and give joy with simple things.

3.  Love cuts across language barriers, cultural differences and disparate ages.  

 

 

Joy Montgomery Cummings

My cousin, Joy Montgomery Cummings died yesterday. I grew up following in the footsteps of my three cousins - June, Joy, and Janie. I looked up to them and observed their lives as they went through high school, got married and had children. They were always one step in life ahead of me. 

When we lived in Spain, I had the thrill of traveling with them from London, to Paris to Carcassonne, France and finally to our home in Barcelona. Oh, the memories we made! Finally we were just 3 adult women enjoying the sights! So glad we shared those weeks!

Feeding the pigeons - Trafalgar Square, London

Eiffel Tower - Paris

Castle walls in Carcassonne, France

Cathedral in Barcelona

Three Montgomery girls

Matt the Sailor Man

Matt has had quite the adventure as he joined a friend sailing from the north of Spain, down the coast of Portugal, around Gibraltar and up the coast all the way to Barcelona.

Ahh, the stories he has shared of dolphins, jellyfish, pilot whales, terrible storms and other high adventures.  I'm glad he had this fantastic experience and so glad he has lived to tell about it.  Tomorrow they go to Mallorca for a few days of R & R after the excitement of getting to Barcelona.  I think he wants more of a jet setter few days in the calm, blue water rather than a Pirates of the Caribbean mighty storm!

Let's Begin at the Rome Temple

Almost two years ago I found the perfect Adriatic Cruise by Viking Ocean Cruises.  It started in Venice and then stopped in all the countries along the Adriatic coast and ended in a city I have always wanted to see - Athens!

In my typical travel-crazed fashion, I had the immediate thought that we could fly into Rome and drive up to Venice so that I could see the Rome Temple plus visit Assisi and San Marino.  George was reluctant to attempt driving in Italy again but he did great.  He drove like an Italian - fast and aggressive and we had no problems at all.

The Rome temple is still under construction but it is beautiful. I especially like the two spires and the color of the marble.  And it is just amazing that in Rome, the heart of Catholicism, we will soon have an LDS temple.  

 I also remember the fun Italians who were staying in the patron housing at the Swiss Temple when I went there with the Madrid and Barcelona Stakes.  We couldn't communicate but we smiled, laughed and nodded a lot and they gave me a few tastes of the delicious food they cooked!  I can only imagine how thrilled they are to have a temple in their own country.  

After driving around and taking pictures of the temple, we went to a huge mall to have dinner.  Walking in the mall, brought back so many memories of our years in Barcelona. Decathlon is a sporting goods store where we bought countless soccer cleats and balls, bicycles, camping equipment and even a basketball hoop for our neighborhood. 

The mall had a Leroy Merlin which is like a European Home Depot.  And an Ikea which is now common in America but to which we were first introduced in Spain.  Throw in the throngs of people, the escalator ramps that allow you to push your grocery cart onto the ramp where it locks into place.... the underground parking with tiny little spaces, the plethora of underwear stores, the grocery store on two levels....and we felt right at home!  Like 'right at home' in Barcelona!

Another Dream Job

I have said before that my dream job would be official photographer for FC Barcelona.  What could be better than having a super cool camera with a massive lens, traveling and hanging out with the team, and seeing  all the games?  If only I spoke Spanish and Catalan! I've just decided what my 2nd dream job would be - Photographer for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Where do I apply?  I am pretty fluent in 'dog'! How cute are these little models!!! 

Plus the signs give some good advice, not only for driving on the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus, but for life in general. 

Tsuma Jira

During my first trip to Kenya in 2012 I met Tsuma Jira.  I noticed him because he was wearing a Real Madrid shirt....arch rivals to our beloved FC Barcelona.  We quickly started talking and debating the merits of our favorite teams, much to the amazement of the African males who were shocked that this OLD American woman knew so much about football!  When I learned that he had been accepted at the university but lacked the funds to attend, George and I decided to sponsor him.

I'll never forget going to his humble home and letting his family know that he WOULD be attending the university!

I saw him again in 2014.  He was still a Madrid fan and our conversations about football continued.  I even went to see a World Cup game being broadcast at the local bar accompanied by Tsuma!

 I am so happy to report that he will be graduating from the University in the coming months, one of the top 5 students in his college of education.  Hopefully he will soon be a high school physics/mathematics teacher.  That makes me so happy.  He's the first educated member of his family and his goal is to help to educate his younger siblings.  Tsuma Jira is a fine young man, even with his poor taste in football teams, and I am proud to know him!

Now in 2017 Tsuma traveled 4 hours in a crowded bus to visit with me again. That is about 8 hours of  total travel time and he squeezed this in between exams and papers that were due. I teased him that he came so far just so he could gloat over Real Madrid's Champion's League and La Liga triumphs! Notice that he is wearing a Real Madrid shirt! 

Maps

These are the maps that hung on our kitchen wall in Barcelona for all the 5 years that we lived there. 

You can see that we carefully marked each one of our trips. 

 Ah the memories of family discussions of where we had been and where we were going next! 

 The impromptu geography lessons!

 The political and historical conversations! 

  I can't believe I've kept them for the 17 years that we've been back. I took pictures of them and threw them away with a smile thinking how lucky our family was to have lived this European adventure!

#30 - Miracles

Everyone who lives at our house - dog or human is an FC Barcelona fan!  We did make an exception for Johnny who is a Real Madrid fan but that is a long story! 

This morning when I took a picture of Guide Dog #30 all decked out in Barca gear,  I imagined that I would be doing a 'we love FC Barcelona anyway" kind of post.  Today's game was a Champion's League game, our 2nd in what is called the Round of 16.  In this stage of the competition you play an opponent twice, once at home and once away. The scores of the two games are added together and 'away' goals are given more weight.  A couple of weeks ago our beloved Barça was thoroughly trounced by Paris St. Germain in Paris with a score of 4-0.  The worst defeat that the team has suffered in years. 

In order to win today and advance to the quarter finals, Barcelona had to win 5-0.  If PSG scored a goal today (it would be an away goal since the game was played in Barcelona) then Barca would need to win 6-1.  Clear as mud????

Today's game was a thriller!  Luis Suarez scored within the first 3 minutes.  By half time it was 2-0 and then soon after it was 3-0 thanks to none other than Messi.  PSG put in a beautiful goal to make it 3-1 (3-5 combined scores from the two games...and now PSG had the all important away goal).  I was sure it was over.  I had been watching on my phone while I was volunteering at Guide Dogs and then running errands.  I decided to relax and watch something else on TV when I got home and the score was 3-1 in the 80th minute.   No way could FC Barcelona score 3 goals in 10 minutes.

Boy was I wrong!  Neymar scored with 2 minutes left in regulation time.  Now it was 4-1! Next he scored off a penalty in the final minute.   Aggregate score tied at 5-5 but the away goal meant that Barça needed one more!  Five minutes of extra time added and Barça delivered!  Everyone went forward, including the goal keeper.  Again it was Neymar who delivered a perfect ball into the box for young Sergi Roberto to finish!  Winning goal was in the extra time at the 94th minute; almost the last kick of the game! 6-1!  Barça advanced into the quarter finals.

Sergi Roberto hadn't scored in more than a year!  What a night to put one in the net! 

What a game!  What a turn around!  First time any team has advanced after a 4-0 defeat away from home! Making history!  I love my Barça boys! 

Grandpa

George seems to be taking to the Grandpa job.....Isabella is fascinated by him!

 Here they are watching the FA Cup together.  Not sure who she was rooting for!

We are trying to convert her to the right team in La Liga - FC Barcelona....although her Daddy, the Real Madrid fan might have something to say about that!