Every year, we have the same party. (see this and this and this and maybe this if you want some history – or repetition) It’s pretty much the only party we have anymore. And it’s a mean son-of-a-gun. We started it 31 years ago, and it’s been the same basic people with a tiny change here and there for all those many years.
Here’s the nutshell version: you have to hand make a tree ornament. Each person. (This has devolved into some couples playing one between them.) You bring it, wrapped up. You bring your favorite holiday finger food, too. Unwrapped.
You throw your ornament into my pot, where it stays till the game starts, at which time all ornament packages are placed in the center. We draw numbers. Number one opens a package. We all make admiring noises. Number two can either steal from number one or open a new package. And so forth. Ornaments belong to the third owner – out of play. Number one can choose from all un-3rd-ed ornaments at the end.
We have crying. Pleading. Fainting. Much laughter. Good-natured mockery. And friendships that have lasted a long, long time – between people who might never have met each other without this mayhem. Here are too many pictures. Think of it as a short video clip by frame:
Chaz, busily making her ornament.
The sumptuous table.
Rachel made THOUSANDS of cute food. THOUSANDS.
And all of this, too. Meshugana.
See? Am I right?
Build a big enough room, and they will come. To stand around in the kitchen.
But not everybody.
It’s great fun to mix and max contexts, making a big fat new one.
Friends who might never have known each other without US!!
Terry’s splendid petit point.
Dick’s cymbales. Hand made. Uh-huh. “This is what we might call a cheat,” she said, looking the other way.
One of two. Husband and wife made these together. Gordon and Lynn.
Shoot. I cannot remember who made the match-stick nativity. I was taking pictures so I didn’t get to hear everything. I am so sorry and stupid. Was it you, Rebecca?
Johanne’s angel. Chaz loves her face. I love the drape of her robes.
Steve’s silhouette of Bethlehem. Watercolor wash – ymm.
Rosemary’s quilt square. Such tiny work.
Laura’s elegant Victorian. That image in glass is actually one of her photos.
Steve’s carved rhino. A Christmas rhino? Hmmm. What the heck – I love the way the man works the wood.
The second silver.
Cam and Lorri’s cube. It’s covered with tiny images of ornaments past –
Jeannie’s fused owl. I wanna eat him.
Phil’s pineapple knot. The secret of these ornaments: the best ones carry the heart of the maker. On the outside, Phil is a chemical engineer. But he’s really a horseman. His was the first horse my children ever touched. Leather knots are just Phil. As glass is Jeannie – clear and bright. Cam is camera images. Johanne is an angel. Steve is meticulous and imaginative – and so it goes.
Chaz’s first fusing. Done in a microwave, no less. “What,” she croaked, creaking as she leaned over for a closer look, “will they think of next?”
Ginger’s burst of joy. Very like her.
Debbie’s delicious mobile.
Brian’s sled, worked metal and wood. MINE. I won it and it’s MINE.
Dave’s fused owl. (You said Jeannie helped you with it, huh Dave?)
G’s beautiful tied feathers. What kind of bird, I wonder? Best part of it: brushing these lovely feathers across your cheek.
Mine
Rachel’s sweater. (Thank you Linda!) Warm, brightly colored, whimsical. A great self-portrait.
Tracy: a family tradition – a poem that concerns suckers and beards and Santa. This clay illustrates what happens when the former sticks to that member of the latter.
M’s cheese loving mousey.
Gaye’s scrappy baby Jesus. I love his smile.
Bob’s. You might not suspect him of being a hot pepper, but good things come in tall packages.
Melanie’s meticulous illustration of a beautiful scripture.
Phil and Tucker.
Phil, sitting next to Johanne as she opens. We are so helpful to one another in these cases. Is he actually going to grab that ornament and run for it?
The group. My deep apologies to Paynes and Buehners, all of whom should be in this shot, but for my messing up of the email list.
This is not my fault. Really, if you’re going to stick your face into the lens like that, it’s going to freeze that way.
Following:
Shots of exactly the same party, but taken by Gordon, who is an actual, employed camera guy. Notice that he is smart enough to avoid the whole low-light, tungsten problem by going to the essential and pure medium of black and white. And that he has a lovely way of seeing.
Ornaments wrapped in tinselly paper. (Allusion: An Axe, an Apple and a Buckskin Jacket, as read by Bing Crosby.)
Me, bossing.
Me, still bossing and taking no guff about it.
The kibitzers.
Gaye, pleased.
Cam with Toby.
L with her mother-in-law. Notice that we are glowing.
Lynn, getting ready for the big decision. She will have been robbed TEN time by the end of this game.
Cowboy, reading cowboy poetry.
Lynn, pleased. But she won’t have that for long.
And NOW:
A photo essay treating the act of shooting a group picture by employing the combination of tri-pod and self-timer.
Me, setting up the shot.
Me, looking for the self-timer button. Like I can read those tiny things on the back of the blamed camera.
Okay – is it over here then? Is that it? Wha??? Rachel!
You have one of these dang things. Come find this button.
Okay, then. Steve – you spend all day fixing these dang things. Come tell me how to –
Wait. I think Rachel’s got it. Is that it? Did she — whoa. It’s ON. She did it. It’s GOING. Holy cats! Move. MOVE!!
RUN!!!!!!
There. Flash. Shot taken. The end.
Hip-hip HURRAY!!!
May all of your celebrations – with family, with friends, with a great play-list, a great book, a couple of dogs, or a few moments of quiet wonder and gratitude – be sweet and joyful and deeply satisfying.
Here is a fun thing that came to me at the end of an email. Thought I’d spiff it up a little (a very little) and share it with you:
………….(¯`O´¯)
…………..*./ | .*
…………., .*♫*. ,
……….~ • ‘*♥* ‘ • ~
………’ *• ♫♫♫•* ‘
……..’ ‘ *, • ‘♫ ‘ • ,* ‘ ‘
…….’ * • ♫*♥*♫• * ‘
……’ * , • Merry’ • , * ‘
……..’ * ‘ •♫♫*♥*♫♫ • ‘ * ‘
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M e r r y C h r i s t m a s!
P e a c e o n E a r t h!
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22 Responses to *::Yule Shindig 2010::*