Hippie Holidays

The official Winter Solstice was on Dec. 22, 2007 at 1:08 am (EST). Roughly around that time a neighbor called the fire department on Matt and Adrianne's annual Christmas party — four fire engines! Equipment in hand, they ran through the hallway towards the backdoor to investigate. Someone yelled "Adrianne, where'd you get the strippers?" They made their official report calling the fire in queation "one of those Home Depot chimney things" and left. That beat out last year's police raid and the previous year's egg-pelting incident from Park Slope's finest neighbors. I'm sure our fire department has more dangerous incidents to attend. Over-entitlement is a deadly evil when one uses 311 for the wrong reasons.



Children's hats are good one-ball projects, I made hats for Jyothi and Moli, Muk and Hillary's kids. I simplified a pattern that we use in class. I told Jyothi that I made her a pink hat, she said "I hate pink!" Then I said I might have to give it to her sister. Then she said "I like pink." I hope this doesn't spell out a life long pattern. Jyothi's pink hat (above) has mouse ears (Classic Elite "Basic Wool Superwash", 65 yds.) at the top, Moli's gold hat has cat ears (Elsebeth Lavold "ClassicAL", 109 yds.). I'm looking for that pack of googly eyes so I can sew them onto the front. Moli is just starting to walk, kids grow so quickly. I'm always amazed at how wide a child's head is, an average of 18 to 19 inches in circumference. The average woman's head is about 20 to 21 inches — and men, 21 to 23.



I'm making a few hats as late Christmas presents. My sister Mary wants a red one. Despite what my nephews think, Kai and Corey are also getting hats. On Christmas eve, Eleanor and I went to the candlelight cantata at The First Unitarian Church. It was a beautiful service with a choir and horn section, but the sermons carefully excluded the word God, unless cited from other text. We had Vietnamese food right after. She gave me a book: "Look Me in The eye" by John Elder Robison. She's getting a hat. I tried not to cough during the service, I'm still getting over a chest cold. I've been using this post-hippie device called a Jala Neti to avoid another sinus infection. It's a small tea pot that you fill with a warm salt water solution. Breathing through your mouth, you flush water in one nostril and out the other — repeat process through the other nostril. I can only describe it as "water boarding" but I feel less congested and my hearing is better.

I will not make a Neti cozy.