November 2025 in Portland

December 20, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I took many neighborhood walks this month, watching the season change, and contemplating sad partings.

Fall colors in Northeast Portland

The leaves…

Berries and late blooming or winter flowers…

Sidewalk square of the month…

This one has a human profile etched in the weathered cement.

And of course, the early holiday decorations…

Santa penguins, wondering where the snow is.

Knitting

I finished one cowl, which I am wearing almost every day. The pattern is Ella Improv by Cecelia Campochiaro. The yarn in Malabrigo Lace.

Reading

I finished six books in November. The most compelling was The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai, a saga of family life in Viet Nam in the twentieth century.

Signs of Resistance

My neighborhood is always heartening in the display of signs of resistance. There seem to be more and more all the time.

Window signs, telling the world how they really feel!

These signs were displayed in front of almost every house on this block.

Including this one, with an Anne Frank tribute as well.

The wall mural I see on the way home from the library, in the low autumn light.

Sadness

This month I lost two close family members; one older, one younger, one with a long illness, both quite sudden. This was unexpected and sad and I have been feeling shaken and unanchored in time. As a family we are scattered geographically, but with the miracles of technology, we have been able to grieve together. It is hard. And it is human. We are all on that train. We are stopped in our tracks by the loss. We are determined to live well in response. Both paths seem wrong. But we go on.

Thanksgiving was celebrated with close friends who invited us for the day, and for whom I am grateful, especially this year.

October 2025 at home

November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned from Philadelphia during the first week in October. I have been at home for the remainder of the month, watching the Halloween enthusiasm and the changing foliage fill the neighborhood with color and whimsy, against a background of quiet and not so quiet resistance throughout our city.

Around the neighborhood…

Halloween decorations. Some folks go all out. New or notable for me this year:

Fall Colors:

Creatures:

Sidewalk of the month:

In our yard:

Knitting

I finished three hats for donation, a scarf, and a pair of socks:

Books

I finished eight books in October:

Ribbitting with the resistance in PDX…

National ‘leadership’ continues smashing everything, like a giant wrecking ball. I am proud of my Portland people for exhibiting a mostly peaceful resistance, responding with whimsy and relentless persistence. Some highlights of the month:

Some of our famous Portland Frogs, from Instagram.

And my son took this picture in Paris, France!

Our hikes of the month are in the next post.

The rest of August, 2025

September 24, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

August began with a birthday week stay in Bandon on the southern Oregon coast. The rest of the month went by with the usual home activities, in Portland, Oregon, which, contrary to some news reports, is a very pleasant place to live.

Around the neighborhood –

Lots to look at this month while walking – gardens…

Sidewalk art, architecture, and more Portland quirkiness…

Yard creatures…

Homegrown treats…

Asters that survived the roofing, painting and tuck pointing.

Our neighbors shared their abundant tomatoes.

Knitting –

I made progress on my cardigan and a pair of socks. Our local coffee shop, KISS Coffee, has taken to reserving our Friday morning knitting table.

Reading –

Of the eight books I finished in August, my favorite was There Are Rivers In The Sky, by Elif Shafak. It is set in Victorian and modern London, and ancient and modern Mesopotamia, and links several character’s lives through water and literature. There is a hopeful conclusion, despite the hardships endured. I also enjoyed rereading the Elizabeth Von Amin books set in her German garden.

8/19 – A walk in the Wildwood Recreation Area –

This was the only hike for me in August, after our trip to Bandon. Usually August is a prime hiking month for us, but I had to address some health issues. There were many appointments, including PT for my wonky hip. Everything seems to be getting better, so I hope to have many more challenging hikes in the future. But one hot day, we drove up Mt Hood to the Wildwood Recreation Area, which we had not visited before. This is a BLM site, at about 1200 feet elevation, on the Salmon River. There are several miles of mostly flat trails through shady forest, and along the Salmon River. I imagine many school field trips come here because of the easy access, and abundance of educational signage and picnic tables.

Trailhead sign… we walked trails on both sides of the Salmon River.

In the parking lot, I watched a Big Leaf Maple leaf slowly float to the ground.

View to the nearby ridge across a marsh on one of the nature trails.

We saw a few very small fish in the viewing window. Salmon pass through here in spawning season.

The Wildwood Recreation Area was a great spot for some easy forest bathing on a hot summer day.

And lastly –

A few birthday gifts and cards…

An aspirational window sticker seen in the neighborhood…

There is so much going on that I am constantly whiplashing between system overload and full ostrich. It is a challenging time, and yet we will continue to do what we can to be hopeful and helpful.

July 2025 In Portland

August 12, 2025August 12, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

July was a busy month, when I look back. Our daughter visited for two weeks at the end of the month, and of course, that was my highlight! Before that, I visited a Textile Exhibit at the Columbia River Gorge Museum, and we went to the Peninsula Park Rose Garden on the fourth of July. There were five hikes (next post), lots of neighborhood walks, and the World Naked Bike Ride rode right past our house.

July 1st – Museum Day

I went with my friend Peggy to the Columbia River Gorge Museum in Skamania, WA, to see an exhibit of tapestry weavings by indigenous artist Kristie Strasen, that were inspired by the Columbia River, and its dams.

Individual panel and river segment descriptions

Close up of panel II, our local strand of the river.

Antique airplane in the museum, and the outside view

Museum patio and view to the Columbia River

July 4th at the Peninsula Park Rose Garden

Not much going on for us today. We went over to the local rose garden to see the roses.

Knitting and other crafts

I have made progress on my three projects – socks, a scarf, a cardigan.

Our daughter is an expert sock monkey creator and teacher. We started making our own sock monkeys on her previous visit. We are further along now; one more visit from her and we should finish. Meanwhile, she made one for a gift to a friend.

Home Improvement/Upkeep – It took half the summer to finish the house painting, and that included having all the storm windows freshened up.

Monthly Book Report

I finished 11 books in July. Several (Cranford by Elizebeth Gaskell, The Dante Game by Jane Langton, Wintering by Katherine May, and Civil to Strangers by Barbara Pym were comfortable re-reads. The type of book that is worth a second listen a few years later. My book group had a lively discussion about Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.

Neighborhood walking – flowers, shadows, architecture, whimsy

New Neighborhood Library

My Hollywood Branch of the Multnomah County Library is closed for six months of remodeling. I went to the newly opened Albina Library, just a little farther away, to pick up my books. It is a beautiful space, open and light-filled. The old part of the building is now a colorful children’s library. The new section is a beautiful, airy space, including classrooms, an outdoor patio planted with native plants, and lots of study spaces.

Knott Street entrance. This older part of the building is a refurbished 1911 Carnegie Library, remodeled as the children’s library.

Signs in the neighborhood of resistance and solidarity…

Appreciating our shared acknowledgement that we are not looking away.

And last but not least, The World Naked Bike Ride rode past our house on July 26th. It took 45 minutes for the full peloton of thousands of people to roll by. Neighbors came out and cheered them on. The atmosphere was festive, as the riders expressed their freedom of speech and body acceptance. No photos.

May 2025 PDX

June 1, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

In May we enjoyed a visit from our son and his fiancee, went on five hikes (next post), and attended a live concert, while the spring flower season rolled on…

Walking the neighborhood

Blooming this month in Portland:

Knitting

I finished a dishcloth for donation, and I have three active works in progress.

Books

I finished eight books in May. The one I enjoyed the most was Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner, set in Post-Civil War Boston, and Portsmouth, England. It is an imagining of Americans who appreciate Jane Austen’s novels, and interact with her last surviving sibling. Ms Austen’s themes of women’s restricted access to their own money and life choices are compared between the two countries. Spoiler – neither was great, and we still have a ways to go. The judicial aspect was interesting. I love the opportunity to think deeper about Ms Austen’s work.

Events

We spent a lovely afternoon in a garden in Eugene, Oregon. Pegasus pizza, toy airplanes, and lots of conversation.

I passed on this beautiful dress, handmade in about 1982 by my sister for her daughters. My daughter wore it in about 1998; and my little grandniece is the next eligible little girl in the family.

We attended the James Taylor concert at the Ridgefield Amphitheater with one of our sons. The music was lovely!

An upcoming event I will not attend because I will be in Utah, helping a family member with some health issues. But you should go if you have an event near you!

April 2025 at home

May 12, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

The first part of April was slower paced and focused on healing. We had to cancel plans to visit family on the east coast, and instead my husband had a surgical procedure to his neck to relieve stenosis. All went well, he is nearly back to normal, and his neurological symptoms are receding. I took on most of his chores, all the lifting and even cooking (he has done most of the cooking and shopping since he retired five years ago). I am glad to have him back to most of his regular activities, although our son is still mowing the lawn, and the weeds have gone crazy. We went on several slower paced hikes to see the wildflowers (see next post). And I saw many beautiful flowers in neighborhood gardens on my near-daily walks.

Neighborhood Gardens

Apple, crabapple, and Chinese fringe flowers in the front yard.

Forget-me-nots and a fading tulip out front.

Dogwoods in bloom all through the neighborhood…

Dogwood trees in many colors: salmon pink,

White – these are newly planted, just across the street.

April 15th, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in southeast Portland –

It was early for the rhododendrons to be in full bloom, but we saw a few…

April 20th, Easter

A feral bunny stopped by, but didn’t leave any eggs.

I dyed a few brown eggs with muted results.

Arts and Crafts

We saw a lot of beautiful pottery at the Oregon Ceramics Showcase, and bought three small trinket dishes *(made by Truly Sarah)*.

I finished knitting a shawl *(“May I Borrow This Please” by Larraine Waitman, Juniper Moon Cumulus yarn)*, and a pair of socks *(Laines du Nord Summer Sock yarn)*.

Books and Reading in Portland

Signs of Literature in the neighborhood:

The selection of books in this little Free Library has a dark theme.

This telephone pole art has a more positive message,

And I always enjoy a visit with Ramona, Henry and Ribsy in Grant Park.

I read six books in April. I especially enjoyed the biography of Barbara Pym, an author I have been rereading since the eighties; and the memoir of Liese Greensfelder, a young woman from California who worked on a primitive sheep farm in Norway in the 1970’s.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, our daughter, our son, and his fiancee met up anyway, even though we had to cancel our trip. Looks like they had a good time. I look forward to seeing them all during the summer!

March 2025, at home…

April 11, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We made our way to the spring equinox with a lunar eclipse, a St Patrick’s Day parade in the neighborhood; more knitting, quilting, home improvement, and reading; blooming plants in the neighborhood; three wildflower hikes in the Columbia River Gorge (next post), and a lot of rain…

Lunar Eclipse, March 13th

My photo, with camera set to fireworks…The sky is light because of the time delay, but the stars are out.

My husband’s photo, with fancy zoom lens on tripod.

March 16th – Neighborhood St Patricks Day annual parade…

Knitting:

Quilting –

I sewed together these quilt blocks. They may become pillows – I’m still trying to decide.

Home Improvement –

New dining room blinds and patched wallpaper

Reading –

Nancy Russell and John Yeon, Columbia River Gorge

I learned so much in the two books about Nancy Russell and John Yeon, two conservationists who worked indefatigably for many years to create the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and then to implement the plan. It was a huge political and fundraising challenge to cobble together all the different government and formerly private lands, preserving the ecosystems and creating many of the trail systems we hike regularly. I think grateful thoughts every time we drive through or hike in the gorge!

Neighborhood blooms –

A change of plans…

At the end of the month we cancelled our planned trip to the east coast to visit family in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, so that my husband could get surgery on his neck, where a bone spur on the C3 vertebra was causing neurological symptoms and weakness. The procedure will be during the first week of April. More on the outcome next month… ( Update – it went well, he is recovering as expected.)

Two final notes –

1) I still have not gotten the hang of blog editing in the block mode on this site, so it is taking me a long time to create posts.

2) We are trying our best to stay positive in a constantly chaotic, hateful regime, so I am posting a couple of positive internet memes here at the end, to remind me to stay hopeful…

January 2025

February 18, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I went on a few hikes, knit a little, read quite a few books, and embarked on what I have decided is my personal four year project.

New Years Day was the last day of Hannukkah. We had a small gathering, with latkes.

Neighborhood walks – the low sun position intensified shadows and sky…

Hikes

Early in the month, we spent five days on the sunny southern Oregon Coast (see previous post), where it was cold, but not windy! We took several long beach and headland walks. More locally, we hiked in the eastern Columbia RIver Gorge a few times:

January 13 – Klickitat River Bald Eagles and Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail, Washington – Our annual trek to the bald eagle nesting area on the Klickitat River began with disappointment this year. We saw no eagles along the river in the morning, other than one down on the delta just as we were moving along.

Seagulls and salmon in the Balfour-Klickitat Lake, no eagles in the trees.

One bald eagle on the Klickitat River Delta

We then took a short hike along the lower benches of basalt at the Lyle Cherry Orchard site. It was a beautiful day out there, calm and cold! We saw a pair of eagles flying along the cliff face. We also saw a hawk on sitting a rock, then devouring prey that it pounced upon as we watched. Circle of life…

Lunch view toward Lyle and the Klickitat River Delta

One of the eagles flying along the rim rock

On the return hike, my husband spotted a hawk perched on a rock.

Hawk in the grass, after finishing their meal

We stopped back at the Klickitat River later in the afternoon, and were rewarded with seeing about a dozen bald eagles – a few perched in the trees, and others flying up the canyon, past us and farther up river, beyond our view, seemingly heading home after their day’s outing.

The bright white of an eagle head, across the lake

Eagle, with the sunlit Oregon slopes beyond the river

And another angle, with Osage oranges still clinging to some of the trees.

January 22 – Wind Mountain, Washington – a short, sharp hike. I hadn’t been up this one in a while, and was looking for a test for my hip bursitis rehab, after about four months of steady focused exercises. This trail goes up about 1000 feet in a mile, leading to the top of this conical mountain at a bend in the Columbia River.

Reference photo – May 2013. View of Wind Mountain from Dog Mountain. Our trail zigs and zags up the back side of the peak.

It was quite windy up top on the river side, so we didn’t spend much time looking at the river and Oregon view.

We found a windbreak on the landward side, so ate our lunch looking at Mt Adams and Dog Mountain – also nice landscapes to admire. It was cold, but a good short hike, and a good work out for my legs. Progress!

Lunch view toward Mt Adams and Dog Mountain

Closer view of Dog Mountain (where the above reference photo is from), and the river, looking east.

January 30 – Catherine Creek – Rumors of a few blooming grass widows drew us out east in the gorge, on what will probably be the last dry hiking day for the next week or so. We did not find any blooms while wandering several of the lower elevation trails. We visited several vernal ponds that were frozen, and saw foliage of blooms to come…just not yet.

Catherine Creek Trailhead on a cold day in January

Knitting

Unfortunately, I overdid the knitting action on a pair of socks – right around the time I needed knitting the most to keep my hands busy while my brain was exploding with the national news. I reactivated an overuse/arthritis knitting injury in my right thumb joint. Blah! I wore a brace and knit not at all for two weeks. I am now allowing myself a few rows per day, and it really helps! I’m trying not to overdo it again. Here are the guilty socks, in progress. But I don’t blame them.

Less Knitting = More reading…

Four Year Project

Sometime after the disastrous election outcome last fall I decided I would need a four year project, something I can do in my own home, when the outside world is too much to take (more than sitting on the roof.) It is time to edit, sort, rehome, recycle, and organize the lifetime of belongings we have accumulated during the 33 years we have lived in this house. Three children have grown up and moved out and left behind many things they ‘might want someday’ but don’t have room for yet. I had a career as a geologist before I settled into family life, and I still have boxes of rocks, maps and books (that apparently nobody wants because it is all digital now). Photos and slides, both professional and personal; quilting fabrics and textile art materials for my creative life; personal writing and memorabilia. We have already made some progress during recent renovation work. We recycled all the old paint, thinned out our shelved books in the rooms where we got new carpet, and delivered usable items to new homes. We gave the unplayed banjo to a local music school, and have recycled many magazines that we were shelving for no good reason. A little action every day will make a big difference in four years, and be much more productive than doom scrolling. I plan to find a means of more outward action/resistance, in addition to donations we make to human rights and environmental organizations. And I will knit more hats (thumb permitting) for the guild service project.

Right now it is difficult to think this new year will be a good year, given the chaos at the national level. I call to mind a passage from the novel, Dune, by Frank Herbert, which I first read in the 70’s, as a teenager. Potential future leader Paul was given a test to prove he was human. There was a good chance he might not be, and would not be made leader. The fictional character passed the test. But I can’t believe the current ‘leadership’ ever would – there has been no sign of human empathy, only selfishness and cruelty. Yet we will resist in the ways we can, and hope that our actions in our own lives will contribute to persistence of human rights beyond the next four years…

Instagram memes I collected in January expressing gratitude, encouragement, and hope:

2024 in review

January 4, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I can’t say I completed all my goals for last year, I mostly never do – but I always make progress. New shiny things, or sometimes difficult or challenging things, divert my course – well, that’s life…and luckily I have the freedom to respond in the moment, change my mind in the moment, and be hopeful that good things will happen. I am only a small cog in the wheel of the world, so what I do doesn’t matter much outside of my home, but I try to live a meaningful life to me – always curious and learning.

Knitting – I finished 18 projects last year, including a few gift socks and hats; more hats and a cowl for donation to a women’s shelter; and a couple of scarves, a cowl, a blanket, and vest for me. I love knitting because it keeps my hands busy when I am feeling anxiety or boredom, and I create clothing. There are so many ways to intertwine yarn into infinite shapes, pattern, colors, and textures – I am always learning new techniques. The uninitiated who write off knitting as an ‘old lady’ occupation are completely ignorant of the science and creativity of the art. And I am getting to know a lot of ‘old ladies’. Knitters or not, we are some of the smartest people I know!

Ravelry projects page

Quilting – I added another quilt top to my collection of unfinished quilts. I have the means, but travels and home improvement prevented me from setting up the space and time as required to finish them – so that will be a goal for next year. I did piece some potholders, and have a simmering list of new projects that I have been working on mentally. We shall see.

For California people, fronts,

For east coast family,

This set for us.

Transparency Quilt top

Reading – Lots of listening, and reading physical books and ebooks – more than 100 last year! a new record for me.

103 books in 2024

The library Libby App keeps me in words wherever I am in the world. I find myself less motivated to pack a few extra books when traveling, ‘just in case’, as I do with knitting yarn. I love my physical books, though – and am loathe to part with the ones I love. I will even seek out a used copy of a recently read library book at Powells so I can own a copy to reread. I did weed out a lot of books from our shelves this year during some home renovation work. But I do treasure my ‘physical copies’…

Jane Austen shelf

Hiking – Given my wonky bursitis hip, I am pleased to have completed 84 hikes/adventures this year, walking over 600 miles, and 32000 feet elevation gained. Hopefully, the PT I have been doing will keep me going into the future. My goals are less lofty now – I know my limitations, and push them sometimes. I really can’t keep up with my husband anymore, but he has friends who will accompany him on the longer endeavors and goals, or he will go with a group, as he did on the Mont Blanc tour last summer. Meanwhile, he will drive any day of the week that we have decent weather to do a shorter hike with me. In 2024, we spent three glorious days hiking at Mt. Rainier in the fall, and took many day hikes in the Cascade Mountains, Columbia River Gorge, and ocean beaches that are easily reached from our home.

Turning the “corner”, Mt Rainier in all her glory – the perfect lunch stop.

Going down past the ridgeline oak tree

Closer view, lady slipper

Dalles Mountain Ranch

One tree to rule them all

Travels – Our travel highlight for the year was a three week drive around the Ring Road in Iceland, in June and July, where we hiked and walked in volcanic and glacial landscapes, seeing every sort of waterfall one can imagine, and plenty of puffins, wildflowers and rainbows.

Vestdalfossar, Seydisfjordur

Ice Cave, Mýrdalsjökull⁩, Vik

Atlantic puffins, Borgarfjordur

Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, Vatnajokull National Park

We also went to the east coast in March, to North Carolina, Baltimore, and Pennsylvania.

The fort sits in a recessed area.

Duke Garden, NC

Love Plaza, horse brigade was having a photo session that morning

We had two California road trips – to my husband’s 40th Medical School reunion in San Francisco in April, with a visit to Carmel/Point Lobos before, and then north through the Redwoods on the way home. We drove back to the Bay Area in November for Thanksgiving.

Flowers at the beach

Looking down Market Street

The Golden Gate

Founders tree

In 2025, we plan to visit family on the east coast again in the spring, and then visit the Alps and Paris in the fall.

Etc…Welcome 2025?

Wearing rose colored glasses didn’t help at all last year. Despite my inherent belief in the kindness and goodness and fairness in people’s souls, the bad thing happened anyway. I in my blue bubble neighborhood have been allowed to continue on without much confrontation.

I stay informed, but am not obsessive about following all the daily dramas – thus I have read a lot of books this year, knitted a lot of yarn, and hiked a lot of trails.

The underlying tension is palpable – will the players consume each other, as did the Calico Cat and the Gingham Dog? and what wreckage will they leave in their wake?…

From the poem ‘The Duel” by Eugene Field, 1892.

My last book of the year was the BBC Radio 4 audio dramatization of a children’s adventure fantasy novel called The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. It is the story of a boy who finds he has an inborn destiny to help other magical beings in driving the Dark back as it rises to consume the world. He gains success for the moment; the concluding line:

“And now when the Dark is rising, who will turn it back?”

is a good question as we look toward 2025 …

With optimism, we will be able to resist some of the chaos, and stitch the rest back together in the future. I hope.

December 2024

January 3, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned from our California/Thanksgiving road trip on the first of December, with the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah and home repair to look forward to. In the neighborhood, some folks went all in on their decor – a few of my favorites:

Rudolph and friends

Giant ornaments

All the snow people

We had a stretch of cold, clear days, one of which was an appointment at OHSU for me – all well, for the moment, and I got a great 7th floor view of Portland.

Tram, Downtown Portland

Willamette River, Mt St Helens

And, during that clear weather stretch, the roofing crew we hired put a new roof on our very steep roof.

New plywood

Tar paper

Shingles

Hiking

I went on two hikes – one out to Catherine Creek, WA, on a foggy day, and one to Powell Butte, in Portland.

December 10th – Catherine Creek, WA –

We stopped at the Starvation Creek Rest Area on our drive. The sun was out, and we could see the frosted trees at the top of Wind Mountain.

Wind Mountain from Starvation Creek

Clouds were sitting on the hills at Catherine Creek. We walked up Sunflower Hill through the recent controlled burn zone, then back down along Rowland Wall. The sun never came out here…

Walking up Sunflower Hill toward the burn zone.

Green coming up through the blackened soil.

Springtime view of that same slope – 2023

Walking down Rowland wall

The leaning tree and Rowland Lake

Fields of Mosier beyond

Golden grass of winter

December 19th – Powell Butte – We could see Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, and a few deer.

We watched the lenticular cloud forming over Mt Hood

Mt Hood

Mt St Helens had already donned her own cloud cloak

A few deer in the forest

And a sentiment from the Bard…

Knitting

I finished my Christmas gift knitting, and then made a new cowl after Christmas.

Socks, mitts, hat

More socks

Lancelot Cowl

Winter Solstice

The sun was out. I walked through the neighborhood looking at shadows and puddle mirrors in the low bright light.

Christmas

Christmas arrived, a little quieter this year, with no out of town company. We celebrated with local family and our usual trappings – tree, gifts, cookies, tamales…

Cookie baking

Cookies and grapefruits

Tamales

Gifts from the Paris Olympics and Dollywood

Gifts from Dollywood

Iceland ornament, with puffins!

Cozy fireplace

2024 Christmas Tree

Hanukkah

The first night was Christmas evening this year. The next day, we went with friends to the old Hollywood Theatre, not too far from us in Portland, to see the new Bob Dylan biopic – which we thoroughly enjoyed. I grew up listening to that music as a child, because my older sister played it non stop on the record player in our shared room.

First night

Hollywood Theater, Sandy Boulevard

New Years’ Eve

Another sunny day. I walked through the neighborhood, thinking about choices for next year as I passed some of my favorite shadows and cracks, and found some new shadows and reflections…

We lit the seventh night candles at sunset, than enjoyed a phone call with our son, who had just gotten engaged to his partner – a splendid, cheerful moment to end the year!

Seventh night

New Year’s Eve in Philadelphia