On the tenth day of Christmas...

Wow, already ten days of the holiday gone by and it seems the elves have been busy on Tulin Road. Decorations abound and the tree is up with old decorations full of memories and smiles. There is the smell of cookies baking mixed with the scent of fir branches and I am a slave to the US Postal Service. I don't really think they have the right "Christmas elf" attitude.

Saturday I was the busy Christmas Santa with lots of helpful elves. I picked up my Christmas present in Tukwilla with a cargo van from U-haul! After more than 25 years of service the old, recovered loveseat was saved another attempt of recovering. I found a new brown leather loveseat to fill the living room. It weighs at least 5 tons but with the help of 3 young neighbors and one of their friends, it found it's way into our house and the old one was removed to the van and hauled to the dump. An easy project for me and a real adrenaline rush for the others!

So that is the scene set for those of you far away. Lots of busy activities and a very little bit of shopping, which is really only an excuse to look into the galleries and studios I normally don't pop into. The generosity of Christmas seems to fill the community every year and with the recent damage of Hurricane Sandy , it is all the more obvious. People want to help those in trouble. The question of how best to do that has recently been on my mind and of course I have a solution in mind, so all of you with energy and/or connections listen up: We need a national, non-profit organization committed to helping people restructure their lives after an emergency. We have the Red Cross committed to helping people survive the moments of a tragedy but for the hard work thereafter, there is no structure to funnel all the good will of people with generous hearts. I want a nonprofit, not governmental, structure that offers grants and micro-loans to people as they rebuild their live. A family needing $5000 for basic furniture in their apartment after their home is destroyed or a coffee shop needing to pay for clean-up and employee salaries until FIMA or insurance can kick in. This umbrella organization would also organize sponsorships, where a school in a safe part of the country might want to focus their fundraising for another damaged school or a neighborhood sponsor a family suffering. You get the idea- now run with it!

It is all in the spirit of Nancy and Plum:  " Why Plum," Nancy said, and there were tears in her eyes."Uncle John hasn't forgotten us and he did send us Christmas presents." Plum said," Yes, and where are they?"

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good week ahead.
Love, Mama Llama