Today I’m making a big loaf of French bread for my mother-in-law, her special Christmas request. I’m out of practice, not trusting myself around fresh bread this year, so I did a trial run day before yesterday that suffered from my dingbat inattention during the final proofing. It tastes fine but looks funny. Today’s loaf needs to be pretty. Below is the beading project that distracted me until well after midnight, when I suddenly remembered, “You can’t go to bed yet! You haven’t even warmed up the oven yet! And what is this bizarre mound of dough that has giant bubbles coming out of it?” It was 3 a.m. before I got it out of the oven, but I made huge progress on the rainbow trout. I have a taxidermy-style glass fisheye coming in the mail, so the eye won't always be just a vague hole with Marxalot.
We’ve just finished having the downstairs public areas painted and chased the workers out of the house until after the holidays. I love fresh clean paint. How old are we getting, that we would actually hire people to do it for us? My husband expressed the strongest possible preference for having guys come in, get it done, and get out. Apparently he thought I was likely to get started, drift around, get interested in other projects, and leave it 90% complete for a long time. Men can be so unfair.
Apparently he though I was likely to get started, drift around, get interested in other projects, and leave it 90% complete for a long time. Men can be so unfair.
ReplyDeleteYour husband is a wise man.
By the way, I would be thrilled to pay someone to paint my house. I expect it'll be my brother in law, though, as he does that in the summers. We just had a roof put on. Next year: driveway repairs, and replacing the boards on the deck out back.
ReplyDeleteNice. Rainbow are my favorite adversaries come fishing season. Very tasty.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd ever seen the word Chrismon before. Interesting stuff from Wikipedia:
A "Chrismon tree" is a Christmas tree decorated with explicitly Christian symbols in white and gold. First introduced by North American Lutherans in 1957, the practice has rapidly spread to other Christian denominations,[64] including Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists, and the Reformed.
"Chrismon" (plural "Chrismons") was adopted for the type of Christmas decoration and explained as a portmanteau of "CHRISt-MONOgram" (a Christogram).
Interestingly, the word can also refer to a "signum manus":
Signum magnus refers to the medieval practice, current from the Merovingian period until the 14th century in the Frankish Empire and its successors, of signing a document or charter with a special type of monogram or royal cypher.
The term Chrismon was introduced in New Latin specifically as a term for the Chi Rho monogram. As this symbol was used in Merovingian documents at the starting point of what would diversify into the tradition of "cross-signatures", German scholarship of the 18th century extended use of the term Chrismon to the entire field. In medievalist paleography and Diplomatik (ars diplomaticae, i.e. the study of documents or charters), the study of these signatures or sigils was known as Chrismologia or Chrismenlehre, while the study of cross variants was known as Staurologia.
There are several interesting examples, including Charlemagne's, in the article there as well.
Uh oh, I didn't realize I was drifting beyond the tradition in adding all the colors! I thought it was mostly about the shapes. Hmmm. Well, I doubt anyone will mind, or even notice.
ReplyDeleteIt's a developing tradition. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAre you actually going to put a trout on your Christmas tree? That's kinda neat. I'm now imagining a tree decorated with ornaments of trout and deer, fly fishing and hunting gear. Hmmm ...
ReplyDeleteI suppose you'll tell me now that the fish in the parable of the loaves and fishes (or is it the story about "Follow me and be a fisher of men"?) weren't rainbow trout? I figure it's a fish and a fish is a Chrismon, so that's my story. But next I may do a naturalistic descending dove in mostly white and gold and subtle iridescent gray dove colors. I couldn't possibly tell you any differences between Middle Eastern and North American doves. I wonder how hard it will be to find a photo of a dove in steep diving mode? Will I have to use a hawk and modify its shape and colors?
ReplyDeleteA quick poll at church tonight revealed that no one's aware we're supposed to stick to white and gold. I think these will be fine. Episcopalians are flexible to a fault.
When I commercial fished, every once in a while we would get a shark hanging around looking for a free lunch- we pulled up a lot of salmon that looked just like your unfinished ornament!
ReplyDeleteTex, I wasn't intending to criticize. I just wasn't familiar with Chrismons and looked it up on Wikipedia, and that's what they had over there. Wikipedia entries probably won't become canon law until the Millenials take over the Church, so I think you're clear. And what you're doing is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI grew up trout fishing with my father, so I have a very strong mental association there and the idea of using rainbow trout for a Christmas ornament mixed two things I'd never mixed before, but it makes perfect sense. The fish is an ancient symbol of Christianity, and why not rainbow trout? I actually think my dad would love it.
I didn't think you were criticizing, and I was joking. :-) We do have at least one altar guild person who tends to get hung up on this kind of thing, but I can handle her. Everyone else has the classic Episcopalian "whatever" approach, so easily discernable from the kind of service music they're prepared to tolerate. Being in the SW of the country, my congregation is actually on the conservative side of things doctrinally, but liturgically we rarely get hung up.
ReplyDeleteI thought as much, but also thought I'd make sure. How'd the tree come out? I'd like to see it if you have a picture.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt the tree next Christmas will be very nice! But I have finished only a handful of ornaments this year, so we stuck with purple ribbons during Advent, switching to red ribbons on Christmas Eve. The rainbow trout is nearly done, though, so I'll post a picture of it soon.
ReplyDelete