My favorite

Happy Christmas Eve! As it happens, today's card, from 1985 is my very favorite of all the Christmas cards I made. It is another linoleum block print. Only one block, but printed with a combination of brown and green inks. After they were all printed, I cut a little mask the shape of the print, which I could lay on the print, then spatter a bit of white paint over it.

It's a beautiful day here in Oregon. The sun is shining brightly and it is crisp and cold. Emily and I went and had pedicures this morning. We remembered the time several years ago that we went for pedicures just before Christmas in a snowstorm. The power went out and plunged the salon into darkness. The women who worked there scurried around and found candles and flashlights and finished our pedicures. When we left we discovered that all the street lights and traffic signals were out and traffic was slowly creeping along at a snail's pace. I turned onto a street not far from my house to find it blocked by an enormous, uprooted cedar tree that had crashed through power lines and landed blocking all lanes of traffic. The power crews were already there and traffic was being redirected. I wrote about it at the time. But today is entirely different.

Tonight we will go to my daughter's for dinner and games. Tomorrow we will all have dinner here. We are all looking forward to Sofia's reaction to everything. This is the first Christmas she has had the awareness to anticipate and think about Christmas and get excited. We have all had wonderful fun making and buying gifts that we think she will enjoy and learn from.

Well, the kitchen is calling to me, so I must go and start cooking. Have a wonderful holiday!