Schultze Gets the Blues

With it's being New Year's Eve, my thoughts turned back to New Year's Eves of days past. I could not help but think about the sweetest and most satisfying New Year's Eve that I spent with Don, the one that ended 2006 and began 2007. Here is the post about the evening, from my blog at the time. - - - - - - - SCHULTZE GETS THE BLUES • 01-02-2007 That was the name of the movie we were watching as Baby New Year toddled into the room with his tiny arse showing. ~Schultze Gets the Blues~ Excuse me — "film," not "movie." My bad. Yes, I prefer using the term "film" rather than "movie" for this type of production. This was not the usual sludge of action-packed movie fare made to set box-office records and cater to those with short-attention spans (increasingly prominent in our culture, sadly). Rather, this was an artsy-fartsy, European film that contained a "character study" (one of my favorite things!) of a man in search of a dream — Schultze. Schultze was a man who lived in a small town in Germany, followed the norms of society, worked hard all his life, and then had a revelation after his retirement of marching to the beat of a different drummer. To me, it was a beautiful, slow-paced, entertaining story showing "real" people, in "real-life" situations — things with which we can identify as human beings, rather than vicariously living at some on-the-edge fantasy level. I find stories of that nuture immensely rewarding and special. So, there we were, he and I, snuggled in bed watching Schultze's tale unfold on the screen. Then my watch beeped. Midnight. Yes, I am an incurable geekette, who has a watch that beeps on the hour and does other cool shit, too. I turn over to look at his face, wish him a Happy New Year, steal a kiss, and then turn back to Schultze's life. Our lives, and Schultze's, intertwined, for a few brief moments in time. A cozy, happy New Year, indeed!

©2007,2011 Tiffany Reed

Matthew & tree

The hotel where I worked was owned by the same family than owned the hotel next door (although the two were managed separately, by separate family members). Matthew was my counterpart at the hotel next door, serving as the primary night-shift clerk. He slipped over to my hotel for a brief visit one night, to see our tree.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Tree

Full view of the tree at the hotel. Yes, it's artificial. No, it's not my best decorating job. But hey, I had to stop frequently to answer the phone, check guests into the hotel, and so forth. But it was still nice in it's own little way.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Rather odd...

When I worked at the hotel in Kingsport, I was asked to decorate the Christmas tree in the lobby since I worked the night-shift and could do it with less interference than the day-shift staff would have experienced. I did not mind doing it, not at all. However, something felt rather odd... There I was, a woman with with Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leanings, decoracting a Christmas tree in a business establishment managed by Hindu folks. The first of our clientele to see said tree after it was decorated was Muslim. Too weird. LOL

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Stocking #2

Here is a daytime view of one of the Christmas stocking decorations in downtown Kingsport. I apologize for the darkness of this photo, but it was taken on a dreary, overcast day (in December 2007) and with my old, LG225 camera phone. I really should have snapped another daytime photo with a better camera-phone when I was there during the 2009/2010 winter, but I didn't think of it.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Stocking

One of the wonderful, old-time Christmas ornaments in downtown Kingsport. I love the vintage ornaments like this much more than the sparkly new ones!

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Yiddisha Santa

This was my husband's favorite Christmas decoration. One of the reasons he liked it was because Santa is wearing a stocking cap with an 'Old World' feel to it, so it looks a bit more like a Jewish yarmulke than the Santa-cap commonly seen in this country. And since Don once followed Judaism for a while, at the request of his first wife, Madeline, this figurine amused him immensely. He called it the "Yiddisha Santa." :3

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Lights on Watauga

One of the houses on Watauga Street, just a couple of blocks from our house, always has the prettiest lights and decorations at each major holiday! They decorate for Valentine's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, and Christmas. It's always so fun to see what they do!

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Christmas tree by day

This is the house at the corner of Piedmont and Catawba streets, by day, with the little stylized Christmas tree lights in the window. So cute! :) This photo was made with my old LG225 flip phone (Miranda's old phone).

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Christmas tree

One of the houses on the corner of Catawba and Piedmont Streets had the simplest, but most adorable decoration that they hung in their kitchen window each year. It was a few lights that were arranged to look like a Christmas tree. It was one of my favorite things to look for whenever I went down Piedmont Street. Sometimes, the simplest things are the best. :)

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Out of the darkness, into the light...

PREFACE: I know I post this every year, and everyone reading this blog has probably seen it at least once in the past, if not more. I think I would feel remiss if I didn't post it somewhere. It changes slightly, year-by-year, so maybe it will seem new, somehow, anyway. LOL • • • • • • • This time of year, the daylight hours in the northern hemisphere are fewer in number compared to the nighttime hours, a phenomenon that will continue until the Winter Solstice. In 2011, the Winter Solstice falls on December 22nd, at 12:30 AM EST (05:30 UTC). After that, those of us above the equator will begin to see a slow shift towards more daylight and less darkness until the Summer Solstice arrives in June. During this darkest time of year, many people decorate their houses with pretty lights. I love the darkness — it is peaceful & mysterious, comforting & enfolding like a womb, giving seeds and ideas the possibility of germinating. However, I love pretty lights, too! Many people associate the lights with religious traditions rather than the original intent of merely "brightening the dark time of the year with a little cheer." My husband and I did not observe any holiday in our household this time of year, other than my quiet acknowledgment of the arrival of the Winter Solstice. We prefered a year-round celebration of the Light of the human soul, illuminating the darkness of our being. In our happy home, there were no trees, no stockings, no gifts, nor were there any dreidels spinning, no menorrah being lit. While my husband was alive, he favored logic and reason over religion. I have identified as a Buddhist for several years, for simplicity's sake when talking to others, but my spiritual viewpoints are heavily in-line with the "Shaktist" sect of Sanatana Dharma (the proper name for the Hindu religion). Both of us were born into homes that followed Christian religious observances, but both of us came to believe that following one's heart is more important than following the herd. There is awesome power and beauty in standing alone as a wild creature on the mountain precipice and looking down upon the gleaming valley below. All year long, I try to hold as much love in my heart as I can for myself and for other sentient beings. I believed in recycling things before it was considered fashionable. I respect Mother Earth, and believe in treating everything with respect and acting with personal accountability. I believe in the beauty and power of the human soul, and I believe in a connectedness to All Things that exists as the Universal Consciousness, that thing I call "Goddess." I do not believe there is an actual "Being" that needs to lift us, pitifully, out of our wallow in misery. We need to lift ourselves. We can do it, We have the Power. My husband's beliefs were different than mine, but were similar and harmonized beautifully with mine. I miss him, terribly so. For those that see the light, I wish you cheer. For those that feel the darkness, I wish you cheer. For those that are lifting themselves, I wish you cheer. For those that are waiting to be lifted, I wish you cheer. Whatever your beliefs, whatever your path, know that I wish you cheer... and peace.

©2006,2011 Tiffany Reed

Dangling cable

Storms in December of 2009 made some limbs fall from the trees in our neighborhood. One of the limbs knocked our cable-TV line to the ground. Oddly enough, we still had service to both the television and Internet! Yay! I made several telephone calls to Charter about the downed line, but they had still not sent anyone to fix it before I moved in February. Fortunately, it wasn't in our way. Here is the dangling line, with another view of our back steps!

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Entrance to the cave

This huge rock was part of our back steps, and was very secure to hold the weight of an adult. Underneath it, though, was this little hollowed-out place, like the entrance to a cave where fairies could live. Or very small dragons.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Nut

Remnants of a nut on the back steps, probably dropped by a squirrel.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Bleak midwinter

The stone steps, bathed in the greenish glow of the mercury-vapor area light on the back of the house, on a snowy, bleak midwinter evening.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

The back steps

Out the back door, there was a concrete patio. From there, we climbed up this set of stone steps — which were all-at-once wacky, weird, and wonderful — to get to the area where we parked the cars in the back yard. Don was always worried that I would lose my footing and hurt myself, especially when wearing heels, but I never did. One of the rocks on one side was a bit loose and would wiggle if stepped on, but we quickly learned to walk towards the other side at that point. LOL

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Hearth and home

One of the things I liked best about the house on Wateree Street was all the "exposed wood." All of door- and window-facings were constructed of rich, beautiful wood, rather than from cheap materials with a coat-of-paint, as is done nowadays. All the doors in the house were solid wood, rather than veneered and hollow. And then there was this artfully-crafted mantle of gorgeous, rich wood. I just wish I had a photo of it without my icky self in the view. The hearth area was flanked on each side by built-in bookshelves!

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Old Barn #47

This painting also hung in the living room, and was painted by the same artist that created the Old Barn #46 painting. Although smaller than the other painting, it looked like a "matched set" to me. Not only was this painting signed and numbered by the artist, but also bore the inscription "To Ruby Dawn..." above the signature.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Old Barn #46

This large painting, which was hanging in our home, originally belonged to my husband's mother, Ruby Dawn. This was probably a print, but it was signed and numbered by the artist. I wish I could remember his name, but I cannot. Sadly, it does not show on this photo I made. The barn in this painting, however, was designated #46 in my collection of Old Barn photos.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Antique radio

The antique floor-model radio in the living room of the house was an incredibly awesome relic of days-gone-by. Sadly, it didn't work any longer, but it was an awesome piece of "furniture," none-the-less.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Sewing nook

The far corner of the front bedroom was my sewing nook. My mother gave me her sewing machine. She never taught me to sew, but I can muddle-through enough to make simple repairs. The bright, shiny thing near the top-center of the photo is a little hummingbird ornament, hanging from the ceiling fan, that my friend Kathy gave me.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Front bedroom

This bedroom was in the front part of the house, and was our guest room. It was where I kept my clothes, shoes, some books, my sewing machine and some other things. When Asilinn visited us, it was her room.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

The joy of triplicate

I really liked the mirror over the sink in the bathroom! For one thing, it was BIG! For another, there was a small "medicine cabinet" behind each end (Don's side was on the left, mine was on the right), and the mirrored doors opened inward, towards each other. If one positioned one's head over the sink, it was like having a mirror on three sides, which came in handy at times. It also enabled cool effects for photos, such as the shots of the Blue Moon neon sculpture, below, shown unlit, and then lit. :)

©2011 Tiffany Reed

The Switch

The three-way switch in our bathroom was so cool! One switch controlled the light in the ceiling fixture, one switch controlled the fan in the ceiling fixture, and the third controlled the awesome row of lights over the sink! To me, this switch is also a reminder of how well Don and I complemented each other. One day, this switch stopped working and Don was hesitant to work on it because he didn't know much about electrical issues. I had some electrical experience, so I grabbed my screwdriver and fixed the switch. But when we had a leak under the kitchen sink and I was ready to call a plumber, Don grabbed a pipe wrench, crawled under there, and fixed it. It always seemed that regardless of what life threw at us, one of us, or the other, knew what to do or had the resources to handle it.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Sink

I loved the fixtures in the bathroom! The sink and toilet were a lovely, creamy yellowish color! They don't make 'em like that any more!

©2011 Tiffany Reed