More Light: Things that happened in December 2025

Maybe I could make a card out of this photo.

Things that Happened In December 2025

Witnessed the swearing in of the School Board candidates I worked so hard

to get elected.  All four of our candidates won.

Got my car inspected within the deadline (THAT’s a miracle).  It passed without repairs.  Yay!

Attended a political rally in the cold cold cold.

Attended outdoor Hanukkah menorah lighting with our synagogue in the

cold cold cold.   An act of defiance and an act of bringing more light into the world.

We frozed our tuchuses off.

The Common Household Husband got two flat tires by driving his EV over a large pothole (which was disguised as a puddle, as potholes often are). Do not recommend.

Sang in the church cantata.  Practiced music for family talent show. Band concert.  Symphony.  If it weren’t for the music, we would not be.  

stockings with the obligatory fruits

Wrapped gifts, stuffed stockings, provided ingredients for others to bake cookies.  Ate cookies.  A lot of cookies.

Christmas Cookie Carbohydrate Center

I believe the mud-colored icing
on the United States cookie
was intentional.

Picked up the “Blind Date with a Book” items I ordered from our library’s fundraiser.  I get them mainly because they are so beautifully wrapped.  The librarian picks a book from one of 6 categories (I request the category) but you don’t know what the book is until you open the gift. Each book comes with a pen, and bookmark, a hot chocolate packet, and a peppermint.

My only mistake was not getting one for myself.

Made progress on estate matters.  But it is still not done yet.  Will be two years in March 2026.

The CHH cleaned out some of the shelves in the front closet.  Still more to do there.

Read scripture at Christmas Eve worship.  “In the beginning was the Word …The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”  Played piano accompaniment for a duet “Gesu Bambino”.   Bringing more light into this dark world.

Christmas morning with the family. Much fun.

Figured out what to make for dinners.  This had ceased to be an issue in this

empty-nester house, but one adult child came home on Dec 18th to stay for

several weeks, so meal planning was required.  Bonus: That adult child

cooked many of the meals. Yessss!

Kept up with a more hectic work schedule, brought on by the emergence from the federal government shutdown.  One of the agencies whose reports I summarize went from once a week to twice a week publication.  

Had a bunch of medical tests which I had put off until after the election. In retrospect, I do not recommend delaying such things.  Because the ultimate triumph in politics and elections is outliving the f#&*ers and living to vote in every next election.  One test revealed that there is no life-threatening issue behind my pulsatile tinnitus, so it’s relegated to the status of Really Annoying But Not Painful or Dooming.  However, that test uncovered another issue of concern, which, after even further testing, was determined to not be of immediate concern.  Return for repeat testing in a year and don’t think about it until told to.  Another type of test was inconclusive, so more testing must be done.

After Christmas, we joined the extended family for a gathering at a place that housed all 18 of us in one building.  A huge blessing to be with those people.  My generation is now the oldest generation in the family so I count every moment we can spend with them as an unearned moment of grace.  (Except maybe for the moment where someone was stomping around at 11:30 PM in the room over our heads.  That was a moment of tolerance practiced.)

Shenandoah Valley

Finally superglued my shoe!  Have not yet tested it out.

Accompanied the Common Household Husband driving to a New Year’s Eve party in a blinding snowstorm.  Other people had the sense to stay home, but not the CHH.  I went mainly because staying home and wondering if he was lying in a ditch would be more painful.   Made it there and back (by 10:30 PM).

First Lines: December 2025 edition

Below are the first lines of the 6 books I finished reading in December, of which 2 fiction, 3 non-fiction and 1 Bible book. 1,358 pages.

Books in which disabilities portrayed: none or one, considering how you count a genetic condition causing lack of growth to limbs.

Book 1

I love Christmas.  When I was a child, I sang Christmas carols in the public schools in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and to this day, in the car, or in the shower, or sometimes in the hallways of Vanderbilt Divinity School.

 

 

Book 2

Disaster Reaches the Very Gates

Y-hw-h’s message that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah*, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 

*My typo "Juday" has been corrected.  This first line is not from an old movie where they say "Juday, Juday, Juday."

 

Book 3

A Good Friend Is Like A Hill 

Driving to the office in her battered white van, down the Tlokweng Road, past the stand of whispering gum trees, Mma Ramotswe, founder and owner of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, allowed her mind to wander. 

 

Book 4

1968

On a sticky August evening two weeks before her due date, Ashima Ganguli stands in the kitchen of a Central Square apartment, combining Rice Krispies and Planters peanuts and chopped red onion in a bowl.

 

Book 5

I was born on June 24, 1946, ten days after the birth of Donald John Trump, twelve days before the birth of George Walker Bush, and fifty-six days before the birth of William Jefferson Blythe III, whose name was later changed to Bill Clinton.  

 

 

Book 6

Prologue: We Need A New Story

The Talmud poses a question: If you steal from a Jew who dies with no living relatives, how do you pay back the money? It then dismisses the premise: No Jew is without relatives. 

 

The titles and authors revealed:

 

 

Book 1

Light of the World: A Beginner’s Guide to Advent

By Amy-Jill Levine

139 pages • first pub 2019

I really like Dr Levine’s style and substance.  This book is a good and short introduction to some themes of the Advent season.  The quote shows the remarkable nature of Dr Levine’s scholarship:  she is a practicing Jewish scholar of the New Testament, and shows great appreciation for her subject matter.  I read it for discussion at church.

 

Book 2

Micah - The Bible

23 pages. Date of completion: Late 8th Century BCE to early 5th Century BCE. 

I read this short book of the Bible via Dr Goldingay’s translation and his commentary in Daniel and the Twelve Prophets for Everyone By John Goldingay.  

Goldingay’s translation is often clunky, but it is good to stretch the mind and read unfamiliar translations of familiar scripture.

Some of the accusations by this prophet apply today, just as much as they did thousands of years ago.  The Lord Y-hw-h has it out for the people, because they have rebelled, been faithless, and tried to rely on themselves, and basically have done evil.   The Lord threatens to come down to earth and cause destruction.  Then the language flips into promises of restoration and healing.  And it goes back and forth for all 7 chapters.   Some of the language is the same as in Isaiah, e.g. beating “spears into pruning hooks”.  In my experience nobody talks about pruning hooks except biblical prophets.  

 

 

Book 3

Precious and Grace (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #17)

By Alexander McCall Smith

227 pages • first pub 2016

fiction mystery

Just what I needed for this frantic time of year.  The focus is on forgiveness, also a message I needed right now.  Bonus:  includes plenty of tea drinking.  I will note that this book was written before the current era of utter madness.

 

 

Book 4

The Namesake

By Jhumpa Lahiri

336 pages • first pub 2003 

fiction contemporary literary

This book (and movie) was mentioned at a public discussion event.  It’s the story of a family of immigrants from India to the US.  It was okay, but I am not sure why it didn’t strike a chord for me.  I thought the writing was very good, but about half-way through I tired of the main character.   There is a fascinating exploration of how people are named, and the consequences.  The notion of having a name for public use and a completely different name for use within the family is not unheard of in American culture, but it has added significance in the culture of the immigrants in the book.

 

 

Book 5

Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America

By Robert B. Reich

461 pages. first pub 2025 

nonfiction economics memoir politics

I appreciate Reich’s point of view on policy issues, and even more than that, his sincerity on those issues, so I appreciated this book going into it.  This memoir adds his personal history, which informs those policy stances.  The world is better off because we have Robert Reich in it, and I am better off having read his memoir.

I don’t know why Storygraph says this is 416 pages.  It was 461 pages in my kindle version, without the notes, 506 with notes.

 

 

Book 6

Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning

By Peter Beinart

172 pages • first pub 2025

nonfiction politics religion

Oof.  A tough but important read.  I read it for book club, and am looking forward to the discussion.   

 

And now some fun quotes from Micah, to finish out the year (Goldingay’s translation):

Hey, you people planning wickedness, doing evil on their beds.

At morning light they do it, because it’s in the power of their hand.

They covet fields and steal them– houses, and take them.

They defraud a man of his house, a person of his own possession.

Therefore Y-hw-h has said this: Here I am, against this family I’m planning evil that you won’t free your neck from.  You won’t walk tall, because it will be a time of evil.

- Micah 2:1-3 (The members of that family seem to be walking tall right now, but…)

They’re people who repudiate good and give themselves to evil,

Who tear the skin from on my people, their flesh from on their bones, who eat my people’s flesh and strip off their skin, and break up their bones, who cut them up as in a pan, like meat inside a pot.

- Micah 3:2-3  (This is one up on “they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats.”)

They’ll sit, each person under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one disturbing.

- Micah 4:4  (Hooray for some positive vibes from Micah!)

He has told you, people, what’s good, what Y-hw-h seeks from you:

Rather, implementing decisions and giving yourself to commitment,

And being diffident in how you walk with your God.

- Micah 6:8

“Diffident” means modest or shy.

Goldingay interprets:  what God is interested in is simple; God wants two things.

1. “Make decisions in a way that expresses giving of yourselves to commitment.”  Exercise authority in a way that emphasises commitment of people to one another.  

2. “Diffidence in the way people walk with” God.  The Hebrew word for “diffident” is rare but suggests the opposite of arrogance.

Shall I forget the faithless household,

The faithless storehouses,

The accursed short measure?

Shall I be innocent with faithless scales, with a bag of false weights? –

Whose rich people are full of violence, 

Whose residents speak falsehood,

And their tongue is deceit in their mouths?

- Micah 6:9-12 (A lot of the Bible talks about economic justice, which is often ignored by American Christians)

The committed person has perished from the country,

There’s no one upright among the people.

All of them lie in wait for blood;

One person hunts his brother with a net.

Both hands are on evil, to do it well:

The official asking, and the leader, with a reward.

- Micah 7:2-3  (In other words, bribery and grift are the prevailing winds.)

Happy Random Passage of Time Holiday!

House of Cards

Joy to all!

Sending cards at this time of year is one of my favorite things to do.  Every year

I fail to get them all done - please forgive me.  Following in Bibliomama’s footsteps,

I decided to document for the centuries to come some of my favorite cards

and my process.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Cards using my own photos

Cards using my own photos.  Clockwise from upper left: 

Suburban Pittsburgh Gothic, Feb 2010. In which the Common Household Mom and Husband seek to re-enact a famous American painting.

Cat of Hope in the Neighbor’s Driveway.  This cat, posed perfectly at the end of our unshoveled driveway, has never been seen again.

Gingerbread Houses at PPG Place, Pittsburgh, 2011.  This was from the Gingerbread House contest, brilliantly displayed.  After that year, the display moved to a different location and was not as elaborate, for instance, no train.

Card with skyline of NYC, pre-21st century

Long ago, we lived in New York City (Manhattan).  I loved to send this card

with its stylized skyline of NYC.  After 2001, it became too sad.  

I have kept one copy because it includes the Twin Towers, to remind me of

what was, but is no more, due to hatred and violence.  

Winter chickens, with pun:
Have a sPECKtacular season!

Winter Chickens, 2020.

Fabulous art PLUS a pun!  The art is copyrighted original art by

Patti Gay (Two Can Art).  The description on the back reads: 

Two Can Art is a collaboration between artist Patti Gay and her

son Noah who is autistic.  Noah creates all of the painted textures that

become Patti’s palette from which she creates beautiful, layered images.

And I am delighted today to find that this art work (and much more) can be purchased at allport.com/twocan. They also sell puzzles, towels, and napkins, using recycled paper.  A portion of proceeds go to charitable organizations.  

Eight Nights of Excuses card,  and headline card

Hanukkah cards

I don’t know how these particular cards, which aim to be amusing, are

received by our Jewish friends and family.  We’re just trying to bring levity

to the world.  We have already used Excuse #3 this year -

went out to dinner, missed sunset.

tiny owl card and 3-D card

A few more

The owl card is by artist Kristal Serna.  I don’t remember how I happened

across this artist’s products.  Many of them are way too cutesy for me,

but I like this owl. (And I really love her fall and spring scenes.)

The 3-D card on the right is an example of homemade cards.  I have

known two people who can make cards like this and I have been the fortunate

recipient of some of their work.  I am in awe.  

Humorous

Do yinz appreciate humorous Christmas cards, even if they border on rudeness? 

I haven’t had the right frame of mind to send these two.  Yet.

Chaos

The process begins at the computer desk, for the selection of photos and the

writing of the paragraph describing our year.  I fuss and brood over this part. 

After using most of a print cartridge to print (on regular paper), it’s on to

the actual cards.

Commandeering the dining room table

The card-writing operation takes up the entire dining room table.  I spend

some minutes agonizing over which card to select for which person. 

Would this person prefer seeing a fun card, a profound card, a religious card,

a homemade card?   I can’t listen to music while doing this task, lest I write the

wrong word or make a mistake on the address.

I have a fondness for envelope seals, partly because the glue on the envelope

sometimes is defunct.  The envelope seals are both festive and functional.

I told my husband that this year I decided not to use the Hanukkah envelope seals for the cards to our Jewish friends.  He said, “We can’t live in fear.”  I agreed, but said that I can’t make that decision for someone else.  Why should I potentially identify a household as possibly Jewish by sending them a letter with a Jewish symbol on it?  It’s extremely sad, but these are the times we live in.

After I complete a few, it’s time for the concluding ritual:

Seal the envelope

Affix address label on front

Carefully choose and affix envelope seal on back

Affix stamp

Assign Common Household Husband to take the crop to the post office.

Signed, sealed, and ready to mail

So far, as of Dec 20th, I’ve gotten halfway through my list.  

These days, I wonder if it is worthwhile to continue - all the paper used, you know, and the energy to transport them.  But I decide maybe it’s good to support the post office, and maybe one of those cards will bring some cheer to someone desperate for it.  In conclusion, I guess sending holiday cards is a dying ritual, and perhaps rightly so, but I will continue it while I can. 

Happy holidays from the Common Household!