I was given three books for Christmas, the last one I received just yesterday from Sue and Mick, a wonderful Pop-up book of bird songs in stereo sound. Each page pops up, filled with a woodsy scene, lots of birds that start singing, each different, each from a different area of the page. Wonderful...I laughed out loud. Gave me a chance to remember when I was in second grade in Spring Street School. Our prinicipal Miss Palen loved birds and an assembly would often be sitting in our seats at our desk, looking at slides of birds, and hearing their songs. Miss Palen was tiny, but tough. I can still see her reaching up to grab a misbehaving sixth grade boy's ear and tugging him by his sore ear to her office. But she loved birds, and so do I.

The second book was from Helene, "Reading Jesus" by Mary Gordon. I got my nose in it (like Bucky used to say) and couldn't stop reading. Her thoughts on the Gospels are so in agreement with mine, I can't believe it. Raised as a Catholic, and hearing Masses in Latin, like myself, the only English was the reading of the Gospel and then the homily that followed. Her thoughts on the Prodigal son and the orchard workers are a convincing argument of the importance of examining the stories that Jesus used to teach. And then she got to the Beatitudes and I almost cried out YES, YES. So many blessed are the --, offering us a gentle, peaceful world. And the one that she dwells on the most, is also the one I think of the most- "blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be conforted". The author sees this blessing as different from the others, whereas the others extol moral qualitites and mourning is not a moral act - she calls it a useless act without a product. But to mourn, to really mourn you must have loved and loved deeply, a gift. I can't wait to read more.

The last book is a little picture book given to me by Sabra, a picture book recounting the day of the family portrait in the cemetery. On the cover is the photo of the couch strapped on Kevin's big truck, on the cemetery road, with grave stones all around. The only words in the book are on the cover - "The couch worried this was the end of the road". Cute, huh? Then the pictures follow in order, first the Bagge boys on the couch, then me sitting down, then Timmy pulling my pigtails straight up in the air, and I am laughing, then the others get into the picture, until the whole family is there, all smiles, arms around each other, Ria's stone in the foreground, her pirate flag a flying, what a day, what a nice book. A good Holiday all in all. Happy New Year's to all - I love you.