In the middle

The other day, it hit me that I am about as the same age as my mother was when I recognize how old she was for the first time in my life, like, when I was in the 1st grade.  I vaguely remember talking with my classmates how old our mothers were.  My mom was at the older end, and I remember feeling not-so-happy to have "old" mother.

So, I guess, me right now would be the first image of me for my daughter.  I have no idea how she feels about me being my age.

This idea does not depress me, thank goodness, but nudge me to run more often and watch more carefully what I eat.  Because I know from now on I am going only older and older.  A little effort to slow down that process can't turn out wrong.

Because, to see your own mother to be older is a pain from time to time.

My mother is now having some difficulty standing up for long time or walking.  Her "just sitting and talking" is a sharp contrast with my daughter's constant run/hop/climbing up and sing/finding something fun.
And I see clearly that I'm oh-so middle-aged.  I'm just in the middle of those two women, one in her seventies and one waiting for her 8th Christmas in her life.

This year, Kyoto is having a sub-par "momiji", or autumn color of trees.  It was unusually warm in November, so those leaves didn't have any cue to turn their color to vivid red and yellow.  They just are turning brown now as the temperature going down like normal wintertime.  It's an un-welcome situation for the sightseeing industry which this city depends on and disappointing to the teachers and kids who really wants beautiful leaves for their art project.

But, we know, we all know, that sometimes we have such year.  And the color combination of this yarn looks like a somber reminder of that fact.

Work in progress; Maple Sugar Socks by Karin Bole
Yarn; ONline Supersocke Sierra color, I think the colorway is 01 but may be wrong.
It's thin to touch and curls up horribly, but makes a good sock.  I am looking forward to see how wet blocking works.

Looking, touching and knitting this, I think of "down" year like this year, admit my imperfect self and think of rest "half" of my life.

To light up rather dull scenery outside, I started a new tradition (hopefully) of December.  I am making one small ornament every day, and put it on the...

Craft advent calendar, stuck on the inside of our front door.  The pocket is about 2 x 3 inches, so you got the idea how small they are.  I got the base at 100-yen shop, along with two magnets and the small wreath at the top.  The yarns I'm using for the ornaments are those bits and pieces of leftovers.  That means, this is a very economical project.

My daughter is having fun finding "what's new" when she comes home from school everyday.  It's a joy to me.