The art of non-attachment: sand mandala

The practice of non-attachment is the work of a lifetime, and takes some very elaborate forms. The book and film Seven Years In Tibet introduced the lay public to the concept of the sand mandala, made by hours of dribbling loose grains of sand into beautifully detailed patterns - only to wipe the masterpiece away in seconds once it was completed.

London: night walks

A walking culture generally thrives in any large city, and London's is one of the oldest and most fanatic. Here where the sun sets early half the year, long walks at night seem almost as common as in the daytime. Many books have been written about the subject, from Charles Dickens' Night Walks to the newest non-fiction hardbacks.

back to Ordinary Time

Epiphany or the 12th day of Christmas falls on January 6 and marks the official end to the festivities that mark the Christmas holidays or Christmastide. 

Adoration of the Magi - Leonardo da Vinci (about 1481)

According to western church traditions Christmas Time runs from First Vespers 

(Evening Prayer) of the Nativity of the Lord up to and including the Sunday after 

Epiphany or after January 6 and Ordinary Time begins on the Monday which 

follows the Sunday occurring after January 6. 

Happy Holidays!

Some friends in the more suburban reaches of Greater London invited us for a glorious Christmas weekend. We spent three days in the company of dear friends and revelled in eating, drinking, playing 'auntie' to our friends' children, and enjoying time with people we love but don't seem to see often enough.

Picture courtesy of Jamie Kurihara, via Facebook

festive feasts

Keeping to our December theme of food and celebration wonder | wander | women had our final family get together at the end of Hanukkah before flying off to different parts to celebrate Christmas separately this year.

On December 12 we came together for dinner on the eve before the last day of Hanukkah. For a day that started out blanketed in a thick soupy fog, by the time we went out for a five mile walk in the early afternoon it had thinned enough for us to capture some of these beautiful images.