Things have gone very quiet. This hush of days is welcome.

Attila managed to put up the outdoor Christmas lights. Our display is modest, compared to most, but keeps our spirits bright.

Luna and Janus have just moved into their second house. They moved into their first house last June. Relocation has them on the move. Attila helped load the van at the house they are moving out of, he is generous with his time and energy where the girls are concerned. I stayed home and out of the way, since I could not be put to any use at the moving site.

Luna's birthday dinner was fun. Terra had to work and so they missed the festivities. This is the first birthday celebration since both of them have been on their own. It is quite different from when they lived at home; they were always available for family functions.

As I sit here typing, Mist has entered the room and has a paw on my lap, ready to leap. Up she jumps and suddenly the keyboard is a whole cat-length away. As I reach my arms around her to type, she takes the opportunity of relatively still hands to give me a good wash. Mist loves to lick. Now she has slung her furry paw onto my forearm to keep me from getting away until she is satisfied with the job.

I have discovered another recipe that does justice to our plentiful supply of squash. These muffins originally call for canned pumpkin, for which I substitute cooked, pureed squash. I even tried making them with applesauce, also plentiful this year. Attila has declared them a great success.

Christmas shopping is always a challenge on a tight budget. This year our aim has been to maximize the usefulness of the gifts we do give. To that end, I believe we have succeeded. Some of the gifts will include homemade food, such as cookies, cakes, and croutons. The containers meant to be gifts will be filled with food.

The gifts, that must cross the border, are wrapped and posted. In the corner of my office, sit the gifts that will be given under our own tree. From time to time, I catch the bright colors of the wrapping paper out of the corner of my eye.

On the desk, beside the computer, sits a richly colored poinsettia that Attila brought home. Always keeping in mind that curious pets should not eat the leaves, we keep it well out of the way of Mist.

My favorite part of the Christmas season is color and light.

On a less cheerful note, the employment status of many of my friends and acquaintances has been a recent topic of communication. Many of the small group of people of my acquaintance seem to be experiencing the same type of problem. To date though, this phenomenon seems to be affecting my female friends most acutely. These people are well educated, highly motivated, hardworking individuals.

Jobs that have provided a living wage have been made redundant, or are lost in a number of other ways. The women who held these jobs find other jobs. The new jobs provide an inadequate income, due to either low wages or part-time status. Since these women support themselves, and some of them are family breadwinners, this is an issue of deep concern.

One feels so helpless, watching the effects of the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Conscious and compassionate people can only watch from the sidelines, and feel grateful is it not happening to them. Yet.

On a more hopeful note, the Quebec provincial government has passed antipoverty legislation.

"An antipoverty law drafted by community groups was unanimously adopted by the Quebec legislature on Friday, but some activists said the legislation was short on details.
The law aims to eliminate poverty in Quebec within 10 years but it does not contain any measures that would take effect immediately.
It does oblige the province to table an action plan on poverty within 60 days..." The Toronto Star

One can only hope that bureaucratic due process, within the government and the community groups, does not reduce these seemingly good intentions to smoke and mirrors. If all this does is increase employment opportunities for antipoverty/poverty "experts", then nothing of value will have been accomplished. If the primary thrust is to send people back-to-school to learn skills they do not need for service-sector jobs, then the effort will be a mockery.

My comment on the back-to-school issue is motivated by the issue of creating employment for teachers. First, as a teacher, I am well aware that requiring people to seek additional qualifications means work for me. I feel apologetic to be "teaching" skills to people who already have them. I know many University graduates who are counseled, compelled, to "go back to school" in order to qualify for employment.

Of course, those needing basic skills such as reading should have the opportunity to go back to school. But the notion that the primary barrier to employment is a lack of skills is simply ludicrous. Correct me if I am wrong, but is this not referred to as a "red herring"? To a significant degree, what Canada's labor pool lacks are opportunities, not skills.

We have no new colonies to which we may send the poor. The world we live in will have to deal with this economic problem, one way, or another.

Popular opinion seems to point a finger at poverty as a state of personal failure, and therefore personal responsibility. The people who created this economic problem are not the poor; the poor are not that powerful. They sit in no boardrooms, they dominate no powerful economic or political pressure groups, they direct no public inquiries. They are the subjects of social science, the data of economic analysis.

Approaching the problem with harsh or punitive measures will not enrich the species.

May every human born on planet earth be allowed their inherent dignity, and self-reliance.

That is my Christmas wish this year.