Knitting lessons

And the winter passed gleefully while Sara spent most of her spare time knitting.

Mama was not coming back until late spring anyway and Sara could really make good use of her learning time.

Aunt Celcilia's cat purred by her feet while she unravelled the ball of yarn. She was annoyed that there wasn't much to do outdoors and most children her age would rather stay home, finish up their school works, and go to be early.

One night, she had a dream that Papa Noel had slipped down the chimney and burnt his left foot.

Luckily, it was just a dream and Papa is fine, said her maid.

Mama had a rich lover this time and hired a French maid to work along Sara and guide her through the school work while she was abroad.

Hanging Holiday Cards

Sara decided to collect all the holiday cards that the mail had brought them and in the end, hung them out on a ribbon across her attic window. She always collected clothespins and this certainly was a time to use them.

Aunt Cecilia spent one afternoon, writing holiday cheers cards, and finally handed them to Joseph, her assistant at her publishing house, to mail them out. relatives and friends from all counties and districts were accustomed to mail her family, joy cards for Christmas, for years.

She was generally the more conservative girl while her sister, Mia who was Sara's mama, was the lover type. Mia got fooled much more easily by good looking men and was swept away by them. Including this very holiday season.

Christmas in Switzerland continued...

I'd decided to take up knitting after all. Said Sara with a look of amusement.

I can teach you if you only eat a little more and not play with food so much.

That winter passed and she found a little time knitting until at least one scarf and one hat got made. She waited until the end of her holiday and finally gave away the red and white striped hat and scarf to a stiff little snow man outside her school.

Christmas in Switzerland

Sara's mama went away to some ski chalet in Switzerland. Tea time was often boring for Sara and she finally gave in to her temptation to be naughty and difficult in her dealings with aunt Cecilia in defiance to mama's absence.

One tiny snow flake sat on her nose and soon a large number of snow flakes followed. It was winter and the trees had been ripped off of their leaves for quite some time.

Sara sighed with joy and sighed again.

She decided to take her afternoons outside and play in the snow with any child in the neighborhood or any animal. Often, she was delighted to stay home and watch her birds eat. For Christmas that year, she got many bird houses. Aunt Cecilia gave her a bag of seeds and from that day, birds started flying into her balcony attached to her tiny attic room.

Won't you finish your muffin? Sara?

Aunt Cecilia was adamant the child was eating nothing and was too thin.

شب یلدا

طولانی ترین شب سال که به شبی پر از شادی، پایکوبی و دیدار با عزیزان مبدل شده و تاریخی کهن دارد نشانی از تمدن ایران زمین برای سایر مردمان این جهان است. این شب با فال و شعر، میوه و شیرینی، آجیل و هندوانه، همه با هم به زیبایی و طراوت فرهنگ ایرانیان افزوده وشروع زمستان را اعلام میکند.

Illustrations

Using only colored pens, to draw dramatic lines, and sporadic splashes of water colors on certain areas just to add interest make the most fabulous illustrations for cards, books, and graphic posters!

Solidarity with Iranian Protestors

No body has the right to subject any individual (student, teacher, writer, artist, musician, worker, merchant, woman's rights activist, lawyer, journalist, blogger, human rights activist, or child rights activist who stands up for freedom) to arrest, detention, torture, and death. Iranians have civil and legal rights and their government has subjected them to raw dictatorship and violence.

As an artist, I declare solidarity with the freedom fighters especially the people of intelligence, art, imagination, and creativity who use pen, paint, keyboard, and melody to fight with lies, guns, batons, and physical torture.

No fear is greater than the fear of insecurity in one's own home. Green lives on through branches of green plants, sprouts of wheat, and new trees... Green will be victorious!