Mark Scandrette

This morning my family gave me a poster by Nikki McClure. McClure is a Olympia Washington based artist who creates paper cut images using an exacto knife. I really like the themes in her work, which I first saw at Little Otsu on Valencia street. We’ve also seen her books and calendars in galleries here in Seattle. A brief description of her work from her website:

“Her work depicts the virtues of hard labor and patience, which is inherent in her process as well as in the images themselves: weathered hands washing dishes, people sweeping, mothers caring for their babies, and farmers working the land. But there is also a large element of celebration, of taking the time to roll around in the grass and get wet from the early morning dew. The need for all of us to lay down on the ground, grab hold of the earth, look at the stars and dream. She magnifies the importance of simple things, like the change of seasons, slowing down the world for a moment so we can actually taste it.”

I feel like her images provide a gentle reminder to slow down, breath deeply and enjoy the goodness and beauty of the common place.

It was a feast day today for the Scandrette/Lairds. My sister Jen made orange rolls for breakfast and we drank Victrola Holiday blend French press coffee. We went for a walk together around Green Lake. For a late lunch we set out a spread of lovely appetizers including carmelized onion and blue cheese crustini, mini apple chicken BBQ sausages and hot smoked wild Alaskan Salmon with sweat mustard– all washed down with a crisp champagne. For dinner we had a pork loin I smoked outside for 5 hours over freshly cut apple tree branches. I marinated the pork loin for two days with port and spices and garlic. Lisa made her famous carrot casserole and I made mashed potatoes with a port reduction gravy. The pork was juicy with a strong but mild smoky flavor. A good day of feasting and sharing as a family. We are all pretty tired tonight– Lisa and the kids get real excited about opening gifts– so we were up sitting around the tree at 6:30 a.m.

Yesterday we drove up to the mountains to go sledding in the snow. When we lived in Northern Minnesota I got all the snow and cold I needed for the rest of my life– and begrudgingly went along with the Scandrette/Laird tribe. But it was great and the mountains were beautiful. On the way home we stopped at Victrola Cafe in Capitol Hill– for a great cup of coffee. Thanks to Aurora for recommending this place. It was very much like Ritual Cafe back home. Earlier in the day Isaiah and I went out on a date and visited Caffe Ladro in Fremont and did some shopping at the Fremont Sunday Market. Isaiah likes to look at the Sunday Newspaper funnies.

1. Friday night dates with Lisa at our favorite Italian restaurant or French Cafe.
2. Completing “Bay to Breakers” with the guys from “running club.”
3. Working with a great team of people who give energy to ReIMAGINE.
4. Feasting and making a life with SEVEN, our new faith community.
5. Sabbath Retreats at the Dixon’s cabin.
6. Fifteen mile walks through the city with Noah and Isaiah.
7. Playing games at home for “Dad and kid night.”
8. Finishing my first full-length book project, SOUL GRAFFITI.
9. Traveling to Montreal to train & teach.
10. A sense of mystery and curiosity about how God is leading, guiding and providing for our family.

We are grateful for so many friends and companions on the journey to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our creator. MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
—Mark & Lisa, Hailey, Noah & Isaiah