Merry Christmas!

Day 73: Merry Christmas, dear readers! I know that many of you (more likely, most of you) are finding it difficult to celebrate anything about the last year, so take this moment as I did earlier this morning to reflect on the things which have brought light and love into your lives in years past. As I sat in the sparkle of the lights on my tree, I looked at my ornaments: Tippy and Skunk's kitties; two Fimo sheep represening Cindy and Ivy, first of my former flock; a poorly-carved Carlo, my husband's overly territorial parrot; my mother's Balinese frog; and of course Cocoa, love of my life, represented three times in places of honour among the boughs. Newest to the tree, a slice from a branch with a photo of a certain Crow holding a dear little Pine Siskin on her hand, the ornament a gift from Kevin who, I suspect, will always remember me as a person who lived her motto: "The goal of life is living in agreement with Nature." At least I hope that is how I will be remembered. In this time of reflection, quietly meditating on the significance of many of my ornaments, I found the 2020 frown fading from my forehead, felt a calmness in my spirit which has been absent far too long. I felt a wash of love, years in the gathering of its tide, flow over me in that first hour before dawn. Then, with first light on the horizon (albeit dim and grey), I opened the gifts sent by friends, knowing as I undid each ribbon that they had made the effort to keep Christmas alive despite the weight of the times oppressing them. It gave me hope for better days. My wishes for you are that you find such peace in your own hearts on this day, and may Nature gift you with such beauty as she has placed along my path for lo, these many years.