Early Winter

The new year started as usual with a late Christmas celebration with my side of the family, lovingly dubbed "Newmas". All of my state-side siblings were there with their spouses and kiddos, making for a festive and noisy celebration. We're pretty sure that we're all done with the manufacturing of babies, so it should be coasting from here on out, right?

With only a few rather frosty mornings and one skiff of snow early on, Winter has not seemed like Winter at all this go around. Mild days, not-quite-cold nights. Some days downright warm in our estimation. Rain, but not too much, buds forming early, wildlife getting fat and sassy from the feast at the feeder. A rather unremarkable and disappointingly temperate.

Festive Things

One very long, very festive sentence coming your way right here: White Elephant gift exchanges, decorating Gingerbread Houses, dark windows and twinkling lights, bits of holly and evergreen boughs tucked into all the right places, brown paper packages tied up with string, the cutest little Mary in the church's Christmas Pageant, siblings exchanging gifts that they bought with their own money for the first time and deciding to do it on Christmas Eve and bringing giant smiles to each others' faces, candlelight shared with Believers in the Christ Child born to save the Whole World while singing carols that bring tears to my eyes, dearest friends and dearest family, and a carrot shaped like a Manatee: all the most festive merry happy things from this Christmas season.

And to all, a good night.