Thanksgiving has passed, now comes Christmas, perhaps the highlight of our year.
Keep it Simple, Santa: the wooden tree and bow came off a package years ago; the hemlock comes from the trail (Photo: Mark Zeiger).
It started yesterday. We had spent Thanksgiving in town with friends, and stayed with them overnight. We crossed the bay early against the rising tide, and an increasing snowfall. The weather had turned colder than we’d thought it would, so we spent much of the rest of the day warming the cabin. We debated cooking our home Thanksgiving dinner then, or waiting till today, eventually deciding to wait. Instead, we would clean up the cabin in preparation for decorating. It’s kind of nice, having the luxury of postponing the preparations for a bit if we’re not quite ready.
We’ll try to take Christmas slowly, not doing it all at once. We’ll put the tree up soon, string some lights, and eventually hang our stockings on the wall. We’ll watch for a storm-felled sprig of hemlock with which to decorate the door knocker. By and by, it’ll all come together. We’ll celebrate Christmas now through Twelfth Night, January 6th, so we’ve got the time to ease into it.
If the weather forecast holds, true, we might even expect a real white Christmas this year. They’re predicting more snow and colder temperatures than last year, and so far, it looks like we’re on our way to that. It’ll make for a cozy Christmas, that might . . . might compensate slightly for the unpleasant fact that with Aly away at college, this will be our first Christmas without her since she was born. But only slightly.