The Shape of Today

Christmas peace

"Update your blog", WDC keeps urging me. Okay, here it is, Christmas morning, and I'm updating my blog.

Christmas is going to be different for me going forward, to be sure. This is the second year in a row I didn't put up a tree...something I'd been doing faithfully every year since Mom died. Last year I was simply too preoccupied and exhausted to be interested, and I think on some level I sensed Dad's situation was growing steadily graver. This year I simply didn't have the heart for it, and dealing with my own health issues takes up most of my spare time, including the time i should be spending writing.

By this time next year, I'm hoping to have a better handle on things. I'll have the tree up and be able to enjoy those old but well-loved ornaments of Mom's. And Dad, for all his grumbling, enjoyed the tree too before he got too ill to enjoy much of anything. I remember he was a bit scandalized that first year after we lost Mom...he thought, as we were still in mourning, that the tree was not quite appropriate. However, I argued that Mom would have wanted us to have the tree and all the joy that went with it. So yes...these last couple of years have been sorrowful and difficult, but in time a Christmas tree will return to House Tanith. In time.

So am I skipping Christmas? No. I've a rather simple but tasty carrot dish I'm going to put together in a little while to bring up to the family meal at my cousin's, which I still think of as "Grandma's". I learned over Thanksgiving that fattening casseroles are not the best bet for this, because several family members have food allergies or special diets or weird diet ideas, and I end up bringing said fattening casserole back home and eating it myself. Not something I need to be doing. Too much eating of the wrong things has played a role in this very tiresome situation with my ankle, and I need to reverse the trend.

One of the themes of Christmas is peace, so I spent a delightful time on the porch just as day was breaking partaking of some peace. For once, there wasn't a lot of traffic swarming off to work, school, and shopping. It's a rare enough thing around here, so when it comes my way I make sure to enjoy it.

Here is a Christmas wish for peace. For all of us.