December Sunset & Christmas Memories
The view leaving the office as the sun goes down. Such a panorama invariably elicits a sense of wonder and loneliness simultaneuously in me. Still not sure why.
So many Christmas childhood memories coming unbidden to me lately; I feel like Scrooge when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his youth. Don't know why this year I feel extra-steeped in nostalgia. Is this a natural consequence of getting older, or in reality the result of not making enough happy new holiday memories the last several years so that subconsciously I feel compelled to dredge up old ones?
So many little vignettes coming in quick succession that taken together create a mosiac of what made the holiday season special for the young me...
Opening the little glitter-bespeckled cardboard doors each day on the Advent calendar.
Perusing the sample binder of all the elaborate Christmas cards offered by American Greetings given to us by a great aunt who worked there.
Mom opening the greeting cards sent by friends and relatives and placing them all along the fireplace mantel in the family room.
My parents reading to us a from a rather worse for wear 1940's copy of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas".
Watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and all the other childrens' Christmas specials on TV, back before everything was recorded, on DVD or "DVRed".
Dad driving us around the neighborhood in the evening to look at the various Christmas lighting displays.
Being entrusted with an actual lit candle during the Christmas Eve church service, the swelling chorus of "Silent Night" from the congregation causing a curious ache in my chest, a yearning for the true peace that the prospect of a Redeemer promises.
The epic marathon games of "Monopoly" that were waged with my brothers for DAYS over Christmas Break.
Mom's baking and cooking, and her singing to herself in the kitchen as she went about her preparations.
Squeezing myself beneath the Christmas tree and peering upward into the lit branches, imagining myself in this secret holiday world away from the hustle and bustle.
Hope everyone reading this has a great holiday. We all are in need of some Christmas Cheer, I'll wager.
So many Christmas childhood memories coming unbidden to me lately; I feel like Scrooge when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his youth. Don't know why this year I feel extra-steeped in nostalgia. Is this a natural consequence of getting older, or in reality the result of not making enough happy new holiday memories the last several years so that subconsciously I feel compelled to dredge up old ones?
So many little vignettes coming in quick succession that taken together create a mosiac of what made the holiday season special for the young me...
Opening the little glitter-bespeckled cardboard doors each day on the Advent calendar.
Perusing the sample binder of all the elaborate Christmas cards offered by American Greetings given to us by a great aunt who worked there.
Mom opening the greeting cards sent by friends and relatives and placing them all along the fireplace mantel in the family room.
My parents reading to us a from a rather worse for wear 1940's copy of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas".
Watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and all the other childrens' Christmas specials on TV, back before everything was recorded, on DVD or "DVRed".
Dad driving us around the neighborhood in the evening to look at the various Christmas lighting displays.
Being entrusted with an actual lit candle during the Christmas Eve church service, the swelling chorus of "Silent Night" from the congregation causing a curious ache in my chest, a yearning for the true peace that the prospect of a Redeemer promises.
The epic marathon games of "Monopoly" that were waged with my brothers for DAYS over Christmas Break.
Mom's baking and cooking, and her singing to herself in the kitchen as she went about her preparations.
Squeezing myself beneath the Christmas tree and peering upward into the lit branches, imagining myself in this secret holiday world away from the hustle and bustle.
Hope everyone reading this has a great holiday. We all are in need of some Christmas Cheer, I'll wager.