Today is the last day of my Christmas break and my only true day off. It is barely a day off since I am doing laundry before the new work week begins. A little bit of time has also been spent helping my wife gathering up Christmas decorations for the most depressing aspect of Christmas which is putting in all back in the crates for transport to my storage shed. My family and I were very blessed this year. My wife did a wonderful job of magically giving everyone what they wanted, what they forgot they wanted, and what they didn't realize they needed. My granddaughter exclaimed, "Christmas is a happy time". I took Christmas Eve off from work so I was able to sleep in and have plenty of time to get everything together for the Christmas Eve tour. We began at my mother's house where most of my brothers and sisters and other family members gathered. In a quiet moment I thought of my Dad. This was the first Christmas since his death. Still, it was a happy night. I am part of a very large extended family. Like all families there are many personalities but we get along remarkably well. It is the same on my wife's side of the family. We are blessed to be part of two good families that have minimum drama. I got to bed rather late on Christmas Eve and morning came quickly. My wife and I had to get up early to prepare a big breakfast for our family. I may need to rethink this next year. It's a lot of work, a lot of food, and this year, a lot of leftovers. Of course, one aspect of Christmas morning that I really like is that I get to stay home. Since my wife and I have grown children and have been promoted to the rank of grandparents, we now celebrate Christmas Day at our house. Most of our life we had to go to our parents or aunts and uncles. It's good to be PaPaw. It never ceases to amaze me how so much time and effort spent on preparing for Christmas is wiped out in a matter of a few hours on Christmas morning. Christmas is over so fast it's like falling off a cliff. You hit the ground very fast and hard. Next weekend we will attempt to get the house back to normal before resuming the remodeling that has been going on in the background the last few weeks. Soon my "music room" will undergo a major renovation that will create a lot of personal chaos for me. However, I can see the finished product in my mind and it will be very nice. Like every year, I look forward to the nothingness of January and, hopefully, some snowfalls. I would love to be in a place like the one pictured above. If I am lucky, and I can find the time, I hope to schedule a weekend in one of the hermitages at Bethany Springs, a retreat center near the monastery. I have been negligent of my spiritual life and some silence and solitude are sorely needed. Hopefully, I can find some early in the new year and get off on the right track as 2010 arrives.
1 comment:
I love the pic and could imagine myself spending time there. Nice, quiet, & no need for words...
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