Christmas 2020

 

25 December 2020

  

Almost ten and neither of my sons is stirring.  There is a one-to-two-centimeter dusting of snow on the ground. My wife is engaging in her Christmas tradition of watching “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.”  The movie is a powerful one but it is really not a “Christmas” movie. But watching it is her tradition and thus I dug the Blu Ray disc out of a box of discs that were stuffed away in one of the great summer cleanings. 

 

Me I am sitting at my desk puttering away on my computer.  In a little bit I may go out and sweep a path through the dusting of snow that lies about outside.  As I remember it today was supposed to be seriously cold.  Going out will require layering, down vest, wind shell and good gloves. Oh yeah, a hat will be needed.

 

[break in writing]

 

Went outside and swept the snow off the circle drive and the sidewalk. Total time involved was about twenty minutes.  The air was crisp and clear and the temperature cold, but not bitterly so. Felt good to be doing work.  While I had no office Christmas gatherings last night (or the week prior), we did do our family traditions of snackies; cheese, crackers, soup, shrimp, smoked oysters and beer. After listening to Christmas carols and watching some TV I crawled up to bed.  Others lingered downstairs for a time.

 

My stomach felt bloated as I lay upon my bed.  Food like that tastes wonderful going down but turns into a rock as the hours pass. This morning I opted not to cook waffles instead going for cereal.  Washing down the cereal with some coffee quieted my stomach.  Working outside made my body feel better in general.

 

If I were to guess, my thought is that my sons will be up at just about noon.  The days of rabid excitement for Christmas morning have long since passed.  However, they will be giddy as they rip into the stuff they have received.  Me and Amazon worked our collective fingers off amassing the piles beneath the tree.  I note that there is very little in the way of frivolity nestled there beneath the boughs.  Coats and socks and a stocking with candies, these are the gifts of 2020.  Experiential things are missing.  Things like movie passes and pictures of places where we will be traveling are absent. We will be long into 2020 before experiences as a gift will be a meaningful possibility.

 

No great things to say today.  The key will be to just experience Christmas with some joy. We all need to try to muster it up. Live your traditions as best you can.  Remember the bottom line of what Christmas is about, the celebration of the birth of a man who according to Saint Paul conveyed perfect patience. This is the day when we raise our voices in song to honor the man who said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” The world is hurting so let us show compassionate patience and overwhelming love for our neighbors.