Christmas decorations

Mother Nature’s Christmas lights.

I know what I really want for Christmas.

I want my childhood back.

Nobody is going to give me that.  I might give at least the memory of it to myself if I try.  I know it doesn’t make sense, but since when is Christmas about sense, anyway?  It is about a child, of long ago and far away, and it is about the child of now.  In you and me.  Waiting behind the door of our hearts for something wonderful to happen.  A child who is impractical, unrealistic, simpleminded and terribly vulnerable to joy.

~ Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Morning walk.

There will be no white Christmas for us here on the Eastern Shore this year.  We have been socked in with fog and rain for a few days.  It is nearly 70 degrees and more rain is on the way.  I don’t mind.  We need the rain, and M and I will be doing some traveling soon.  Better rain than snow, although it looks like we’ll have neither.  They say we’ll see the sun again tomorrow.

Christmas red.

Besides, who needs snow when you have sand?

White sands of Assateague.

The raindrops have provided some beautiful outdoor decorations with or without sunlight to make them shine.

Meadowstars.

Put on your wellies.  There are puddles to splash around in.  Or maybe you just want to peer into them and find out what the ripples are trying to say.

Into the blue.

Colored lights blink on and off, racing across the green boughs.  Their reflections dance across exquisite glass globes and splinter into shards against tinsel thread and garlands of metallic filaments that disappear underneath the other ornaments and finery.

Shadows follow, joyful, laughing sprites.

The tree is rich with potential wonder.

All it needs is a glance from you to come alive.

~ Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Yesterday I grew younger.  I went to town and had my hair cut.  I also had it colored.  Not just a few streaks of color, although there are some beautiful purples peeking out from behind the front pieces of my hair, but a full-out coloring.  Shades of blonde that my stylist recommended.  You might remember that I gave up having my hair colored so I could use the money to buy a new camera.  It has been well over a year now, the camera has been more than paid for, and I decided it was time to treat myself to color.

Garden decorations.

I have tried to appreciate the wiry metallic grays, the tinsel-like silvers, and the soft whites that have streaked my hair, but it appears I am not quite ready embrace these signs of growing older.  Vanity?  Maybe.  All I know is that this one small change made me feel better.  Perhaps in a few years I’ll be better able to approach my aging in a graceful way.

Holiday self-portrait.

That’s it from the Wabi-Sabi Ranch on this gentle and quiet Christmas Eve.  Well, okay.  It’s not quiet and gentle outside.  It’s pouring rain and the wind is gusting.  But indoors all is calm, all is bright.  I might hike out to the Woodland Trail to see if it’s flooding in the woods, but there is no point in gathering on the dock for a sunset that we won’t see through the heavy cloud cover and rain.  Sunset these days is now at 4:48 PM.  Little by little, the days are growing longer.

A twinkling.

Thank you so much for all your visits, your likes, and your comments.  I hope your holidays are filled with love and magic.

Putting on the glitz.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

The Mistletoe Tree in the fog.

Once upon a time, the Reindeer took a running leap and jumped over the Northern Lights.

But he jumped too low, and the long fur of his beautiful flowing tail got singed by the rainbow fires of the aurora.

To this day the reindeer has no tail to speak of.  But he is too busy pulling the Important Sleigh to notice what is lost.  And he certainly doesn’t complain.

What’s your excuse?

~ Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration