Longest Night

Snuggled in here with a sleeping dog and cat, candles lit, under a blanket gifted to me by one of my sweet students, IPA in hand, listening to a friend's birthday livestream concert as I type... It is the longest night of this very long year and in spite of it all I am full of gratitude.  Content.  Awash in the advent spirit and love for my family and my friends and the small, normal blessings of our lives.  It's been a lovely weekend and I am on winter break and it is 4 days til Christmas and life is good.

There are sorrows and losses and laments tonight too.  All that we missed out on this year.  All the trauma and loss and turmoil in our nation and world, all the struggles of so many around me-- these are in my heart tonight too.  

On the longest night there is room to feel more than one thing. 

Four Sundays into Advent and we are still waiting.  For Christmas, for light, for the New Year. I know that January 1st, when it comes, will not actually flip a switch and change the world.  It is just a day like any other... But it is a marker, a landmark of our progress through this time, something to hope towards.   We are 30 days from inauguration day and that's something to hope towards for sure. We are waiting for the world to turn...

Until then-  we have candlelight and friends and cookies (so many cookies!) and music and pets, and presents to wrap and children to hug and all the deliciousness of Christmas to light up the darkness...

Here is some of the light and love we've had these past few days...

Sunday walks have become a December tradition.  We ventured out to Holden Arboretum last week, in search of mud-free paths to walk, and to visit the Stickworks.  We discovered the Play Woods and fairy houses and thrones and the peace of nature.  We always have a great time at Holden, even on a drizzly December day....

The last week before break flew by at work, with  busy days full of tests and schedule changes, and evenings full of dinner and dishes and laundry and wrapping and preparing cookie dough.  Nat and I took a date - drive on Friday to see the lights in Bedford, and had a lovely time walking along Broadway and window shopping all the strange little local establishments.  Only in Bedford will you find an apothecary, a taxidemist, and a palmist nestled in among insurance agencies, banks, and hair salons.  It's a special place.

Ivy had the opportunity to go climbing with her friend and she had a wonderful time.  She's been doing some workouts in our new basement home gym area and it is paying off for her.  I went in to pick her up in time to see this:

Grateful for the generosity of our friends and the chance for Ivy to discover a sport she loves.

Saturday found us baking lots and lots of cookies, then heading to Stan Hywet for a night of lights and time with friends.  We met Melinda and Will and the girls for a drive in dinner at Swenson's and then spent a lovely 2 hours touring the estate.  We had so much fun taking in the sights and talking with our friends that we barely noticed the cold drizzle. 

I love Stan Hywet in any weather and at any time of year... but I think it may be at its finest dressed in Christmas best.

So grateful for our friend-family. 

Ivy went to visit Santa for the second time in her life! :)   Jack did not. 

Sunday:  The cold drizzle continued... and so did the festive events!  A nonstop day of Christmas joy.  Got in a run, enjoyed Zoom church (including the viewing of our kids' Zoom pageant) and then it was off to the first annual Horseshoe Lake Park cookie swap.  The park pavilions served us well as we had quite the party-- thirteen swappers and a few kids and spouses along.  It was a wonderful gathering of people from all different corners of my life-- college friends coming together parent center friends and preschool friends and all of them getting along and chatting.  We did elbow bumps instead of hugs to wish each other a Merry Christmas and I got a little teary with love for all these people.   The fun of sampling a good 15+ varieties of cookies was really secondary to the fun of a real party.  Even if it was only 40 minutes long and we were standing out in the cold and I didn't have enough time to spend with everyone.  It was perfect. 

Then without further ado I headed over to a friend's church where they were having a lovely little Christmas caroling event.  Bonfires and smores and singing in  front of the church, then we went out in groups to visit homes of some parishoners.  I joined up with two excellent singers who were visiting houses in my neighborhood, and it was SO much fun to sing with them.  Three part harmony and so much joy.  At our last house the lovely couple sang with us and brought us cookies and homemade ornaments.  I have missed singing in harmony with others, so much.  

Dashed home, put on warmer shoes, and headed back out in the drizzle to play elf for Nat's Santa at Spirit Corner.   Our neighbors took it upn themselves to buy a Santa suit and create this event as a way for neighborhood children to visit Santa even in this crazy year.  And it was lovely.  The most fun may have been the walk over, where every car that drove by was honking and waving at Santa. The church on the corner was letting out and people were just all about Santa.  One lady ran across the street to get a selfie. So much joy from a silly costume.  I could not stop smiling. 

Santa was paid for his services in IPA, of course. 

Today we continued the festivity with frosting cookies and watching Christmas movies with Gram..

.. then meeting our Bike Club friends for ice skating and cocoa.

Spent the rest of the afternoon sorting cookies and making plates to give away.  

Blessings (like cookies) abound.  

Wintry Waiting

Remind me in the future that jumping into Christmas prep before the end of November might not actually be the best idea.  Excitement for the holiday is reaching a fever pitch around here and we are still two weeks out.... we might not make it, folks.  On a positive note, the house is cozy and lovely and there are moments of peaceful waiting to be enjoyed.  Reading by the tree with some coffee, lighting our advent wreath on Sundays-- reminders that this is a holy time.  Other times are not so relaxing, when our sweet children, suffering from the delightful combination of boredom and anxiety, swing from keyed-up and joyful to snappish to sulky, changing moment to moment.  Ivy has pinned all of her hopes for the future on Christmas, it seems, and her anticipation is pretty much running the show these days.  

And so we are trying to find our Advent balance, where we can enjoy the reverence of the waiting, and also keep busy enough to take the edge off for everyone.  And even in our shut-down world there are wintry festivities to be found.

We had a delightful time at the Penitentiary Glen "Wild Winter Nights" event, where we went on a night hike, met some wild animals, chatted with a naturalist, and threw snowballs at each other.  We do best as a family when we are outdoors together, it never fails.

As is the case at most of the wonderful nighttime events at Penitentiary Glen, the pictures do not do it justice.

We got to bring gifts for the animals in the wildlife center, which was super sweet.

Managed to make a snowman during the tour of the rescue animal habitats, because that's how we roll.

I think we are looking at a possum in this picture. I am not sure.

Took the kids out for a walk at Wade Oval on a steely grey Sunday.  They were not particulary enthused.

But thanks to interesting art, big rocks, ledges to balance on, and cold fresh air, we had a delightful time.

This week was full of long days at work and late nights wrapping as we prepped Christmas to mail to our far-flung friends and family.  There is a certain melancholy to packing these boxes, as it is confirmation of the fact that we cannot all be together this year.  But there is also a significant amount of joy and gratification as we send off these tokens of our love.  Worth the rush.  Fingers crossed the packages make it by Christmas!

The Rink at Wade Oval opened this year, and we are thrilled.  Like most things during Covid, you have to make advance reservations, which is a bit of a challenge for us.  We are accustomed to spontaneously deciding what to do based on weather and mood.  But we went for it and reserved some Friday night tickets and it did not disappoint.  

The little rink is as magic as always, and perhaps even more enjoyable (if somewhat less festive) with the limited crowds.

We've already got another day reserved.

The cat loves this tree. She messes with it, but gently.

Yesterday we helped Gram decorate her tree, and then snuggled in for a Christmas movie together.

It was fun to watch my mom teach my daughter the fine art of arranging decorations.  Perfect Ornament Placement Disorder is apparently genetic. 

Then Ivy and Winter and I joined our Community of Hope friends downtown to see the lights. 

We sang carols and wandered among crowds of people at Public Square.  There wasn't an event or anything going on-- just people who want to be out doing something to celebrate the season.  People were happy and friendly and all wearing masks and between the music and the lights  and the people and the magic reflected in little baby Empress's wide eyes, I was feeling the Christmas spirit for sure. 

 Today, we prep cookie dough for our swap next weekend, prepare for our last week of teaching and learning in 2020, light the third advent candle, and try our best to enjoy the waiting.