Christmas Even

Christmas Eve 2008. Russian River, California

Here we are. The Day. Or the Day Before the Day. What IS it supposed to feel like? Should I force it? Should I muster it? Should I CREATE it?

How about just letting it be.

Like Iron Chef, I was left with ingredients: country house, oodles of kids, rain, relatives. (It is odd calling your siblings and their offspring "relatives" as it seems so distant, but I guess they are relatives.)

What do I make of all this? Nothing. I just let it happen. Now THAT is growth.

I loved the rain for starters. The kids helped assemble Christmas cookies. The adults assembled the rest. We took a drive to Healdsburg. I saw a Christmas tree next to an orange tree in the town square. That was magic. California magic.

The kids tracked Santa's progress on Google Earth. That was an amazing add-on we didn't have as kids. http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html I loved it as well. Perhaps if Santa can teach us one thing, that is the planet is one place and are all connected. Whether we like it or not. Whether we believe the same things or not. One place. One.

And the day became the night. Some went to Mass, some did not. And all was well. Sean read "The Night Before Christmas" to the kids and we went to bed and waited for Santa.

One family. One house. One tree. One.