Sparkling

Cold, grey, foggy,  the damp slithering between the bricks and behind the buttons and zippers, the day still sparkles with small joys:

• My 11-year-old son hollering "Bye Mama!" and turning to blow me a kiss when I dropped him off at school. For a moment he isn't my sometimes sulky, ever-growing preadolescent, but My Best Boy Ever. And to think he mustered this much cheer AFTER getting a flu shot.
• While shopping in a small English-language bookstore for Christmas books for the kids, I discover The Oxford Book of Christmas Poems, a book for me.  It includes two of my favorite poems, Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot, and The Oxen by Thomas Hardy. Each time I flip through this book, I fall between the pages and dream between the lines. 
• At the library, discovering all the Christmas videos have not been checked out after all. Visualizing an evening tucked under the eaves and a fleece blanket, watching White Christmas.
• Pulling into the driveway, seeing the postman has left his bike leaning against my stone wall and is at the main door with a brown-paper parcel. A parcel!? Sent to my Belgian address?! (We get nearly all our mail through a special U.S. post office box). I retrieve it from him with a big smile and a Merry Christmas, and take it inside. Eagerly I unwrap it and discover a tin of cookies and a card from Martina. She and her friend Sylvie rescue cats in Brussels, and she is the source of our latest adoptee, Petey. I am deeply touched by her thoughtfulness and kindness, to give homemade cookies to a new aquaintance. I hold the tin to my chest and savor generosity of spirit.
• A hot cup of tea and I click over to Citizen of the Month where Neil is hosting a blogger holiday concert. I smile, I laugh, I comment too much, and when Qatherinn sings "A Christmas Song," I close my eyes and feel I've been transported to another realm entirely....

Today, this grey day, everything is illuminated.

December 20, 2006

Comments

[mamatulip]

These are the little things that make the world go 'round, aren't they? :)

[Ortizzle]

Those little notes of cheer can sure put a spot of sunshine in a grey day. Especially a present like that which is totally unexpected. How thoughtful of your friend Martina. (Although, someone who rescues abandoned animals could have nothing less than a very kind heart.)

[Amber]

What a happy holiday post! Christmas Cookies, Christmas movies, sweet boys... *sigh* Very nice!

Oh, and your comment this morning...You are a sick puppy! LOL!

:)

[TB]

Hooray for small things that can cheer your soul.
I have a bit of an unhealthy crush on Bing Crosby. White Christmas is my all time favorite.

[Shirl Grrrl]

So glad you had a nice day! So did I... exchanged gifts with a friend, played with her oh-so-cute baby boy, made 2 batches of cookie dough wearing a Santa hat and listening to Trans-Siberian Orcestra AND made a beef stew for supper... and I stayed in a good mood through it all.
I just had to go see what you wrote at Amber's blog... you ARE sassy of late! Love it!
Here's hoping for more of the same kind of sweet days!

[Shirl Grrrl]

Darn, I hate typos... please forgive the ones above!

[Mo]

Howdy! I am Qatherinn's stepmom Mo, and she is thrilled to death that you loved her song. She's been pretty sick, and was supposed to sing this song along with her dad's brass band at the Christmas concert, but couldn't due to various surgeries she's had to go through. Now that she's recovering, this was the perfect opportunity for her. Your comments meant so much!

[Nance]

First, to Shirl-Grrrl: TSO is our primary Christmas music provider!

V--Here's to hoping your boy never outgrows NOT being shy about his loud, loving goodbyes to you. Both of my boys are very affectionate in public to both parents. I am the envy of all. And other kids have never, ever given Jared and Sam "the business" at all.