This morning is…starting early, my eyes wide open at 3:00 a.m. There are no children here rousing me from my slumber, no eager anticipation for what Santa might have left under the tree. Perhaps it’s hormones (or lack thereof), but so many days of each week begin this way. Early waking, followed by a burst of energy fueled with caffeine, and then my motivation begins to slowly and steadily leak away like the air from a balloon, until I finally fizzle completely and come to a heap on the couch right after dinner.
This morning is…a large mug of coffee (decaf because maybe I could go back to sleep for a couple of hours) brewed in a bright yellow cup with the words “Morning, Sunshine,” emblazoned upon it.
This morning is…lighting the Christmas tree; it’s one of the season’s remaining pleasures for me to sit in my dark living room and bask in the the glow of white lights on the tree, the mantel, the candles on the tables. It’s a bonus that I’m not wearing glasses or contact lens - the myopic blur of lights adds an even warmer glow to the atmosphere.
This morning is…thinking about the day ahead, how to fill the hours that have now been extended by waking well before the crack of dawn, how to bring some sense of celebration to the normal daily events of a Wednesday in December. When Jim and Lacey get up, we will have more coffee (with caffeine this time), maybe some scrambled eggs accompanied by homemade cinnamon rolls gifted from a neighbor. And though we stopped buying presents for each other many years ago, today I do have one special gift for Jim, a gift our son helped me create which will make it all the more precious. Later there will be a simple and traditional Christmas lunch - ham slices, scalloped potatoes, baby green peas, hot biscuits with honey, and warm chocolate pie for dessert. I am thinking about seeing a movie - Little Women would be my choice, but we’ll see.
This morning is…remembering Christmas past, when there were three family visits to fit into the day, a large meal to prepare, in-laws preferences to navigate, a small boy eager to unwrap and explore every box of Hot Wheels, board games, or electronics; remembering being exhausted at the end of the day, vaguely yearning for a quieter, less hectic Christmas day experience, but never once giving a thought to what Christmas future might be like when there were only two to celebrate.
This morning is…being a little sentimental about Christmas of long ago, the hustle and bustle of youth and family and activity. Yet still content with this simple day for only two, a pause in the day-to-day of life in this 21st century which can seem so often overwhelming in its complexity.
This morning is…closing my eyes for a moment as the day begins to take its first breaths, letting the stillness of my home surround me, sending a warm thought to all those I love on this planet and to all those who have left this earthly life and live only in my heart. Like the golden blur of lights from my tree, their gentle memory comforts me and brings me peace.
This morning is…Christmas. May it be merry for you and yours.
This morning also is…a gift of music to you from my amazing grandson, whose talents astonish me and who are my world’s greatest treasure. Please listen and joy.