And So This is Christmas
Standing at the threshold of Christmas, I’ve been thinking about the things I need every year, without which the holiday would feel incomplete.
- Family. This year made that more clear than ever.
- My wife and daughter making cookies while singing Christmas songs.
- Okay, I also like eating them.
- Giving.
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. My brother and I quote this movie year-round. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
- The joy of surprising someone with a great gift.
- Candlelight service on Christmas Eve. We’re sitting it out this year. Won’t be quite the same.
- Sitting and just looking at the tree at night.
- Snow. I live in Michigan so this is usually a given. The years without are depressingly gray.
- Wrapping presents.
- The long leisure of uninterrupted days without agendas, and the puzzles and boardgames and quiet idleness that spontaneously fill the time.
- John Denver & The Muppets. I have strong feelings about this album.
