Celebrating the 12 days of Christmas with short reflections on 12 gifts
In the kitchen, reach for the paring knife without thinking or looking. In the shower, reach for the face cloth in its accustomed spot without having to open eyes covered in suds.
Wheel the car into the garage, stopping at the one spot that allows the overhead door to close, yet that doesn’t bump the tools piled against the wall. Plan vacation stops with on-the-ground knowledge of ferry schedules and affordable (and clean!) local motels.
Cook up the same old Christmas feast. Hide Easter eggs in the same old places, to the same old squeals of the children finding them.
Enjoy again winter’s snowy crunch, spring’s fresh breeze, summer’s plaintive cry from the loon, fall’s angled light. Ruefully note the same behaviours in ourselves that we deplored in our parents.
Moving through a present that carries the past, may we enjoy the familiarity that eases our day-to-day routine, simplifies our logistics, warms our celebrations, and enriches all the seasons of our lives.
