The night is surprisingly cold and calm. The snowstorm has passed and the late sky is crisp and stars are just twinkling through.  The prairie is beautifully dark.  Exhilaratingly so.  I am walking the path east into the swell of ebony towards the mailboxes.  The path is faintly lit with the bluish street light behind the farmhouse.  Christmas lights dance in the frosted windows.  In the distance a thick darkness lay and I can just make out the happy dog prancing in front of me, her sleek black coat blending into the void.  Wood smoke flows through the air from the stove pipe promising a warm kitchen upon my return.  Behind us, in the distance, dark mountains fold into the night as city lights glitter.  The wind chills us and makes us shiver as we quicken our walk and say goodnight to the day on this ordinarily beautiful winter eve.

I recorded this after my walk last night.  We are caring for the neighbor’s dog, Serina, and we were walking to the mailboxes to retrieve Christmas cards and such.  An ordinary moment, walking a dog in the dark, getting the mail, inhaling the crisp night air; I want to live these photographic moments more vividly in the coming year starting with Christmas.

This year was difficult it seems for everyone, a lot of good souls called home, and financial worries.  I want to think more on moments.  Make each day count.  I want to take a mental photograph of ordinary moments.  This Christmas, won’t you look around and memorize the sounds; the laughter, the pots clinking, the paper being opened.  The smells of fresh coffee and Grandpa’s cologne.  Memorize people’s faces.  For there are no guarantees that any one person of any age will be with us come next holiday.  Love, hug, smile, relax, memorize, and mentally photograph each moment.

Thank you for reading my life this year and for your sweet cards, notes, emails, uplifting words in person, and for supporting me in my writing and in our homesteading adventures.

From my family to yours, Merry, Merry Christmas!