Belated Christmas Blog

(I meant to post this before Christmas, so if you are done with Christmas, or you are not in the mood for something a little more serious than the regular postings, just check back tomorrow for our regular scheduled programming.)

So Christmas is here and I am sitting here at work thinking, “Maybe choosing to work on Christmas Eve was not a very wise choice.” And then I thought, “Hey may be working the day after Christmas, not a very good choice either.” Man, wise up.

This Christmas I realized something about myself. I don’t really need a lot to make me happy at Christmas. This Christmas I have done things that were “Christmasy” and didn’t spend so much time on the shopping and all that gift who-ha. I went to concerts and plays and even one snowy day I went downtown, well I actually got trapped downtown during a snow storm, but it still counts as an effort.

During my downtown snow storm experience I felt like I was the only person outside. And the snow that was falling were flakes that were the size of downy feathers. You know what I am talking about, the flakes are so big that you can actually look up and see a snowflake and follow it all the way to the ground. And if you are really quiet you can almost hear it hit the ground. And what struck me was how quiet it was; quiet, except the pounding of downy snow hitting the ground.

It reminded me of a Christmas when I was a child. I grew up in a small town and one year we had three feet of snow. That’s right three feet. One night while it was snowing we got on our snow suits and moon boots and played in the snow.

Well, when you are about four feet, and the snow level is three feet, walking is quite a chore. After about, oh, I would say five minutes of trying to make some head way, I just fell back and rested in the snow. I can’t remember if I was just so comfortable there or if I was stuck, but I remember looking up at the sky and feeling the snow come lilting down on my face. I remember it felt like the world was so quiet and that everything began to slow down. I think that at one point my heart stopped because it felt like it couldn’t compete with Mother Nature’s stillness.

I think that at Christmas time everyone needs to have those moments when the world is quiet. When you feel at peace and can pull yourself back from all the different places you have divided yourself and feel whole if only for a few minutes.