AS WE SIT BY THE FIRE
Friday, December 24, 2021
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Yesterday we journeyed to Fort Saskatchewan to spend time with my daughter Carla and her family – and since Chad must work on the 25th, everything is shifted one day. Last night was Christmas Eve for us, and today / Friday will be our Christmas Day equivalent.
Some people go off to southern climes (I remember a weird Christmas in Cancun), some want the sights and sounds of exotic places, but for me, the squeals of delight of Isla and Alex is the best place to be right now. COVID kept me home last year, but this year I’m only worried about traffic and snowy roads.
Today will be our family Christmas day. Kids will rip wrapping paper to shreds as they turn all that shaking and squeezing of presents under the tree to solve the mystery of it all.
I wish everyone a happy Christmas Eve today – and if you are traveling, I wish you a safe journey…
I write columns like this every year – and looking back on the last few, it seems the world has been on the edge of its seat, looking forward with both hope and dread. And memories of simpler times a few years ago when the greatest stress most of us felt was about menus, seating arrangements and small talk at gatherings.
Some things have changed this year, for me, as I expect they have for many. Our fear/concern is a ubiquitous feeling, so much the same but less accepting. Not one of defiance, but instead, one of determination. We’ve been soldiers in a war we never volunteered for, and we are collectively weary. We are mitigating risk, defiant and determined not to let this get us down any longer, though we don’t have any control over so much. We have control over what we do with our time and our people – family, friends, neighbours and strangers.
Hazel and I are at the Lakeview Inn and Suites in Fort Saskatchewan – only a handful of cars in the parking lot and one smiling face at the front desk. We’ve been made welcome here and look forward to turkey and trimmings today and listening to grandchildren telling long-winded stories.
While there is a biological connection, generation to generation, that reference pales to adequately describe the pride you feel when the child of your child hugs you with love. There is no experience of feeling I’ve known that compares.
I am happy.
Click here for some music to keep you warm by the fire …
Reader feedback:
Mark, if I don’t talk to you, wishing you the merriest of all Christmases, Covid notwithstanding or Covid be damned, and best wishes for the new year. Cheers, RH, Calgary, AB
Good morning, Mark. Well, it HAS been quite the year . . . or, almost three years if the truth be told. All of the cliché gloom and doom stories come to mind but in the end we humans shall persevere. We can only hope. I have concerns for future generations and the man-made follies they may encounter and have to overcome. So, hold tightly to your loved ones and enjoy what cheer the season has to offer. I know I shall. Thank you for brightening our days with your musings and opening your heart for all to partake of the joy that you have found. Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, and Happy Festivus for the rest of us! SB, Calgary, AB