Celebration - Catching Our Breath

By Kerry Schafer 

 The Holidays for me are an odd mix of bustle and relaxation, celebration and winding down. I love Christmas - the light, the color, the music, the secrets, the food, the family. Pretty much all of it. And we had it all this year, in abundance. Between us the Viking and I have four sons - we've never had them all here for Christmas before, and this year we did. In itself, this was a celebration - nothing like having all of your offspring together under one roof. But Christmas is over now, New Years is waiting in the wings. It's a quiet space for me where the tree begins to look a little sad and I have nagging guilt thoughts that I should maybe take it down, which is just so much less fun than putting it up. The last few dark mornings I forgot to turn the tree lights on. Denial at work - if it's dark in that corner, maybe it isn't really there requiring my attention. A few random packages still linger beneath it, things that need to be put away, and I'm not ready to do that yet either. It will keep until after the New Year, which is the next round of celebration. Not that we do much with it here, I'm afraid. The Viking and I, who seldom sleep past 5 am no matter how late we stay up, have a tendency to fall asleep before the New Year rolls in. We don't have a party, or go to one. The kids like to set off fireworks in the snow, which is actually really cool to watch. The real celebration for us is in having time off work to be together, gratitude for the blessings of the last year, and in wondering what awaits us in the year ahead. I wish for all of you a year full of goals achieved and dreams come true.