My sister Sheila and Max enjoying the festive lights around our house (we were the first in our neighborhood this year!).
Winter eases over Asheville slowly, taking its time to settle blanket-like on the mountains....which is fine, since once its cold I retreat indoors, rarely leaving my nest. In a lot of ways this 'hibernation' or retreat, happens on several levels. I stay inside my house, inside my head, waiting for spring, warmth and green. The bare trees and frosted mountain tops are lovely, but I find it very hard to be cheerful. I am too affected by the world around me, the negativity and chaos, but also the sadness that always comes when I think of Christmas. For our family, we hope that one day my brother will come home from wherever he's been these past twenty years. Its a fog that creeps in and keeps me cold. This winter will be different. I'm taking a stand. We put up lights on our house to cheer us when we pull up the curb. When I hear about something that makes me think humans are horrid creatures, I think about all the things we've made that make us brilliant: The Book of Kells, watercolor pencils, solar power, Japanese soaking tubs and ball jointed dolls (among so many other things). I guess that's like stringing happy lights in my brain. This world of ours is a wondrous place, full of beauty and magic. That is what this season will represent to me from now on.
