Tag: love

On Yesterday’s Walk: Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve at our house was peaceful and good, with just the three members of the household. The husband had to work part of the day but got off early. The grown son who lives here works from home and sets his hours, so he often takes his dinner up to his room and eats at the keyboard while creating code. But yesterday, he not only joined us for the whole meal, he wore his good jeans (no holes) and a nice sweater. We’re pretty casual and have never enforced a holiday dinner dress code, but I appreciated the effort.

Our family tradition is to have all the hoopla, including gift opening, on Christmas Eve, followed by a relaxed Christmas Day. I had four packages under the tree, and they were a perfect encapsulation of love to me. One I had requested specifically, the new Patti Smith memoir, Bread of Angels.

Book cover: Bread of Angels, Patti Smith, a memoir.

Aside from that, the guys got me a daily desk calendar with quotes from well-known women, a non-skid bathmat for the tub (after I nearly fell a couple weeks ago and made some drama about being on the verge of my first bad “old person” experience) and a reflective vest to wear for those occasions I find myself walking after dark (pretty much every weekday in midwinter, as the sun is already down by the time I stroll home from work.)

My loved ones care about my safety and they care about my inspiration and fulfillment. I received gifts that center the wellbeing of both body and soul. How about that spirit of Christmas, there? Pretty well captured, I’d say.

I got a chance to use my reflective vest already. We’re experiencing near record warm temperatures here, so the three of us took an evening stroll around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights and decorations. We didn’t even need coats!

This was my favorite house:

Nighttime scene. House outlined with colored Christmas lights. A large skeleton wearing Santa clothes and beard stands next to a skeleton reindeer in the front yard.

The little bit at the bottom is a reflection on a car hood. I didn’t crop it out because I like the effect.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! And a wish for joy and peace to all, whether you celebrate Christmas, something else, or it’s just Thursday to you!

I’ll end with one of my favorite songs of the season with some of my favorite performers–John Denver and the Muppets. I listen to The Peace Carol several times every December.

On Today’s Walk: Love and the Quotes You Read Along the Way

Strolling about the neighborhood today, I ran across the above sign in someone’s yard, a quote from one of my favorite authors, Ursula K. Le Guin:

“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”

This is from her novel, The Lathe of Heaven. I know I read it many years ago, but I forget a lot a the details. What I remember is that the main character is a man whose sleeping dreams change reality. But nobody else seems to notice.

This quote, though. It’s so true about the nature of love. It requires intention. There are other sayings along the same line that I’ve found to be true as I go through life. Here’s one: love is a verb. Don’t recall where I read that, but yes. It’s not a vague warm glow, it’s got to be active to have any positive effect.

Here’s another: Love is a choice. You choose how to treat someone. There might or might not be a pleasant emotional feeling while doing so. But the more you make that choice, the more likely you are to develop a pleasant feeling about it. At least, that’s my experience.

Actively choosing to find ways to reach out to our neighbors while we’re all separated is love manifested.