Winter Sublime

Much is idyllic in our lives right now, and it has me in the silken web of family tether.

This time of year, since meeting my lifemate and beginning our family, has become increasingly more potent and powerful as the years come to us. From self-proclaimed and cheerful Grinch of the holidays to where I am now, the dark days of the winter solstice and the surrounding holidays have always been family to me. When family was a harsh, brittle entity, I hated these days. Now, I revel in them as much as anyone can.

We cut our Christmas tree this year at Alpine, a huge tree farm atop a hill in Port Orchard, almost to Belfair. The farm literally crests a high point in Port Orchard so high you have a breathtaking view of the snow-capped Olympics while you hike around looking for the perfect tree. Acre after acre of snow-covered farm lay stretched out before us in rolling hills of evergreen. We had our first family snowball fight of the year, and came home to trim the tree and drink hot cocoa by the fire, as we always do.

I don'tknow whether it's because we were done quickly with purchasing our gifts this year or whether it was because we moved to a different city, but the Christmas Crazies don't seem to be effecting us as much this year. Especially in this region, people tend to freak out out at Christmastime. We've done well to avoid that. This week I took a Toys for Tots gift into Starbucks when I went for knitting night. As I carried it in, another family was leaving, all aglow. The Mom said "See? She's taking one in, too!" The gift receptacle was so full I had to cram mine in. I made my way to the counter to discover that the person before me, who was no longer in view (the family maybe?) had purchased my drink already.

G sat on Santa's lap for the first time this year, and earlier we actually got to SEE it when the GH Santa made his neighborhood rounds with the firefighters. The kids, the parents and the neighborfamily all waited together. The cheering and candy cane slurping that went on after that made the little bit of cold and waiting worthwhile.

We have Christmas parties planned this year, which will be very nice. We haven't really done one since we've been to Washington and we're looking forward to the holidays.