Merry Christmas

This Christmas, we were just not feeling the traditional thing. Neither of our families was going to be in town, and we've had a pretty tough year of serious illnesses and deaths among our family and friends, so we were a little low on Christmas spirit. It's easy to feel joyful when you're anticipating visits from grandchildren or spending the holiday with family - it's less compelling when they are all far away.

However, when the party invitations began rolling in, things started to look up. Neighbors were getting together to raise a glass or sing a carol. Cousins were inviting us to exchange ornaments and fill up stockings. Friends were calling us to come and see the model train that they set up around their tree each year. We even planned a trip to the city just to admire the lights and store windows. Slowly, we began to feel pretty darn good about this holiday.

Still, selecting and decorating a tree just seemed like too much trouble and, because we are hosting a big holiday party for my Masters swim team, we needed to conserve space in our house for the guests. I had an idea for decorating the front door rather than the inside of the house, and it tickled me so much that I actually found the energy to gather the requisite parts.

Because we have a purple front door, traditional red and green doesn't please my former-florist's eye. I wanted to go with green and white so we found a couple of white poinsettias, a rope of noble fir, a string of white lights, and several starfish to complete the design in my mind.

I'm pleased with the result. My neighbors will enjoy it as they walk by and it will be welcoming to our guests when they come for the party or for Christmas dinner. To me, it speaks of the return of the light to the world, too, which to my mind is as much a reason for celebration as the birth of a good guy more than 2000 years ago or the miracle of lamp oil lasting far longer than it should.

I hope your holidays are happy, your traditions are sustaining, and your New Year is the best one yet.