First Day of Winter!

 Pretty nice day to start the official Winter Season! We remained in the 20's, but there was plenty of sunshine by late morning. The wind picked up during the daylight hours and it was hard to tell if the snow in the air was from the trees or falling from the sky. It didn't amount to much. 

The good news is, even though this is the first day of winter, the days will be getting longer each day from now until Summer Solstice. So tonight, enjoy the longest night and tomorrow we'll have just a tad more sunlight!! Nice thought, isn't it? We're heading towards spring now! 

This should be such a happy season, but I've had several greeting cards letting me know of friends or family having serious health issues, and this is very sad. These kinds of troubles, combined with the restrictions and/or worries about Covid, really take a toll on people. We know that these things happen all the time, and it's just part of life's cycle, but it occurs to me that I should probably be more aware and when someone seems grumpy or distracted, it could be that they have more than we know weighing on them. Part of what I'm realizing is that as we get older, our circle of friends and our family members are also getting older, and with that comes more responsibilities as well as unforeseen health issues, in many cases. I feel sorry that the holidays don't have the same excitement, anticipation, and charm they once did. 

I remember looking forward to parties during the holidays. There were always gatherings at friends' homes, office parties, special programs at churches, Christmas sales, and streets and stores were crowded with happy shoppers. Everywhere we went there was Christmas music - so many versions of White Christmas! Somehow, it doesn't seem that radio stations are playing as much Christmas music these days. Or maybe I'm just not listening to radio as much. But perhaps it's not politically correct these days. I get a fair amount of Christmas everything by watching Hallmark movies. Some of the Christmas music in those shows is really annoying, but it gets the point across. I recently found that Polar Express is being offered many times in the next few days, so I was able to record it and will watch some evening - just because I really like that movie. Perhaps it's the background music, the song is called Believe, and it's haunting. I like Josh Groban's version, but just the soundtrack from the movie is very nice. Right up there with White Christmas. Then there are some older classics like Holiday Inn, A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. And I almost forgot, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. All fun to see.

Everyone will have their own memories of Christmas, I'm sure, and I wonder how this Christmas and last year's will be remembered. Hopefully we'll be too busy making up for lost time to pay much attention to the "lost holidays" of 2020 and 2021. Be safe and enjoy as best you can!