Yule Letter 1998

It’s the wee hours of the morning and the sun is barely up when I stumble out of my bedroom. The cats are in a frenzy, milling about my feet and generally getting in my way. Being as I had only gone to bed a few hours ago, I really didn’t expect all that much to have changed in my little corner of the world. But Mother Nature has a way of fooling you.

As the sky lightens I see gentle snowflakes falling. The whole yard looks as if someone with a giant sifter is sifting powdered sugar down on it. The trees are highlighted in white, the fence has been frosted. Even the sleeping herb garden looks festive. Across the yard lies a fluffy down quilt of snow. As I stand here, watching the beauty unfold, the snowflakes get denser, the gentle snow is fast becoming a snowstorm.

With my household still asleep and the cats settling down I wrap my Yuletide gifts to my friends and family. Thinking about each of them as I pick the right paper, curl the ribbons up just so and attach the bow to the top, I am filled with a sense of love. It’s a wonderful thing to feel loved, to feel secure knowing that there are others out there who feel the same way about me as I do about them. It’s not something I think about all the time, but the feeling is always with me. It helps make me who I am.

The snow is really thick now, I don’t think I’ll be going to town today. Since I’m done wrapping I think I’ll just bundle up here in my chair and watch the day unfold and the snow fall. Have you ever just sat and watched snow fall? It can be very soothing. Even the tiniest breeze makes it swirl in beautiful patterns. It’s like looking at the world through a white kaleidoscope.

I am amazed at how the simplest every day things become works of art when covered with snow. Right outside my window pane is where our designated house spider lives. We’ve watched this spider go about it’s life for the last 3 months on our window pane. Weaving a glorious web only to have it torn apart by some wayward moth. Of course, out of the destruction comes the spiders next meal. Right now our spiders web looks like an intricately crocheted doily.

Well, this isn’t the Yule letter that I sat down to write. But that’s ok. Close your eyes and picture yourself looking out a frosted window, across a snow covered yard, at some beautiful snow tipped cedars. Feel the warmth of your hands wrapped around a warm steaming mug and the coolness of early morning on your face. Now reach out with your senses, just a little, and feel the love of your family and friends surrounding you.

Nice, huh?

© CRB 12/98