Twinkly And Bright

Can it be that there are only ten days left? 

As a child, it always seemed like such a terrible long wait for the big day. Now… well every year it seems to slip through my fingers more quickly than the year before. 

It's true, Mr. Frost, that nothing gold can stay. 

Really, if I thought I could get away with it, I think I'd leave up the twinkle lights and the snow village, the tree and the garland all year long. I'd sing carols year 'round and forever be in possession of delicious secrets. I'd fill up the kitchen with the smells of baking goodies everyday…. 

But you and I both know that it wouldn't be the same. 

Like so many of the most wonderful things in life, what makes this season so good is that it's only here for a moment. It is precious, because you only get to hold it for a little while. 

 That look and those whispers when they peer in those little houses and imagine life inside… 

 Those squeals, "I remember this one!" as they pull ornaments from their boxes and hang them on pine boughs…. 

 That cozy, snuggly feeling, with the fire, the candles, the twinkly lights… an old story under an old quilt, a warm little dog curled up in your lap… 

 That glass of wine after rowdy boys have come to rest on their pillows… sitting by the tree and trading stories of the day with the man that I love … 

… then blowing out the candles and trailing off to sleep, warm, and filled, glad to be right here, right now. 

 You know I kind of think that it would be just fine to live in a little house, lit from the inside with candles and twinkle lights, at the center of a snowglobe, while the rest of the world swirled 'round us.