This year I’ve given into the feel-good joy that most people experience at Christmastime. Usually I try to Grinch out until the last possible moment, but that becomes its own onerous effort after a while, and sometimes it’s easier to give in and go with the flow. As such, I set aside last weekend for our Boston Holiday stroll, when Kira and I take a long walk through the city, stopping at various places for food and drink, doing a little holiday shopping, and taking part in the festive merriment that marks the season.
There is no set schedule, no tight time table, and not even a rough idea of where we’ll go or end up. I’m not usually comfortable with that (being a Virgo through and through), but with Kira, and at this time of the year, it’s all right. In fact, it’s welcome.
There are enough schedules to keep, enough structured events and specially-coordinated outfits to wear in the coming weeks. This was a time to keep it all casual and fun, and like so many of our best times it went completely unplanned.
By the time dusk descended, the snow had stopped. Christmas decorations were all around, and store windows glowed in the gathering darkness, their lights spilling out onto the sidewalks.
At the end of a cold day, and the start of a long night, an old-fashioned by the fire is one of the coziest notions. It warms the heart and the hearth, and cures whatever coldness lingers within.
The glow of the holidays is upon us.
