(previously used image…I was running to late to take a pic of today’s snow)
“It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling–the season for kindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.”
~Washington Irving
It is hard to fathom. One minute it is Halloween, the next sees a brief return of spring weather, and before you know it you awake a little more than a week from the Thanksgiving holiday to find a smattering of snow on the ground!
The Christmas mood was already creeping up on me, inspired in part by my decision to take advantage of last weekend’s good weather to get all the outside Christmas lights strung up (haven’t lit them yet, other than to test them) and partially inspired by the handful of Christmas magazines that I bought last week and have stashed away for my viewing pleasure come Thanksgiving week. The snow and colder temps almost have me reaching for the Christmas music station on the radio…almost!
I love the season, and frequently get an early start on it. It is still a bit too early to launch into it yet…though I suspect that this weekend will find me giving in and putting up the inside decorations and lighting the lights. The Thanksgiving holiday is so late this year that I just cannot accept only having Christmas lights on for a month…I like at least a month and a half of enjoying them…after all, it is a lot of work to get it all put together. And I’m just an old softy for the season.
My brief break from blogging has been less brief than I had planned. While this is one of my favorite times of year in my “real” life, it is one of my least favorite at work, as we have a big scary audit right smack in the middle of the holiday season. That means my joy and sanity are things I have to struggle to hang on to (and yes, there are some who believe I lost my sanity LONG ago! 🙂 ) and my at home time finds me with less energy to get on the computer…I end up in veg mode more often. But things are settling and I miss the heck out of all of you.
I saw the Irving quote in the holiday issue of Real Simple magazine (I’m such a junkie, I couldn’t even resist not pulling out one of my Christmas magazines last night!) and felt like it really summed up the way I feel about this time of year and about all of you. “Regenerated feeling” is a good catch phrase for what I feel we all must do on a continual basis to not let the cares of life overwhelm us and to simply take pleasure in each and every day and most importantly in the relationships we are blessed with.
As Gandalf says in The Two Towers, “The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Theoden King”. Its time to rekindle the fires for the holiday season here in the hallowed halls of Stainless Steel Droppings and welcome that genial fire in the heart. I hope the week before Thanksgiving finds all well and look forward to once again sharing the holiday season with all of you dear bloggers and blog readers.
