|
Hello My Friends:
John Cutrone here from Convivio Bookworks in Lake Worth, Florida. It's January, a time of new beginnings, and tonight, the 5th, will bring Twelfth Night and then Epiphany and the close of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
That sounds like such a neat little package, no? Here, Seth and I are struggling to keep track of the calendar. Christmas Day went not at all as planned; my sister and I had to bring Mom to the ER, and though she was home from her hospital stay in just a few days and is feeling much better, still that set the course of holiday wonkiness in motion and we've not quite bounced back yet. I only finished wrapping presents two nights ago and our Christmas cards are not yet sent (nor made, for that matter... and calling them "Midwinter cards" is probably more appropriate now). Christmas dinner was on New Year's Day. And today, just to confuse us even more and to reinforce our alternate reality, our wayward December issue of Martha Stewart Living arrived in the mailbox. I've been flipping through, admiring the photos and reading about all the good things I might do to make this the best Christmas ever.
One of the very best things I did do this Christmas was rescue an abandoned Christmas tree. It was on the curbside a few doors down on the 26th of December, plunked there on the side of the road, still in its stand. It irked me to see it there that afternoon, and then that night I stepped out into the cool air to bring out our own trash bin, and I saw it there again. I went inside and asked Seth to come help me: "We're going to go save a Christmas tree," I told him. Under cover of darkness, we made our way there and discovered it was a tiny little tree, about three feet tall. So small, I didn't need Seth's help, after all. I picked the little fellow up, brought it into our back yard, watered it, and decorated it with a string of lights. And still it is glowing there each night, making me smile.
Seth and I, we are just going with the flow each day, celebrating in small ways in our alternate calendar. It strikes me that if we lived in a cabin somewhere, miles from the nearest neighbor and without all the conveniences of modern life, it's very possible we wouldn't know what day it is, anyway. We'd just know the nights are long and the days are short but they are getting longer now, so therefore, we'd say, it must be Christmastime and soon, spring will be on its way.
Ah but sometimes Christmas is like this, isn't it? We invest so much into it, to make it as wonderful as it can be for as long as we can make it that way, but there are years where it doesn't go as planned and instead, we end up grateful for the smallest things, things anyone else would take for granted. To sleep in your own bed at night. To open the front door in the morning and be greeted by the scent of Frasier Fir from the wreath that hangs there. To look out the window four nights passed New Year's Day and still see the lights that shimmer from your neighbor's front yard.
For most folks, tomorrow is the day it all concludes, once those three kings arrive. But I've still got 103 pages of Martha Stewart Living to get through. It's a perfect year, in this house, anyway, to subscribe to the old tradition that keeps the greenery up until Candlemas Eve, and so we shall.
And here's a gift for you: it's our printable Convivio Book of Days calendar for the month of January. Click here and it's all yours. Would you like one of our Midwinter cards, too? We'll gladly return the favor if you send a greeting our way, no matter where on earth you live; use the address you'll find at our website by clicking here. We love Real Mail, and hope you do, too!
May all your days be filled with wonder and good things.
John
"Thank you, and write when you can."
Convivio Bookworks
Inspired goods from around the globe and close to home...
Books and broadsides, made by hand in Lake Worth, Florida.
www.conviviobookworks.com
Subscribe to the Book of Days blog:
www.conviviobookworks.com/blog
www.instagram.com/conviviobookworks (@conviviobookworks)
www.facebook.com/conviviobookworks
|
