I say this every year: I love December.
It’s the one month when I don’t mind a chill in the air, because it feels so very Christmassy. (Though this week has been astonishingly mild.) I love the sensation of hurrying along a busy city street, under twinkling lights, wrapped in my favorite green coat and the winter accessories I haven’t grown sick of yet. And the twinkle lights – plus the festive shop window displays everywhere – make the dark (which comes so early) much more bearable, at least for now.
I also say this every year: I feel like I blinked after Thanksgiving and it’s mid-December already.
This time of year has such potential to be holy, sparkling and peaceful. And let’s be honest: it can also feel rushed, frenetic and hollow. So as I work through various lists (gifts to buy, tasks to cross off, emails to send), I’m relishing a few small things that are saving my life:
- Kate Rusby’s Sweet Bells album. Quiet yet cheery, and wonderfully Celtic. (Also, I love the way her Yorkshire accent comes out on certain vowels.)
- The cozy purple wrap I knit for myself last year, which I am wearing all the time.
- The Magnificat, which I cannot stop humming.
- The black ankle boots Mom bought me last Christmas, which I’m wearing almost every day.
- The tiny birch bark reindeer who have taken up residence outside my favorite local flower shop.
- Chai in a paper cup from Darwin’s, every weekday. And about once a week, my favorite breakfast sandwich there: eggs over medium, bacon, melted cheddar cheese and avocado. Perfection.
- This beautiful desktop wallpaper (via Susannah Conway).
- Instagram photos of Mary Todd Lincoln – not the First Lady, but the tiny dachshund puppy who’s one of the shop dogs at Parnassus Books. (So. Much. Adorable.)
- Clementines – tiny, bright, delicious hits of citrus. (Bonus: they make my hands smell so good.)
- A few convivial evenings with friends, trading laughter and stories around a table.
- Giggles from baby Evie.
- The words of my Advent book, full of hope and longing.
- Stealing at least a few minutes every night to sit in front of our twinkling tree.
- The sound of my husband playing Christmas carols on the guitar. (I particularly love his rendition of “Angels from the Realms of Glory.”)
- A few pages of Winter Solstice and/or Shepherds Abiding, every night before bed.
- My dachshund slippers.
What’s saving your life this December? (And how many days till Christmas?)
cakes, tea and dreams 
I’ve always noticed how I love the winter and everything about it through Christmas and the New Year. Then after that, it’s like “bleh, how many weeks until spring? I’m sick of this.” LOL.
There is just something about December and Christmas and I don’t know if it’s there because it’s been engrained in our heads that it’s magical, or if it’s just magical without even trying.
My shopping is done (with the exception of sending 2 eCards and buying 1 gift card) and after the weekend, the wrapping will be done. While I’m enjoying the early completion of all of it, I can’t help but wish the days were longer or that we could rewind a few days.
I’m not ready for Christmas, because I’m not ready for it to be over. I’m not ready for December to be over. I’m not ready for the after the New Year Bleh’s that come in January, February, and March.
Like you, this is my favorite time of year, for a lot of the reasons you mention. I think I like it so much because, even with everything else going on, and so many people being negative about it, I *feel* the anticipation, and that is as much fun as the event of Christmas itself to me.
Enjoy!
oh, what a wonderfully happy list of fantastic things! It’s all about the little things, isn’t it? And I love those little reindeer, and chai tea is the best.
It is about the little things. And I know – I love those reindeer!
Because of you, I’m listening to Kate Rusby’s Christmas albums as I finish my last research papers for the semester. Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
If you haven’t discovered Malcolm Guite’s advent collection of poetry, Waiting on the Word, it is definitely worth purchasing. It’s one I will reread each season. A favorite:
O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
I cannot think unless I have been thought,
Nor can I speak unless I have been spoken;
I cannot teach except as I am taught,
Or break the bread except as I am broken.
O Mind behind the mind through which I seek,
O Light within the light by which I see,
O Word beneath the words with which I speak,
O founding, unfound Wisdom, finding me,
O sounding Song whose depth is sounding me,
O Memory of time, reminding me,
My Ground of Being, always grounding me,
My Maker’s bounding line, defining me:
Come, hidden Wisdom, come with all you bring,
Come to me now, disguised as everything.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1848258003/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_BZfDwb0JS6HNT