Christmas, 7 January 2005

A happy Christmas to everyone marking it today.

This particular Christmas arrives at the end of a winter that a great many people spent outdoors and awake. I will leave the events themselves to those who lived them; what I want to note is simpler. Tonight the same people are indoors, at a table, with the lights low and the dishes counted out.

There is something restorative about a holiday that does not ask anything of you except to sit down and eat in order. After a season of standing, the ceremony of sitting is not a small thing.

Peace to your house, and a quiet evening.