Christmas Day

Today has been one of the best Christmases I've had in a while. Went to church early. Came home and spent three hours cooking and baking for my family. I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of cooking every Christmas from now on. Today, I made chicken Kiev and shortbread cookies.

It snowed today! I've lived in my hometown for fourteen years and I don't ever remember it snowing in December! On Christmas Day, no less. The earliest snow we have is usually in January and sometimes we have to wait until February for snow.

After I cleared away the dishes, I took a walk outside.

There's something really romantic about walks in snowfall. Snowy walks are unique, too, because it's romantic even when someone is alone as opposed to being with other people. I mean, think about it. In rain, it's kind of tragic to think about someone walking alone. It's fun to run through the rain with your best friends and, of course, to finally find shelter right when it stops raining. Or sometimes, rain makes me think of future lovers who meet each other on the street. They start talking and it begins to rain just as their conversation is getting interesting. There's no shelter nearby so they decide to run through it. Someone slips and the other one catches them. Then they just decide to hold onto to each other and run until they can find an awning or some place to seek refuge. I can also imagine them running into a coffee shop and skid to a halt, their breath coming out in gusts and their faces warm from running.

Snow, however, is a different matter. When it snows, I can imagine a group of friends out playing in the snow. I can imagine lovers taking a walk, gloved hand in gloved hand. BUT, I can also imagine a solitary person, footsteps making muted crunching noises, tracing a way through the snow and then stopping at a streetlamp. The person looks up and watches the snowflakes spiral through the air, watching them glint in the ray of lamplight. It's romantic in its own way, like a secret meeting between two old friends. So, we meet again, they say to each other and they wave--the sky waves with snowflakes, the human with a hand. I'm going on an adventure, the human says. I'll come with you, says the snow. And so they go, also hand in hand, off to explore the world, the same one as yesterday, except awash with snow.

That's what I did today. I took a walk around my neighborhood, singing Christmas carols and sad tunes. To me, sad tunes seem to fit snowy days. Somehow, they don't sound as sad, as if the snow gently breaks the fall of tears. Anyway, it became hard to see after a while since the snowflakes melted onto my already-thick glasses. I made another circuit and then turned home.

Once home, I shook out my scarf, my coat, my gloves, and hung them on the back of a chair to dry. Having nothing better to do, I finished my math problems (yeah, I'm really nerdy) and then took a nap.

I awoke to my brother watching American football on television and decided to do something else instead. So I wrote this.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!