Cheers!

Today, we casually took down the Christmas decorations, saving the tree for last and reverently packing away all the ornamental treasures that have 'lived' on its boughs through the holiday. I almost felt like telling the tree, "Thank you," as we untangled the last strand of lights and lifted it through the back door and back into the sun and breeze. Such a beautiful tragedy that this tree grew up from just a seedling to be cut down, closed up in a stale space, decked in sparkling splendor for barely a month, and then disrobed and tossed to the curb.

Our tree rests on the back porch as I write this, and it feels right to simply let it be for just a bit, out there in the natural world, upright and stoic and as it was before the holidays took it. It is almost dead, but it will see just a few more sunsets without a window blocking its view before it completely dries up and crumbles away.

 

For our New Year, we grilled out, ate together in the fading natural light, and toasted the past, the present, and the future.

 

"Cheers!"  ...with sparkling pear juice

Though it's hard not to feel a little sentimental as the sparkle and color of the holidays are packed up, stored away, and tossed out (after all, that's basically what the natural world is doing in the season, too), it's also inspiring... for in the absence of the festive clutter, there is a blank slate in the starkness, and that is truly inspiring. Cheers.