Random thoughts post-Christmas

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Kim Kishbaugh

I was 43 years old when my mother died. In all those years, never once did I spend Christmas Eve away from her. Christmas Day, yes, but not Christmas Eve, which was always the day of feasting and family gathering in my childhood home.

That realization hit me on the morning of December 24 this year—because my son was spending his first Christmas Eve apart from his father and me, thank you COVID-19. Everything is so upside-downsy this year, backwards, sideways, wibbledy-wobbledy, just plain wrong. And so my son has now done this thing that I never did. And it’s not the worst thing in the world, but it’s sad and bittersweet, and I hope it doesn’t open the door to the idea that being apart on this special day is okay for us.

We did trade texts throughout the day, and Zoom allowed us to open presents together on Christmas morning, so that tradition remains alive. The husband and I spent Christmas Eve watching movies with one of my sisters-in-law, again via Zoom, and Christmas Day online with the family and friends we traditionally gather with in person. This time, each set of us was parked in front of our own personal Christmas tea, instead of joined at a communal tea. Tradition, but not tradition.

Sigh.

Random side note, because COVID

I’m heartened to see my friends and family who are doctors and nurses sharing the happy news that they’ve received their first COVID-19 vaccinations. I don’t think these vaccines are the be-all/end-all that will save civilization, but they’re a step in the right direction. They offer hope, and I for one badly need that hope. Poet Billy Collins got his first vaccination today also. Poets are definitely essential, so hooray!

Wordless Wednesday: Unfortunate Rudolph

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Just why would someone position that red light bulb there?

Phases of the moon

Posted on December 25, 2018 by Kim Kishbaugh

The Full Cold Moon chaperoned the winter solstice, rare but unseen, veiled by clouds. Three nights later, waning and shy, it donned a lacy veil to peek through branches in the Christmas Eve sky. Tonight, for Christmas, it presents itself proudly on a clear black backdrop, a glowing prophet in the night. Continue reading →

Frozen pumpkins

Posted on December 19, 2018 by Kim Kishbaugh

When I stepped out on my front porch this morning, I found my neighbors down the street raking leaves from their front lawn…still. Meanwhile, my Halloween pumpkins have collapsed into flat, icy shells of their former selves, their skin paper-thin and brittle, their flesh icy and crystalline.

It’s hard to tell the difference between fall and winter at this time of year, and if you’re wondering why, perhaps the answer is that the winter solstice is mere days away. We may think of the December holidays as falling in the middle of winter—and they do coincide with the shortest, darkest days—but in fact they come with the start of astrological winter. Continue reading →

Home for the holidays

Posted on December 16, 2018 by Kim Kishbaugh

My son has arrived home for the holidays, and we’re filled with glee in my house. When I say “we,” I don’t mean to speak for my son—but the rest of the family, the core who live here year-round: self, husband, two dogs. Our world doesn’t orbit around the son who lives half a large continent away, but when he’s with us…it kind of does.

Continue reading →

Christmas Day: Photos and Musings

Aside

And Christmas Day came, because it always does, whether you want it to or not, and it always goes, whether you want it to or not, because life is as it is.
— Jeanette Winterson, The Snowmama, from “Christmas Days”