Sunrise

Photo by Devan Grayson The sun must be getting close--now I can make out the black tree branches against the dark blue sky out my studio window.  The white Christmas lights across the street reflect off a hundred drops of water still hanging onto my window screen.  A handful of lit windows across the street spill out warm yellows and oranges and tell me I'm not the only one up at this hour. Little girls sing just outside my door.  They are playing on pillows underneath the tree.  Now the sky is gray-blue, and I can make out the details on the building behind the one in front of me.  Its still-dark windows remind me that it's been too long since I had a chunk of solitude. Part of me wants to sleep and walk and write, but it is the time for Christmas cards and cookie baking.  I love spritz cookies, which are made with a cookie press.  My mom still has the press my great-grandmother used, whose box actually says "Cooky" with a "y". I might give myself permission to disappear into the celebration, to gather my loves close--in my arms and in my heart.  To plan our December birthday celebrations.  To just live an artful life and be present to every lovely moment.  December has never been a productive writing month for me, but I'm pretty sure holiday magic fuels the rest of my winter. The sky is the pale blue of baby eyes now, the lights a little less sparkly.  My deadline is tapping me on the shoulder. --Okay, I'll write your piece, I tell it, --but then it's Christmas cards and birthday parties, and little girls singing on pillows under the tree.

Comments

[Patricia Dolan]

This passage is so lyrical, so magical so beckoning...skies of eyes pale blue...wee ones singing melodies under the tree...hushed whispers of daybreak....soothing to the eye and ear.

Trish
patriciadolan@comcast.net

[Leslie]

Only recently, like today, have I been able to let go of my over-worried sense of responsibility when it is too icy to drive to work - but I know others made it in. In the past, I would stay at home and feel stressed and guilty, like I was letting the boss, the job, the call down... when all the while I was failing to just breathe and enjoy the day. Well, thank God, that is ending. Today was a snow day. So, we ate blueberry muffins, finished decorating the gingerbread house, and wrapped presents under the tree. Did I leave out the fact that Alexa enjoyed her ice cream so much (as we watched Charlie Brown's I Want A Dog For Christmas), that she gleefully put it in her hair?! Yes, the little ones are jewels, absolute jewels!