Quietly Christmas

Christmas has come and gone like a thought in the wind. I stayed home by myself and it wasn’t too bad. Hubby had to work and since I was recovering from the flu, I thought it best not to germinate the rest of the family. (I wasn’t much in the mood for family anyway.) I poked around the house and accomplished some cleaning and laundry, then spent the day watching TV and reading.

After discovering nothing on but a Criminal Minds marathon, I watched videos we took of Jamaica in 2007. In the beginning of one disc is a sunset on Seven Mile Beach in Negril. The picture is the ocean waves and the sun disappearing into the water, but the background noise is what really made me smile. A conversation with a couple we met over the rhythm of the waves followed by strolling musicians who stopped to play “Island in the Sun”. That piece put me right back on that beach and I could almost taste the salt water on my lips again, a very happy memory.

After the venture down memory lane I shut the TV off and immersed myself in a Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett for a few hours, again settling myself in the tropics. I think this is the first Christmas I did not go somewhere or do something and it was nice. No stressful drive, no family feuds, no eating too much, just me and my critters and a quiet day to ourselves.

After today I would suggest to people to take a holiday off from the family and running and stay home to rest, sometimes that is a present in itself.

Just as a puppy can be more of a challenge than a gift, so too can the holidays.
- John Clayton