BEAUTY ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

“Sleighbells in the air; beauty everywhere. . . “

Yesterday, the day after Christmas, I was walking my dog in the neighborhood happily listening to Christmas carols on my airpods when I passed by a couple in their front yard busily taking down their lights and decorations. No, no, no, I wanted to yell out at them. Christmastime has only just begun! I resisted the urge and said nothing but quickly walked to the other side of the street. Why are people so anxious to let go of the beauty of this season? My irritation was rising as well as my judgment. Maybe they are going on a trip and want this task done before they leave, suggested my better self. Still, a feeling of melancholy engulfed me. Then the song, “Christmas Time Is Here,” sung by Sarah McLachlan came up on my playlist. If you haven’t heard her version, I highly recommend it. It’s a moody song and hers is a very moody, jazzy version but seemed to fit the circumstance.

As I rounded the corner and headed up my street’s steep hill, I came face-to-face with an enormous holly hedge complete with crimson berries. I stood transfixed before it. I had forgotten that holly grows in California. Somehow, it seemed incongruous, as if snowflakes should be decorating its branches. Wait, were those sleighbells I just heard merely in my imagination? I felt my spirits rising like incense at this precious gift, a Christmas decoration that cannot be taken down at a whim. I said a prayer of thanks for this hint of Christmas, evergreen and stalwart, right on my street, all year long.

The song is right—”Christmas time is here. . .and beauty is everywhere.”