The Good Part
It’s after Christmas and the damage on the wallet is still rolling in, but soon the financial bleeding will stop (before the tax bleed begins). The house is still a wreck, and dusting the darn nutcracker is fiddly. One entire box of lights hasn’t been put up in two years, and didn’t get up again this year. Thus, it is going in the charity box.
There are gift books that require reading, puzzles undone, a few January birthday folks to deal with, and lots and lots of turkey in the fridge — all signs that Christmas was just here.
This is the good part. For me, I enjoy the soft shuffle of days after the holiday, the year so new that it’s hard to remember exactly what day it is. Routines are still suspended, TV schedules interrupted by football and reruns, special pots and pans wait to be put back on the high shelves. We’re back to the regular dishes and the usual laundry. The trash pick-up carted away a bunch of paper and boxes that sat under the tree. The neighbor’s balsam Christmas tree is lying in state at the curb.
All around are signs that the world is getting on with January and winter, yet the lights are still up on more than half of the houses, people still have that special greeting “Happy New Year!” along with a slight twinkle that something really wonderful could happen. No need to be disillusioned yet, the year is so pretty and still in its wrapper.
We have just enough of what we need to be ok, and we are rich in what matters: friends, books, each other, laughs, opportunity. Yes, this is the good part.