Going home

The faithful have come and gone along with Santa and his sleigh full of miraculous gifts.  Angels singing sweetly through the night have been replaced with people lining up to return gifts.  And pennies in old men's hats have been replaced by gift cards coming out of stockings.

It's still Christmas in theory but the mad rush to hoard presents has eased off.

And now there is time to savor the simpler joys of a season so commercialized that they have become almost meaningless to the newest generation of children.

The darkest evening of the year was lit with a million lights strung on trees and roofs, fences and windows. . .and tonight there was finally time to go look at them.

I took all of the Christmas songs Bestest recorded for me and hooked them up to the speakers in the car.  Then we drove down memory lane from one neighborhood to another until we had visited all of our old houses.

It was not a silent night, but it was one of reverence, awe, and gratitude, for all the myths of our own being.  Tonight we truly took the long road home.