For the first time in a week, there is music on in the house that isn’t Christmas carols. Pandora is playing simple classical music from the Romantic Period. It is a nice break.
Earlier today I went off and had brunch at my friend Paul’s home over in East Chatham with his daughter and her fiancé. Good food, good conversation. Karen and Andrew went out on their quads and Paul and I reminisced. We’ve now known each other through twelve years and have a shared history; he has been a wonderful friend. We used to have a standing date for Saturday nights at the Dot until he began to spend less time up in Columbia County. His home is for sale here, part of his divorce settlement and should he buy another house it will be probably in New Jersey, closer to his daughter and her family.
They had been at my party last night and all of us were having a slow day. It was a good party and I was exhausted by the end of it, having been cooking and cleaning for three straight days – all of it pretty good, if I say so myself. The Christmas roast was not perfect but most of it was pretty darn good.
I have found myself very contemplative the last three days. It has been a joyous Christmas with good friends and I found myself also wanting more companionship than I have had recently. The cottage is a lovely place and I found myself wanting to share it over Christmas with someone. Perhaps it is a passing mood or an openness to something new in my life in the new year.
On some levels I am sorry to see 2014 go; it had some splendid times, like my train trip to Los Angeles with my friend Nick Stuart for the installation of our friend Eric as pastor at a church in Santa Monica, not far from where I had once lived. And though I sometimes want to stop the flow of time, I can’t. Each day slips away into the next, ferrying us into the future.
Perhaps some of my nostalgia is that I am also apprehensive about what will come in 2015. It is mostly a blank slate and I am getting itchy to be engaged again. It will be interesting to find out what it will be.
There will be no New Year’s resolutions. I will do my best to keep faithful to the ongoing resolutions of my life.
Keeping the news mostly at bay, I have celebrated the joys of living on earth, beautiful landscapes and good friends and have not let the news of the riven world disturb me much these days. I will pay more attention in the morning I am sure but in this little space that is “Christmas” I have attempted to focus on the joyful little things that make live sweet and wonderful.
Two thousand years or so ago, a man named Jesus was born and he changed history and created one of the great movements of all time. It has spawned great generosity and sad wars. But those were the men who came after him that did those things. He preached peace and forgiveness, which I am doing my best to remember this time of year.
Tags: Christmas, Jesus, Mathew Tombers, Paul Krich
Letter from the Vineyard 
December 28, 2014 at 4:58 pm |
Happy New Year Mat. I have really enjoyed reading about your life in the cabin this past year. Your descriptions of the creek and all the wildlife that wanders through your place remind me of the stories my grandma used to tell me about Vermont before she moved to Minneapolis in the early 1900s. Our holidays are much quieter here than what you have described in your neck of the woods. Our 4 year old grandson was here for Christmas eve and his mom and dad came up from Anchorage for Christmas day but that was about it. It was a nice warm holiday with snow starting late Christmas Eve and continued through Christmas Day so I had to spend the afternoon plowing down to the highway so they could get home. I hope you keep writing about your activities when you have time. Take care.
December 29, 2014 at 4:11 pm |
Phil,
Really good to hear from you. Happy New Year to you, too. I am so glad you’ve been enjoying my posts. I have been writing more frequently this fall and it’s good for me – life here is pleasant and there is much solace in the countryside. Your quiet Christmas sounds wonderful in its own right, save for the snow plowing. Winters here in New York feel like the winters we wished we had in Minnesota but never did! I speak with my brother in Minneapolis every day and it’s always twenty or thirty degrees colder there than here.
Thanks for reading. I’ll keep writing. Enjoy the rest of the Holidays!
Take care, yourself.
Mat