It’s snowing

There is something about the quiet of fresh snow. The literal dampening effect that those thousands, millions, crystals of frozen water has is beyond compare. A dark night, no traffic, with some fresh snow, it's one of my favorite settings.

I've always enjoyed the night. Felt more alive, more connected, more me. Winter seems to make it more so. Summer nights are just a continuation of what came before, never-ending. A night in winter, it's emphatic, it's an ending, a definitive punctuation. 

Looking out the window at the current snow fall, it's made the night go faster. It's beautiful. Yet it still leaves the right touch of the melancholic. 

It's time like these in the middle of December where I find myself running one of my two favorite Christmas songs in my head. That gem from Meet Me in St.Louis, with the line I love, 

"Someday soon we all will be together

If the fates allow

Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow

So have yourself a merry little Christmas now."

It was the ultimate in longing, a wartime Christmas song. And it's the one that still hits me every time. No matter who sings it.

I love this holiday season. I love the lights, the trees, the bustle, the gifts, the family, the kids, all of it. Grinch, Rudolph, Santa, the elves, and all the reindeer. I love the reason for the season with it's mangers, and a baby savior. It really is the tidings of joy. The true good news. I love it for that. But I also love something more.

I love slow lonesome drives in a snowstorm, the moments with your love cuddled up on the couch, or holding a sleeping kid with just the tree lights on. Those moments of quiet reflection. Where the snow brightens the fear out of the night. Where it's absolutely still and quiet. Where you can think. No interruptions. No distractions. You and thoughts on a winter's night. 

That always makes me a tad melancholic. But in the best way possible. I can start thinking of what I want next year to hold. Where I stand now. I can take the time to truly ponder that reason of the season.  

There was a mother, desperately pregnant, a scared father who knew the child wasn't his own. They wound up far from their home, for a census, for taxes. There that baby was born. To save us from that very desperation and worse.

I just hope that I keep that in mind, for myself and others.

Two of my favorite holiday films both feature Jimmy Stewart. One is It's a Wonderful Life, and the other is Mr. Krueger's Christmas. I'm not going to go into absolute detail here, but both feature men who break. Both feature men who shed a tear. But in the end are hopeful.

That's where I hope to be. Willing to break a little, willing to shed the tear if needed, but hopeful.

I'm happy this season. I'm loving my life. But I can be better. And I know people who are struggling much much worse. So I hope as I prepare for the new year that I'm ready to help them muddle through somehow. Make their life a little lighter. 

This Christmas, this year.

It's a good one. And right now there's fresh snow.