Only a dozen days left in this year, and quite frankly I am glad! As I hear horrors of the third variant of a pandemic, I yearn for it to truly begone! I cannot will it so, it may never end completely. I am told this last variant has less resemblance to impending lung failure than a common cold. We all know the common cold will never go away! I don’t have to like it, but in it’s commonality I can accept and manage it in the usual ways.
I choose to indulge in the joy of a scaled back holiday. In Texas Hill Country, I can still enjoy bright sunshine through my kitchen windows often. In fact, daytime temperatures have bounced from the forties to a couple of days later, climbing into sunny eighty degrees. Oh how I love that warmth! Most people still sport masks at large indoor gatherings. On my street, neighbors gather for shared dinners and cheer! One couple has led the way to host “dinner in the hood” often. We laugh and discuss events, history, hopes and dreams. I am grateful to be in the midst of these wonderful people. I am reminded of a recent sermon advising that we “love our neighbor”! What’s not to love about these neighbors!? I have truly been blessed in 2021!
I can hope 2022 brings far away family back into more personal space. For now, I will be at peace with mail, telephone and text visits.
