Good evening! I have taken over Mo's bedtime walk now. It gets dark so early that he has his dinner walk early at sunset, then it is dark.
We go out again at 8, or 9 , or even 10. It doesn't matter because it's dark, the depths of black winter. Somehow the cold and snow make it seem more forbidding.
This week Mo is wearing his reindeer sweater. I made the armholes bigger so it's more comfy and he seems to like it!
I adore Christmas lights. A residual paganism, I believe, a desperate attempt by humans to add light to the December nights. [hard to photograph!] One year I was hospitalized from Halloween thru most of December. From my high hospital window I could see all the Christmas lights that December. It brought such joy to my narrow world. This my town's square, where the farmers market is in the summer.
The Town Tree. They decorate a real tree that grows in the plaza. I like that! Each year it gets a bit taller.
.
I didn't get a picture yet but the street light pole decorations are lighted outlined motifs, all beach inspired, like starfish instead of just a star; and the light poles in front of the various surf shops all have lighted surfboards. There are dolphins and anchors and sailboats. So cute!
......
Last year I saw no Christmas lights at all, being housebound by illness. So it is with great excitement and pleasure that Mo and I go out on our walking/ peeking adventures, to admire everyone's lights.
This is one of my favorites.
This house looks out at the beach like my house does and this 8' angel of lights is on their dark raised deck, looking out at the ocean. It must be visible for miles, to all the boats and planes that pass by our unlighted beach.
These folks have lights on their poor frost nipped palm trees.
And it's fun to see the grey fences and white shell edging, lit and glowing.
Also some simple wreaths. My mother loved wreaths and each year it was her special task to decorate the live wreath my dad would make for her. She was fond of boxwood and often inspired by Colonial Williamsburg wreaths here, using apples, oranges, kumquats. My brother still makes wreaths like this each year, so beautiful.
By the time Mo and I have briskly walked around a block or two, we are warmed by the exercise and cheered by the cold fresh air. Mo struts along so fast on these cold nights, visiting each little snow drift to leave a ''tinkle message'' for his doggy friends. The darkness has become fun, invigorating. Once home, I have a cup of hot tea, Mo has ''snackeroo'', his evening snack [since dinner was at 4] and then he gets out his chew stick, and we write to you all.
Merry Christmas, Blessed Solstice, Happy Holidays!
love
lizzy
gone to the beach...
***Snackeroo is a word Mo knows. I use it to lure him home when he'd be off to the koi pond or down to the beach. He loves the cold nights.
.jpg)
