These are a Few

She poured paint into a small palette, twirling her brush around. You know, nobody has the exact same skin color, she mused, as she painted a group picture of her friends for one member’s birthday. I was struck by the resplendent moment. Proud that my daughter wanted to make a gift for her friend that was special and unique, and loving the beauty of skin tones captured in liquid acrylic.
** Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens**

My boy handed me a perfectly rounded snowball and I held it in my cupped gloved hands. The mid-day sun sparkled off the sides. Launch it, he whispered, and we watched as it floated up and landed in a puffed explosion on the driveway.
** snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes**

We kicked ice chunks down the street until he found a cozy shelter beneath three large evergreens. Come in, Mama!, he called, it’s the perfect hideout. And so I did, collecting perfect, tiny pinecones in my coat pockets to add to our table centerpiece.
** silver-white winters that melt into springs**

Quiet winter mornings where everything is still. Snuggled under flannel and sipping hot coffee. Breathing back the weighty expectations of the day while the red-warm sun filters between the bare branches.
** Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings**

The build-up to Christmas is busy and lists and anticipation. In the week before our regular schedules restore, we vacillate in limbo between bored and unfocused. I plan to hop gratefully from moment to moment, spending slow time with my favorite people and anticipating the hopeful beginning of a new year.
** These are a few of my favorite things**