…you may think of this as the Christmas season. I think of it as Advent. The Christmas season comes later. This is the first season of the Roman Catholic Church. And Sunday was the first Sunday. Happy New Year! And. In twenty-five days, WooHoo! big time stuff…A Savior. Wow! This is the time to await, prepare, get ready. The purple and pink candles.The evergreen wreath. The evening prayer. Not yet to read again C.S.Lewis’s,  The Screwtape Letters, that’s for Lent. Another await, prepare, get ready liturgical season.

No. I’m not a Scrooge. I shop. I do crowds. I can do excess. Not so much anymore, not like I used to. I wrap. I bake. I cook. I party. Send cards. It’s all good. Everyone decries the loss of Thanksgiving as a holiday and the use of the day as a kickoff party. Me? I think you can opt in or opt out. You can do what you need to do and still have a great Advent.

Actually, I think this is perfect, because I’m preparing and getting ready in my writing and in my life. Tom and I practiced retirement this weekend. A couple of shopping trips. A couple of projects around the house. A lot of communication. And that’s exactly how we started out. Eric Butler, Teddy,  you were so right. Life is a circle. We started our relationship from either end of the continent. And what made us close wasn’t being in the same room but realizing we had the same goals, drive, interests and, most importantly, we could laugh at the same exact things. It seems sort of full circle that Tom is retiring in the Christmas Season, we can spend Advent awaiting, preparing, getting ready.

Oh. This is going to be good!