The "Big Events" are over for most families. Somewhere amidst the wrapping paper, tape, tissue and tinsel the Baby Jesus was celebrated and honored in some Christian homes as families gathered. Santa Claus made stops -either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - in homes with young children who eagerly awaited his arrival.......or "proof" that he had arrived. Cookies, milk, or hot chocolate left for Santa were eaten by either Santa or his "helpers", who probably set out the treats in the first place! Food by the pound was consumed during holiday meals, including massive amounts of butter, sugar, and, maybe even spirits. Cookies, pies, cakes and candies were lovingly baked and offered to those residing in the home or to lucky visitors. Who knows how many pounds of ham, turkey or other meats were baked, fried, grilled, braised or broiled to produce fork-tender and delectable protein-filled entrees?
Now the post-Christmas realities set in. For some, depression looms large during post-holiday days. For others, like me, the incessant over-indulging leads to over-working out, which leads to sore feet, muscles, and shin splints. This morning I decided to mix up my workout a bit and thought I'd do the equivalent of twenty flights of stairs, up and down. The first two "ups", where I practically jogged up the stairs, were almost deal busters until I figured out that I should hustle up the steps and then power walk through a short path in the condo, hustle back down the stairs and repeat the process.......eighteen more times. I even changed up my floor work and yoga routine, which felt good to escape from the same-old-same-old sequences, although the modified push-ups weren't all that much fun.
Decorations are disappearing faster than Houdini, cardboard boxes are being flattened for the weekly recycling pick-up, leftover foods are being secretly discarded - either via the kitchen waste basket or the garbage disposal, and the candy that was hoarded discreetly is being eaten one piece at a time.....also discreetly. Stale cookies are being tossed or gobbled up by Fido. Fluffy, the cat, is not typically a recipient of stale cookies but she may be on the receiving end of a plate of left-over smoked salmon that got dried out.
What primarily remains are memories - hopefully good ones if the family is lucky, as we are. Capt. Cook and I recognize that the opportunities to reunite with our two offspring and their children diminish as the years tick by. The constant tick-tock of the life clock is an oft overlooked reality of life. The years that cause the grandchildren to get taller, faces to become more angular, sentences to become more complex and be able to beat Granny and Gramps at most games multiple times in a row also cause Gramps and Granny to get shorter, faces to become more wrinkled, sentences to stop mid-way as a word is searched for, and game reaction time to slow to a mere thought.
Perhaps the most precious of gifts are those that were never in a box or bag to begin with. Smiles, laughs, hugs, time, giggles, walks, talks......all are valuable memories, but, the most precious of all is time.
Ancora imparo
