Christmas Eve

I'd rather be sick at my parent's house than anywhere else, though the timing is certainly inconvenient.

My parent's backyard (what you can see if it - I'm no photographer, apologies) was beautiful in the sun rising over the hills this morning. When the sun finally crested the rolling waves of earth and pierced through the trees, it gleamed through the mercurial fog like an alchemical magic, golden strands of sunlight streaming down like heavenly tinsel.
It's Christmas (soon), ladies and gentlemen, thought not a white one, I'm afraid. Merry Christmas.

I had nightmares about art history last night, and could not sleep more than twenty minutes at a time. I woke up sweating and exhausted every twenty minutes or so until morning, whereupon I surrendered and walked outside. Rarely do I experience a surrealism when ambling down city, or small-town, streets, yet here, cupped like a dove in the palms of the mountains, the clouds crashed and made frothy the waves of the earth. Here, the earth and sky battled, and the mists lingered long before, bruised and beaten, they lifted with despair. In summer, the maple's splindly arms don't seem so defeated, condemned to bear ice and lichen until spring resurrects them again.
As I walk through the forest, hearing the distant trickling of water hidden in the shroud transports me into the fae, and every shifting form, then, might be faun or unicorn, fairy or pixie, sliding between the silvery branches with slippery grace.

When I see such a world, it captures me. Does grace redeem these trees, flowers, hills and mountains, doe and falcon, as surely as for me? I inhale beauty, and it is very good indeed. It is, I think, more than truth.

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I won super-giant boggle tonight, against the family. I remember as a little child, the parents always allowed me to use two letter words in the original boggle, and I still lost. My parents are quite talented when words come into play. But I managed to eke out victories in quiddler yesterday (up and down) and boggle today, which might be nothing but a miracle (though I think I won boggle by 30 points - so maybe I was on fire).
I'm glad I'm not a child, anymore, for the simple fact that I'll be getting sleep tonight. Santa, keep it down. If you deliver gifts, remember that not even the mice are stirring, please and thank you. I didn't sleep well last night, and I need to get better before a wedding this weekend, a drive back to oregon, and a visit to A and S in california.
Merry Christmas eve, everyone. I pray everyone has safe travels and a relaxing, peaceful time holding friends, family, and Christ close to heart.