Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Spirit of the Season

I woke up this morning, infused with the spirit of Christmas.  I don't by any means plan on getting a tree and placing it in my living room, but I must admit that looking at the calendar and observing the date, December 24th ie "Erev Christmas", I burst into song.

All morning Raphaela and I have been more buoyant and affectionate than usual, and I like it.  My thoughts at the moment have returned me to my childhood in New York: the cartoon television specials, playing in the snow for hours without noticing the cold, school vacation, ice skating at Rockefeller Center, the abundance of decoration and cheer in the windows of the department stores.

New Yorkers, usually a surly fast-walking lot, smile more between Christmas and January 1,  and wish each other a "Happy Holiday" with no particular ulterior motive in mind.

Christmas barely registers in Israel, and ultimately, that is why I choose to live here and raise my daughter here, but I am thankful nonetheless for my American upbringing.

Since returning from the States three weeks ago, I have been feeling like I am in a holding pattern, neither happy nor sad, not particularly motivated to fill every minute of my day with some errand or work in the clinic.  I feel like I am waiting for something, or someone, and today is the first day I am light inside, and open to the idea of a wonderful new development in my life.

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