On Christmas Day, we invite you to pause with us and reflect on the Christmas 
season and its significance in our lives .
For us, the season began with the decorating of our home, the trimming of the tree, and continued with the music, the stories, the traditions, the gifts that are both given and received, and the gathering of friends and family together to share memories of the past and to create new memories for the future.
We wish you a joyful Christmas Day!
little tree
e.e. cummings
i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid
look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,
put up your little arms
and i’ll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy
CHRISTMAS MAIL
Ted Kooser
At stop after stop,
she opens the little tin door
and places deep in the shadows
the shepherds and wise men,
the donkeys lank and weary,
the cow who chews and muses
CHRISTMAS BELLS
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
THE WORK OF CHRISTMAS
Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.
To view the previous Christmas Season NESTER post – click here
Thanks, good friends, sweet poems & photos. We did not have your new address handy when we sent out our photo and short letter, so yours went to Ponderosa Olsons all.
We all met at our home in Seattle yesterday, since Eleanor and parents took off for Mexico early today, where they are meeting a bunch of California friends for a week. We get to have Kate all week, a fine bargain.
Sounds like we might get to have some real winter weather here.
Stay warm and best wishes for a great New Year
Love, T’s
Merry Christmas
Just WONDERFUL. Thanks so much for sharing.
What a beautiful card and message!! Thank you so much!
Wishing you and all your family a blessed Christmas. I am in Portland with my girls and families. Looking forward to some cold and snow. I so cherish the memories of Christmas’s spent with Ken… hard to believe 25 years this year he left us here on earth. I feel his good spirit still. Love and hope and peace to you. Nancy
Merry Christmas and Boxing Day today! It was wonderful to see you this summer, let’s not wait so long between visits this new year, okay? Love to you both, from me and Alan, cheers, Janeen
What a lovely collection of thoughts thank you so much for Gathering them and sharing them. I understand you had a white Christmas. How lovely. My friends and I were able to gather outside and socially distanced 2 account for covid threats as we had temperatures of 68 degrees here in Tucson. The birds entertained us
Love the poems!
Stay warm
Maureen
Merry Christmas, now looking forward to those New Year Poems.