9:03 am – The sun is bright and warm this morning, in direct contrast to yesterday’s pre-winter preview and surprise! What a difference a day makes! Sunny today and not a trace of snow or ice – except on the back deck.

I stood at the window, in front of the radiator, feeling the warmth rising up from it as well as that from the sunlight streaming in…and I remembered…

I remembered the many, many times over the 32 and counting years I’ve lived in this house – from the beginning to now. When I first moved in, the walls were chartreuse -ooooh, not! And the carpet: orange. Yuck! Quick, paint the walls beige …at least that toned the carpet down a bit. Needless to say, the carpet’s life was short-lived…

I remembered that my mom would sit in the chair – not the one pictured – ’cause it’ was warmer in the winter… and in the same chair, I sat, very early in the morning: reading and writing. It was in that spot that morning solitude and quiet time (MSQT) began for me, twenty plus years ago.

I remembered the ice box: one of my first purchases when I moved to MD/DC in 1974. I don’t know why but there was something about it that I just liked …

I remembered the little angel sitting on top of the icebox; my mom bought it for me for my 27th (I think) birthday…

I remembered the several years it took me to stitch the wall hanging, finished about 5 years ago. I leave it up year round despite the Christmas holiday/winter theme …

I remembered the ceramic elephant, sitting next to the chair, from Vietnam right before the war ended…

I remembered the small pillow on the chair – my first foray into needlepoint…

I remembered the Japanese Maple, planted the second or third year I moved here…

I remembered all the thirty-two Christmases in this house, starting with Dolly who spent her first one, age 9 months, and then Christian and then Kayla and then…

I thought:

Oh what fun Christmas will be with two little boys! Let the fun begin!

I am so grateful for these memories…and the ones yet to be made.