a marscapone kind of christmas

a week or so ago, i wrote about contentment;
in the end, sending my readers off to make
the delicious marscapone and mushroom risoto recipe
that i shared.

there is no magic in marscapone
(yeah, right, says my friend stacy . . .
i know, stace, you and i know better!)
but when i pay attention to the smooth creamy texture
and the sweet
but not too sweet
flavor of the cheese,
i find myself entering into the present.
not thinking about what has happened
or what needs to happen
or what i fear may happen.
but right in the moment,
licking my fingers,
my breath begins to deepen
and my feet sink into the floor.
i notice my neighbor's beautiful yard
outside of my window
and hear the sweet voice of patty griffin
as she sings about making pies
and i realize how good my life is.

and i become thankful;
content.

it has been that kind of christmas so far around here.

it has not been perfect,
but it has been so good.

in the past, i have tried to orchastrate
a holiday right out of the gilmore girl's
star's hollow;
witty banter and all.

i have say,
people don't like being told
what festive hats to wear
or when to banter witty-ly.
they really don't.

this year, i was content to put up
my new silver, pre-lit tinsel tree
the day after thanksgiving -
instead of rushing around,
trying to find a place to cut a tree.

so i set up my little tree in the window
while herb was
using "the fascilities"
of all things!!!
and then we snuggled and read on the couch.
hardly out of a norman rockwell painting,
but it was MY life,
reality -
so it turns out, it was actually not so bad.

a few weeks later, we walked down
to the winter market in our neighborhood
and picked out a live tree from
the gellato guy
(nice move on replacing your seasonal job, gellato guy!)

again, we have slowly,
and unceramoniously been decorating it.
and it is perfect.
because i am enjoying herb
and the process
and the reality;
not the fantasy.