Merry Christmas!

Sunrise:	8:39 AM AST
Sunset:	3:22 PM AST

34F Sunny in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon.

Merry Christmas from Sitka!

The photo above is of Meg, Whitney and me on our winter wonderland hike two weeks ago when our male housemates were out of town. The three mountains in the background are the Three Sisters that I can see from my office window-- we decided to adopt a Sister each. :)

So. Christmas season as a JV in Sitka; the paucity of recent posts may be proof of the business of the season, but that may indeed be universal. Yesterday afternoon I was standing over the sink, doing dishes, listening to Charlie Brown Christmas music and wistfully reflecting. 

How is Christmas different this year? Let me count the ways.

1. I'm in charge of the side dishes for Christmas dinner. Eeeep.

2. My housemates and I hand made most of our presents, and the wrapping paper (crooked candy canes galore! All these crafts bring back my childhood, it's fantastic.) 

3. It snowed on Christmas Eve. :D I now wear long underwear like it's a second skin.

4. This past week I've been skating outdoors on the beautiful Swan Lake (about the size of three football fields) under the clear starry sky framed by snow capped mountain peaks.  They put up a big Stadium style light so we can skate after the sun sets (at 3:15ish, mind you). I love what a community activity it is: parents pulling their infants around in sleds, people skating with their dogs, friends tossing around hockey pucks. Every time I've gone skating some of my friends have been their, enjoying the "rink" while the freezing clear weather holds. 

5.  At Midnight Mass last night, the entrance hymn had an extra accidental "practice run" until they realized the priest wasn't ready, so they got to do it again. 6. Most of my Christmas wish list came from REI. 

7. I'm not with my biological family, but with four wonderful people that I have come to love like siblings. 

8. We have a real Christmas tree! Hand cut by Josef and Andrew the legal distance off the Crosstrail.  Apparently we're turning a blind eye to the environmental impact of "topping" a tree in a National Forest. Hrmmm. Not a shining JV moment, but I guess an example of how when you're living in a community, the value for community sometimes out weighs other values like environmental social justice.

One thing that has remained the same is how much Christmas music makes the season for me. A brass ensemble comprised of members of the San Francisco, Seattle, Boston Symphonies came for the annual Christmas Brass Concert in Sitka High School's new auditorium. The venue is gorgeous and the brass were fantastic. I was on cloud nine. I felt like I was in a metropolitan area again! And it brought back all my trumpet playing band nerdiness from high school. They even played a quartet I played in high school! I almost jumped from my seat and grabbed one of their horns and joined in. You know I wanted to. But the mambo finale took the cake, and after bopping in my seat the whole song, I swore to myself that I would get to know the organizer of the concert. He also organizes the Sitka Fine Arts Camp every summer. This town is small, but it contains some amazing cultural gems.

I hope Christmas day is lit by simple love with friends and family. Peace be with you all!