The Last Days of the Year

My family drove off this morning for home and I am still feeling melancholy to have them heading so far away.  Ani finally turned off Eliza's new CD of Adele, saying the music was too sad and she thought I needed to listen to something else.  Perceptive and loving, that one.  So I'll focus on restoring the house to its state of normal and share the last few days of together.

The gift of snow beckoned us daily into some sort of foray out into the world, away from the games and play at home...

My sister and her family

We have all gotten so much better at spending more time together in one spot - 8 in a house is a lot, for a week, and we all have such different needs for space and company - but our time outside made the time inside so much sweeter.  The cold air, the slip and stamp of boots, the showers of melting snow from the branches...

Uncle Spoons

My mama and her grandbabies

But the inside time was a riot.  There were nightly dance performances - a unique combination of hip-hop and contra dance - shepherded by a master stage manager, Ani.

There were games everywhere: puzzles, i-pads, Flux, SET, Spot-It, Dixit, Apples to Apples, Bananagrams, card games, and my sister sweetly suggested a game of Boggle, which she knows I love (we are perfectly matched, I am happy to report).

Spot-It

Treehouse

 Last night we were treated to a play: The Billy Goats Tough.  It is great to watch these cousins grow and create such fun together.

Everyone surrendered to a game of "Love it, Hate it, I don't know", which had us giggling until it was time to end the "Last Day of the Year Party" and say goodbye to the year.

I don't feel in a space to contemplate the ending of the year quite yet. It will take a few days to decompress from our social holidays and to turn my focus to our goals for the new year.  Can't hurry these things, you know.  I do know that the year turned with so many riches in our pockets - healthy bodies and the wealth of good friends and a family that loves us beyond our quirks and foibles - and that the melancholy I feel is itself a mirror of the goodness, the feeling deeply of the sweetness of all we have to fill our lives. 

happy new year!