It's interesting what a person notices while they go about their everyday life and what they remember at the end of the day.
Today the wind is blowing so hard I can hear it, but when I look out the window it isn't obvious what season we're in. There are certain things I expect at certain times of year, certain sounds and sights.
We still don't have snow, but even stranger than that are the construction projects going on in my neighbourhood. It was warmer when they started the house down the street, but it seems there were long periods when nothing seemed to change. Lately the work is progressing so fast it is a different sight every time I leave the house.
Just a across the street a new house was moved onto a new basement and now the garage is being built.
The neighbourhood has changed a lot in the few years we have lived here. There are fewer trees and more homes, fewer animals and more children's laughter.
It is more obvious in certain seasons and in this Christmas season even the changes in our family are more obvious. It seems we pause only long enough to snap a picture at Christmastime and when I look at pictures from a year ago when my son was just a tiny bit taller than I, it amazes me how time flies. Both of my children have grown so much physically and changed so much as individuals in the last year.
Some things are destined to change while others never do and they are also part of what makes the holiday season stand out. This is the 10th Christmas since my dad passed away and the images of him never change. The photographs never will change, but sometimes I feel the memories are fading and as we prepare to gather with family members he never met, grandchildren he didn't have the opportunity to hold in his arms, I wish for a window to Christmases past.
I want to be able to share stories of those who no longer sit at the table and I want to remember those I have the pleasure of sharing time with now, not knowing when they will celebrate their last seasons with us.
I don't want to just have photographs, I want to remember everything - the scents, the sights and the sounds, the taste of the special dishes and the touch, the touch of love, now in this season of enhanced emotion and all year long.
