First Snow

Today we woke to the first real snow of this winter, only about 3″ but better than nothing. As a snow lover, I have to remember that last year at this time we hadn’t had any snow either — and then look what happened — so I guess there is still hope. Some forecasters are predicting a big storm this weekend, which would be almost exactly the same date on which it all began last year.

After working hard most of the day doing our post-holiday cleaning of the house, Peter and I went to the Pond in the late afternoon. The temperature was about 25º, with a fierce wind coming at us from the northwest, for a wind chill in the single digits. I found it bracing and invigorating. The air was sparkling clean and clear, the sky a crystalline blue. There were dozens of geese and ducks and coots on the water, and we saw the three swans who have been staying at the Pond for the last few weeks.

By the time we came around to the south side of the Pond, the sun had already set behind the hill and a half moon had risen in the east. (Yes, that white speck in the photo is the moon.)

As we walked the final half mile around the Pond, the horizons and clouds turned pink and lavender all around us, and I felt privileged to be there seeing the cosmic splendor.

Then it was home to tea. There’s nothing like being out in the bitter cold to make our warm, cozy home seem like bliss.

Christmas 2015

Christmas is my favorite time of year, and I really love Christmas in Boston.  This was my thirtieth Christmas in my Boston home; it gives me chills to think of all those years passing.

When you stop to think about it, it is extraordinary that we bring a seven or eight foot tree into our living room. There is no other holiday or time of year when the house is transformed like this. Some say that Christmas is for children, but  at the age of sixty-five, I still find it all utterly magical–the lights, the candles, the delicate glass ornaments, the angels, the deeply familiar and stirring music, the warmth and color in this dark time of year.

In the weeks of Advent I like to partake in the bustle around town, concerts and house tours and walks to see the lights and decorations and shop windows. I’m aglow with anticipation and excitement.

Trinity Church with Wreaths

Boston Public Library with Wreaths

Old South Church

Old South Church

Old South Church Doorway

Acorn St., Beacon Hill

Doorway, Beacon Hill

Doorway, Beacon Hill

Doorway, Beacon Hill

Doorway, Beacon Hill

Wreath

Windows on Chestnut St.

Cupcake Cafe on School St.

Window of Anthropologie, Harvard Square

On the last Saturday before Christmas I went to the Candlelight Carol service at Trinity Church, as I do every year. The service is almost unearthly in its beauty, almost like a glimpse of heaven. When I came out into Copley Square in the early darkness, an amazing light show was being projected on the façade of my beloved Boston Public Library on the opposite side of the square.

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I love the way the architectural elements were picked out by the lights and the way the great words across the top of the building are highlighted: The Public Library of the City of Boston Built by the People and Dedicated to the Advancement of Learning. I watched the show several times through. It was a most amazing evening in Copley Square; between the carol service and the light show, I was blown away.