joyous holidays & a happy 2013 ~

today: Christmas Eve. and in a week, the new year just around the corner. also: the snow gone, but today some sun waiting. after a day of grey sky, it was already showing yesterday afternoon, on a sunset drive at 5 pm.

also, to add one more layer to this time of year's end, closures and beginnings, it's my birthday. as a child, i woke on that day to a table of gifts - it was like a small miracle, going to sleep, with the table empty, and then waking up to a table filled with colored and shiny gifts, wrapped and waiting.

now i think, it's really like life: every new day brings this table of new moments, waiting. but to make it a bit more difficult, they come without wrapping, without being placed neatly in front of us. it's up to us to find and recognize them, to make space and time for them.

today i am thankful for this life. for this place, here. the view from the window.
for my family. who still is whole. last year, the darkness of a serious illness of one of my parents hung over Christmas. we didn't know if we would have another Christmas together again. but now we do. it's an own kind of gift: to receive more time together.

i am thankful, for the web, for this blog, for you, who reads it. for this world, for the connections across continents. for words. for books (-  if you want, join me on a shared reading around the world in 7 books in 2003, to make the world both a larger and smaller place - here's more)

and i am thankful, for the little things. like the bakery, just some minutes from here. and the way to it, which leads past a small gallery that has new paintings up every couple of weeks. that's where i am headed now.

but first, this wish:

Happy joyous holidays ~
Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Feliz Navidad!
Joyeux Noël!
and in all the other languages: 

may it be a time of peace & light ~~
and may it bring a beautiful new year 2013~