We’re in the briefest days at the end of another year, whatever we make of the concept of time after the last couple of them. For many, the holidays will be the first chance in a long while to visit families and revive traditions that seem a little richer after some time on the shelf.
For those of us at Threshold who have already returned home or are headed that way soon, the discussion recently turned to sounds we remember from childhood during the holidays and winter: the snoring radiator at a cousin’s house; that creak in the fourth step on the stairs (the one that caused so much trouble in the small hours); the mooing-cow toy with sagging batteries; the rippling brook and wind chimes of the grownups’ conversation at the fireplace downstairs.
We confront the banal sounds of the season more places than we can count (Mariah Carey at a Kroger, anyone?), but these more personal ones bring us to a specific time and place, one that connects us to memories and the people we love.
Be fully in those moments, this Season.
We haven’t had anywhere near enough of them lately.