12.29.14  My California family is leaving for home this morning, after a week here at the lake.  I keep hearing John Lennon’s song in my head, thinking about our week together:

And so this is Christmas

I hope you have fun

The near and the dear ones

The old and the young.

Yes, we had fun!  There was ice skating on the pond and skiing down the mountain.  Hikes in the forest and building a snowman.  Ping-pong, monopoly, baking cookies, and Christmas movies.  Concerts with the new karaoke machine which Santa left under the tree.  And, our final day together may have been the best of all, when we awakened to a foot of new snow.  Once it was plowed, our treacherous steep and twisty driveway became a bona fide luge run, from top to bottom, for three little grandchildren.  It was dark when they finally came in for dinner, with their rosy-red cheeks.

Soon, it will be very very quiet here…”and so this was Christmas.”  Yes, it was…yes, it was.