give peace a chance

Sometimes it's easy to spin your wheels endlessly and just hope to god you get through the day. A lot of days are like that, actually. Of course, this time of year is notorious for making even the calmest and most easy going people (present company definitely excluded) feel like they're in a dawn to dusk free fall. It's not a nice feeling, as I'm sure we can all attest. And the harder you try to break the cycle, the more the fates seem to delight in showing you - yet again - that you just have to suck it up and muddle through. These are truly the days where life seems like all work and no joy.


But...


Sometimes in the chaos, there's a moment. A moment that seems to sneak through all the crap and bring with it a shining glimmer of contentment. These are almost always small moments, borne of small things. A slice of clarity in a crazy world. A reason to get up the next day. A sense of peace. I love those moments. One of them can keep me going for days. And I had one tonight.


We had a busy day. A good day, but full. All kinds of holiday stuff on top of the usual getting ready for the week, plus my folks are coming Tuesday and my ankle is still tweaked so I'm slow and the weather has not been our friend and a million other little details. One by one, we tackled everything we needed to do. Got the tree. Hauled all the decorations down from the storage loft in the garage. Laundry. Groceries. Stacked firewood. Bagged leaves. Dinner. Collapse.


Freshly showered and in my most comfortable pajamas, I climbed into bed, newly made up with just out of the dryer bedding. My mega mug of steaming decaf chocolate hazelnut tea was on the bedside table. The apple pie from dessert was sitting snugly in my belly. My sweet dog was curling up around my feet, resting his nose against my toes with a sigh. Kids were either showering or on their way to bed. Outside, the wind roared and the sleet slapped against my windows. I felt like all was right with the world. I felt warm, I felt indecently cozy, I felt...peace. And from such ordinary, run of the mill things.


These may be small moments, but they're wonderful nevertheless.