More ice to observe, fresh, unmarred by rain or snow or thaw. The wetlands are gorgeously frozen with glimpses into windows of the fungi and leaves and broken sticks under the surface. I find a figure of a mother and child in ice. I am reading the ice, a wonderful occupation for my early morning. Before my walk, I drive to the post office and drop the Christmas cards in the slot. After my shorter walk, I swim, and gather energy for a busy day. Frank and I do more shopping for Christmas and party, and it’s fun to share the preparation with a buddy. Tonight, after a party with dear friends, I am falling asleep writing this. This party, I realize, we’ve been going to at Christmas for almost twenty years!, and I feel the evolution of our lives in the span of this party and all the stages and changes. The intensity and liveliness of this party, and the size, and the scope of it. But it’s reassuring, it lasts, as the friendships do. And there are always the dear and familiar friends, and newer ones too. We raised our children together. Now, some of them still come, and they are adults. They want to be here, feeling the comfort of familiarity too. And they are rising into their time when they will be hosting the party, and they will be the parents. The busy, pressured, important, exuberant middle age years will be theirs. I feel so grateful for special friendships today, all day, grateful.