"I'm old-fashioned and think that reading books is the most glorious pastime that humankind has yet devised."

~ Wislawa Szymborska

Awake before dawn after a good sleep. I hear my daughter on the phone downstairs talking loudly to someone. Turns out it’s her father. He tried to call me first, and I missed his call. He is on his way home. I take an early swim, and then walk to the river with the special one to see the morning view. I keep feeling so pleasantly surprised by how blue the sky is today, and how mild the air. The blue jays by the river are quick and fat. A woodpecker lands on a tree trunk nearby. It’s a busy morning. It’s not a work day for me, as the special one must stay home while my daughter works. It’s a play day, until Frank is home, and I head to a hair appointment. It’s wonderful to have Frank home, and now here through the holiday. I put the ornaments on the tree. We string more lights in the yard. We make the house a bit more Christmas-y together, and he is cheerful and I am too, and I see the almost full moon rising over the pine trees in a pale blue sky before dusk.

December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon—a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year, when cold weather truly begins to grip us.

~ Old Farmer’s Almanac

Tonight, I put the special one to bed in a new ritual I am creating for him. His mother is under the weather due to her booster shot (yay!) We sit on my loveseat in my bedroom, him on my lap under a blanket. We read his favorite book, The Snow Tree, and then his second favorite, The Polar Express. I don’t actually read the words, I talk about the amazing illustrations. It’s so fun to see him learn about what it means to turn a page––and return to a page that’s a favorite. He is becoming a very happy reader. But I’m happier, I think. Reliving my favorite part of the evening from raising my three children, curled up cozy at night with books. Then, I tuck him in, rub his back, sing Christmas carols in the dark room until he is asleep under the almost full moon, the cold moon, the Drift Clearing Moon (Cree), Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree), Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala), Hoar Frost Moon (Cree), Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee), and Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki) [Old Farmer’s Almanac].