Most adults don’t get as much out of the holidays as we did as children. Beyond the expectation of gifts, the most exciting thing to me as a child was getting to stay up until midnight. The occasion was for Christmas Eve. Sure, I had to endure the mass, but there were these mysterious hours in the day I could begin to explore if only once or twice a year.
One memory is leaving someone’s house with my parents and on the way to the car noticing the sky was darker, the stars were brighter and the world was quieter.
I have only had that same feeling twice as an adult, once driving in the wee hours of the morning from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas and once when viewing the George Inness painting titled Winter Moonlight (Christmas Eve).
Once the lights are off, the gifts are unwrapped and the world has gone to bed, we can be alone with ourselves and our thoughts, and enjoy a moment of solitude and hope for peace.
Urban Art & Antiques 