Tuesday, December 26, 2006

The scent of cedar...

Just a few hours on a plane and life changes for me...from gray and cold and rain to live oaks and cedars with air smelling like a cedar closet. It is intoxicating to step out into the sunshine as well.

Christmas with Philip is a lovely place to be...family, friends, a house full at any given moment. I like the winter here...it is quieter and dark...but not desolate or lonely. There is much more time for pot lucks and card games and just visiting.

Philip's house was so beautiful the night we drove in. (His brother, Buddy, met me at the Norfolk airport driving throught the dark and fog, we arrived just before midnight on Christmas Eve, Eve.) Candles were in all of the windows, the wreath on the door, and a right fine, scrubby tree in the corner adorned with lights. It was like stepping into a different century.

On Christmas Eve, Philip hosted a pot luck dinner with his house overflowing with family and friend. Late that same evening, he again hosted an open house for Christmas Eve egg nog. Christmas Day found us hosting lunch for family and friends as well. Gift unwrapping was progressive as we meandered through the village.

To you and yours a very Merry Christmas, one day late!

Merry Christmas, one day late!!

Lou Ann

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

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