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Not a Creature Was Stirring
Before this one, I’d never experienced a Christmas Eve outside of Manhattan. I’d always felt that the muted but omnipresent inertia of the city and my own procrastinating family—the scramble for wrapping paper and cards, the unceasing and relentless shine of bright city lights, the honking horns and pent up anxiety—and had always defined 24 December as a whirlwind of stress and waiting.
But, then, today…
I felt this incredibly pure joy this afternoon as I lay in my cousin’s bed and watched the sun set outside his bedroom window. My camera was on the other side of the house, but I made no attempt to go get it. I just lay there and watched as the shadows gathered on the wall opposite and the untouched snow outside reflected the gorgeous purples and reds sinking steadily slower, growing fainter in unbroken silence.
It was less a moment to record than to live.
Wherever you are, whomever you’re with, and whatever you choose (not) to celebrate tonight, tomorrow, and the days that follow—I hope each and every one who reads this gets to feel the same happiness I felt for a few silent, perfect minutes this afternoon.
Happy holidays.
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