Wishing you all warm memories this holiday. On Christmas Eve, our kitty held court over us as we lounged in our reading chairs and ottomans, reading books and watching Christmas movies. The mouse on the tree taunted her as do the chirping birds in cages whom we supervise while our son works. We ate leftovers for dinner. Leftovers!

Phone calls and texts from friends and family far away stand in for their physical presence–the joy of having your life long best friend text you “Merry Christmas” the moment you open your eyes–becomes the new tradition. Later, we talked on our headphones as we worked in our kitchens, a thousand miles apart.

These “virtual” memories, as real as those long-distance phone calls charged-by-the-minute when we shouted greetings to our grandparents, suffice for now.

Giving thanks for the day, for the light sparking on the lake. Let this be enough.