Your spirit, essence and intention lingers in all those things you touch

This Christmas is so different from my Christmas in 2011.  Last year the house was decorated and the atmosphere was festive.  Multicolored lights twinkled on the tree and greenery boughs gracefully drooped around each side of the overhead kitchen cabinet.  The table was set with red Dansk Nordic Knits dishes and minature lanterns lit each place setting.  It took me several weeks to complete the decorating, but I was relaxed and enjoyed every moment of the holiday season.  This year is different, because there are no decorations and in their stead are stacked boxes of the belongings that will be moved to Arizona.  The excitement of the move has been replaced with the arduous task of packing dishes, glassware and other breakables with extra care that a long distance move requires.  As I pack each piece I think about the journey and wonder if I have packed it with enough care to ensure its survival.  I had special concerns with Sid's mother's antique ink well collection.  A good friend of ours, Bob, has his own moving company -- Bald Eagle Movers.  Bob will be moving us into our new home and will be the first of our friends to be stepping across the threshold of our front door.



The gift of carefully folded paper

A couple of days ago Bob dropped by with previously used empty boxes and a large box of neatly folded packing paper.  Bob had obtained the packing paper and some used boxes from someone that he had just moved.  It was so remarkable that each sheet of packing paper had been folded with great care -- all the edges were lined up and the crinkles in the paper had been smoothed out as if each sheet was an expensive linen being prepared for placement in a linen closet.   The tall stack of folded paper fit neatly inside a large box as if this box had been specially selected for a custom fit.  The packing paper I had purchased and had been using for packing was a rather monotonous task.  Today I