The Quarantine Diaries #36: Holiday Time!

Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah or the Winter solstice, chances are the coming weeks are a season of celebration for you, at least under normal circumstances. One thing I love about the WordPress community is how it connects readers and writers from all over the world, different time zones, seasons and traditions, and allows us to share something of our world with everyone else.

I will be posting a little lighter over the festive period, as I plan to spend some time with my family and also get some much-needed rest. I will bring you the results of the EIF Poetry Challenge on Wednesday 23rd, and there will probably be poetry in one form or another, though when and where this shows up shall remain a surprise (most of all to me)…

I will resume normal scheduling on the week commencing 4th January. Thank you to all my regular readers and for anyone visiting this site for the first time. It has been my absolute pleasure to share my writing with you and to read your poetry, stories and real-life tales. It has been a challenging year but also a wonderful year for me as a writer. Perhaps it is the year I actually became a writer, instead of just dreaming about it. I have much to be thankful for, and I hope you do to. I will end with a few short paragraphs I wrote after the first snowfall in Bled.

The Christmas Spirit

04/12/20
I woke up this morning with the Christmas Spirit. I lay on my heart like the snow lay on the ground. It was the strangest thing. It tingled through my veins and pulsed into the tips of my toes. It suffused peace and serenity into the very fibre of my being. Normally this feeling comes to me on Christmas Eve, or Christmas Morning, when the children are still sleeping and their presents lay expectantly beneath the tree, but here I was, a full three weeks before Christmas with this beautiful bright calm flowing through me.

And what I want to do most of all now is to send it out: to all the people who will be spending this Christmas in isolation. To all those whose heart aches for loss of a loved one at this time. For all those living in a prison of enforced cheerfulness when all they want to do is scream. It isn’t something I can package. I don’t know how to send it out to you. But if I could, I would, as sure as Santa delivers gifts to children all around the world. This spirit I feel would be a dove of hope to fly to you and comfort you wherever you are, and whenever there is need.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season full of joy.

Ingrid