bathed in their glow

I don't know what it takes for you to get that holiday feeling, but for me, nothing creates it faster than magical lights.  I know I showed you my completed Christmas tree the other day, but one more plan I hadn't accomplished yet was to add candles...everywhere.  Like here...

and here...

and here.

Their cheerful flames, along with the sparkle of the Christmas tree, make the front rooms of our little home feel like such a cozy haven from the winter outside.  (Technically it's still fall; I know.  But when there's snow and ice, to me it's winter.)

I love coming home, lighting all 13 candles, and trying to just be still for a few minutes.  As people behave in culturally-normalized ways at the places I work--hurrying, scurrying, buying like their relationships depend on it--it's nice to come home to a peaceful place.  It's just what my spirit needs to keep centered on the simple joys of the season.