Our Christmas Tree...

We bought a 4 foot Christmas Tree today.. and 24 hours after President Obama lit up the Washington DC tree, we lit up ours. It stands in the corner of our rental living room, lit up by an assembly of lights and ornaments.
Yesterday I passed my New York State Driving Test! Even though I did the K turn in the European (albeit UK) manner...
Our house was rained on today and the crew had gone by the time we arrived, but this view of Hammond Hill in the gray is fabulous. Its from the bedroom window on the second floor.
Nicholas

Today confirmed what I thought I would learn about living with this view...it doesn't matter if it is cloudy, or sunny, or stormy...this is a horizon that is interesting and compelling...no matter what.

Here is a photograph taken from our Master Bedroom in the rain earlier today.

I love what I see, the darker cloud above the hills, the light just above the hills, the green grey of the hills themselves and the muted browns and deeper greens of the trees and fields in the foreground. If we watched for 20 minutes, this would all of changed, but only in remaining vigilant in observation, would we have seen it.

This is what I think we will have in our new home, a daily reminder of the need for mindfulness, the need to grow the ability to pay attention to the smallest beauty, the subtle dance of a cloud moving on the horizon, the early morning fog lifting from the pond, the unfolding of the maple leaf...day after day...year after year...this place, this home, will draw us closer to that which is infinite.
Judy