Per Linda:  Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “year.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

This has been quite the year. I always have heard that time passes when you are having fun. I figured when I reached my sixties and (gulp) as of the ninth, seventies, that time would drag. I mean, without the energies of youth, I figured I’d be so bored that time would drag. But it has been the opposite. Since my fifties, time has sped up. So much that it seems a snap of a finger between one year and the next. Heck, why even put the tree away, tomorrow will be Christmas again. But I guess it is the same reason we make our beds every day. Leave the bed undone, and it gets full of itchies and scratchies. Make it, and it welcomes you at night, smooth and cool.

Many don’t put up trees. Especially at my age. Why put it up? Kids are grown, or you never had them, It’s a lot of work. But it signified another year done well. It means warmth at the beginning of winter. Those glowing lights seem to go into my soul and, well, just make me happy.

I have friends and relatives that keep up their trees and just change the decorations according to the seasons and holidays. That sounds like fun. The couple times I’ve tried that I found that I just don’t have enough ornaments for other holidays and I don’t have the money to buy more, even at the dollar store. And last year, I just got tired looking at the trees. I don’t know why. It kind of lost its hope that it had as I decked those halls. And the snow outside was way prettier than my fake trees. This year, no snow. First time for Christmas Valley since we got here. Disappointing! Though the forecast says 40% chance of snow tomorrow. I’m not holding my breath. The cold is here and has been VERY! So maybe the trees will stay, just to keep inside warm and cozy.

How many of you are Sagittarius or Capricorn? When you are young, it seems unfair. Did your brothers have the choice of coat or sweater for a birthday or Christmas? No on their birthdays, there were art kits and scuba gear. That didn’t mean they went without coats and sweaters when it got cold.

Flip that to adulthood, three of my four are Capricorns, born just after Christmas and early in the new year. There was never enough money to have parties or get presents of any worth. But the blessing was that when my kids were young enough to enjoy the crazies of present unwrapping, my mother had a great job and could afford to get them anything in that wishbook that they needed. For their sakes, I was happy I was even glad my mother could finally give what I think she wanted to do for her own offspring.

Now, retired, with a tiny bit of money, I can’t afford to give to anyone. Even those in my house. My saving grace now is that I can make and give things all year long. My offspring are all adults with fairly good incomes, and if there is anything they need, it is within their own reach. And as I get the yarn I need for each person, I can make them something. The rest of the time, I feel I am creating for people who need the comfort items I am working on. So in a way, I feel richer than any other time of my life. As each new piece is made, it gets a home. It is Christmas all year long.

With all that in mind:

Pixabay