Merry Christmas from River Mud

Yes, this is my child. 

It's that time of year again.  A time of conflicts.  Of bold proclamations what season "is for," and who and what it's supposed to commemorate.   Negativity.  There's too much commercialism.  The sales aren't good enough.  What about Jesus?  (and okay, for the record, I do recognize that Jesus' actual birthday was likely in September, and moved to December for dubious purposes, but the modern Christian church holds the December date in honor of his birthday). Doesn't make it any less Christian.  Or any less commercial, for that matter.

This season, I hope you and yours get time to focus on what's really important.  And unlike a lot of people in the media and the blogosphere, I'm not here to tell you what that is.  Just please focus on what you're doing.  Be present.  Use your time well.  As I (on December 23rd) am finishing up this blog post, and my next posts for the 27th and 30th, I thought for a moment, "Wow, my lack of posting will cause my web traffic to take a hit! I should finish some more of my old, pending posts!"   And that's when I knew that I actually shouldn't do that.

Woah, I feel better already!

My December has already been filled with far too many work deadlines (for both jobs), poor weather for hunting and fishing, and not enough family time, so it's time to take a week, realign my priorities, and cool my heels.  No more of this for the holidays:

A typical December commute home on I-95

Enough of all that.  I'm coming up on three days with my wife, son, and wife's family; three days alone with my son, and then three days hunting with my brothers on the Virginia-North Carolina border.   And so I hope that you're able to rid your mind of all things that look and feel like that picture above, and enjoy some simple moments, both outdoors and with the people for whom you care most.  I promise to do the same.  Merry Christmas!