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Long exposure + flash and sean under the trail of lights tree = sean’s monastery icon.
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Christmas was great this year. This is going to sound bad, but I always dread it b/c it means going home and being around my crazy soap opera family for an extended period of time, but this year for some reason was different, not that circumstances or situations where different, but it didn’t bother me. Being around my family despite the craziness was still calming and relaxing.
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The lights made this kinda cool I think
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I drove up to Wichita Falls and went through Temple on the way to stop and eat lunch and have Christmas with my sister. Its been a while since I’ve seen her and conversations with her are always great. We’re very different and hearing what she has to say about things, be it politics, family, religion, or friends is always fun and interesting. I also got to see where she works and meet her co-workers who are some of her best friends. It was cool to see that b/c I guess in my mind all of the fun day day friend ships end after you get out of college… not sure where that idea came from (maybe my parents), but it was good to see how her and her co-workers have a lot of fun.
On my way up I was listening to the new Death Cab CD and especially “What Sarah Said” (track 9). Its a sad song about sitting in a waiting room in the ICU waiting for bad news… I like the lyrics and the music is cool. So I had the lyrics of it stuck in my head when I got to Wichita Falls to my Aunt/Grandparents. My Grandparents haven’t been the best of shape this last year and this Christmas everyone came to their house for Christmas. It was great to see everyone, but there was an odd tone to it all to me. Underneath it all was this idea that this might be their last Christmas… it was very sad and gave the song a little more meaning i suppose.
Despite all of this it was awesome to get to see them and talk with them some. My grandfather while not being able to hear or speak very well is still very sharp and funny at times. Me and my brother also managed to get my Dad over the next day to take them out to eat for Christmas and I think that did a lot of good, at least I hope so.
On Christmas day I me and my mom went to visit a lady that took care of me and my sister a lot when we were little, she turned 90 this year and spent a little time in the hospital after a stroke, but she’s doing quite well now. When we got there the girl taking care of her turned out to be a girl i knew from high school and accidently hit her car after she had only had it a week… she wasn’t too happy. Anyways, she sat and read while me and my mom visited with Cleo and somehow my mom decided that it was an appropriate time to tell an incredibly funny, but racially offensive story about my sister from when I was born. The girl I knew from high school was black and so I kicked my mom, but she didn’t catch on… lots of apologies later it was all pretty funny. Thats the great thing about small towns… you know everybody.. the guy who is doing physical rehab with Cleo is actually my high school comp. sci. team partner’s dad.
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The new parents and child.
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So on we went to Allen texas to have Christmas with my cousins. My cousin had her first child on the 14th, so we got see him and I got to hold him for a while. I’ve never seen/held a new born before. They’re awesome, he makes all kinds of faces while he’s dreaming… its fun to watch. He’s so tiny though.. He was only 5 lbs at birth and has only gained a few ounces since, being the first time I held a baby that young I was incredibly paranoid… everytime he would twitch I would watch to see if he was still breathing, like i thought he was having a seizure or something (i’m gonna be the new parent that freaks out and calls the doctor constantly i think)… he just seemed so fragile.
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My cousin Michael who is now a proud uncle.
me and the newborn
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On the radio there were lots of people talking about how hunble the birth of Christ was b/c of being born in a manger and everything. Whats odd is that none of them really talked about the fact that The God of the universe, the creator of all things came to earth in the form of the most helpless creature I’ve ever seen, a human baby.
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Christopher Daniel Bowles
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Then I got to hangout with Spence at Double Daves and talk about his coming trip, reminis some and just hangout. It was good times. I’m excited about his trip and I’m looking forward to hearing about the amazing things God is going to use him to accomplish in Uganda.
While in Dallas I got to hangout with my friend Curt who I haven’t seen since last Christmas, or maybe this summer, I can’t remember… its been that long. Out of everyone I know (with the exception of some of my family), I’ve known Curt the longest. We’ve been buddies since sometime in daycare. He lived a block and a half from me til I came to austin, and while we’ve both obviously changed in some ways, theres always something familar there and so its always good to see him.
So to round out this whole thing… I got the new David Crowder cd for Christmas and was listening to it a lot on the way back to austin. My new favorite song as a result is “Come Awake”. Oddly enough it pretty much picks up where the Death cab song leaves off with the sound of a heart monitor going “code blue”. I think this song is the most powerful musical representation of spritiual rebirth that I’ve ever heard. The lyrics are simple, but the song builds to this emotional high that makes me want to yell everytime. Its awesome and made a great counter point to everything I had been thinking about with my Grandparents and Cleo… the baby added to that as well.
All in all, it was an awesome Christmas and the combination of music, family, and friends taught me a lot about life and death and rebirth.