Driving around town admiring the glitter and glam of holiday lights, I noticed some modest yard signs urging folks to “Put Christ back in Christmas.” Other houses got their message out by installing various style crèches in their respective yards. Big, little, and in between, they all are visual clues to put Christ back in Christmas.
I spend quite a bit of time these days, in the spacious lobby of St. Joseph’s Hospital, waiting for my daughter to undergo medical treatment. Naturally, the lobby is a-glitter with trees galore and the adjacent gift shop is stuffed with presents for giving. The table that divides the south lobby from the north section of lobby is set with coffee, both caf and de-caf.
The north portion has a fireplace which has never been ignited during my frequent wait time, but it is cozy enough and far from the television located in the louder area. Here I can read and think about the future for me and my daughter. Once or twice I have seen a few friends walking around after their chemo treatments.
Generally, the furnishings are low and cushy, but recently I noticed great looking modernist chairs, solid and gorgeous and just right for tall people who perhaps have trouble rising from the low and cushy. They are made in Sheboygan by a specialty company noted for craftsmanship and upscale design. In fact, the chairs seem as straight forward as most of our Wisconsin citizens.
Glitter and glam and chairs aside, if you care to look while you are in the north portion of the lobby, you will see, neatly tucked into a corner space on the northwest side, a lovely crèche. It does not need a sign to tell us to “Keep Christ in Christmas.” It just is, and to those anxious souls waiting for word of their loved ones, either recently admitted or about to be discharged, the crèche should be of some comfort.
A few mornings ago, I had a pre-dawn appointment at St. Joseph’s Hospital, not for me, but for my daughter who was on the docket for prep at 7 a.m. As we drove south on Mayfield Road, the new day was dawning in the east and the area was beginning to wake up. This season of no-snow is both a blessing and a curse. I’d say a curse for those who make their living by plowing snow, but on the other hand, it is a blessing to get to view the farm land in all of its naked glory, stripped down and basic.
Somehow the sunrise that morning seemed the better for it.
I had another beautiful surprise this morning. An enormous bird, grey/black with a white breast and dark-hued head perched on my deck railing, near where I promised not to feed birds this year, but broke down and gave out with a scoop of feed yesterday. It was too large to be a hawk. I read online that bald eagles had been around some local yards, and yes, if this was one of that majestic species, it was an immature one. I reached for my camera, but when I looked up, the critter was gone with the wind.
Photo courtesy www.etsy.com