Thursday, December 08, 2005 -- 8:29 PM

A Day in the Life

I woke up at around eight o'clock with the icy-bright winter sunlight all over my room. Classes ended yesterday, so I was grateful to wake up naturally, instead of to the obtrusive, beeping alarm pulling me into consciousness. My dreams still echoed in my brain as I made the transition from sleep, and I enjoyed the company of old friends and old places for awhile.

I have an exam tomorrow, which I studied for until I felt hungry. Only then did I leave my room and shower and make toast. My little brother was online, and he told me that they got a Christmas tree today, and they were putting it up. I'd never missed that before, and it made me feel a little funny. I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at school, studying in the library for a change of scenery, so I gathered my books and notes and dressed warmly in a large jacket and gloves.

Waiting for the bus, I watched a rabbit and squirrel fighting over some bread crumbs lying in someone's yard. The squirrel was actively defending his food, while the rabbit got as close as he dared and stole a bite whenever his energetic enemy left to stockpile another mouthful somewhere high in the tree. When the squirrel felt the rabbit was getting too close, he'd charge at him, and in almost the same instant, the rabbit would jump into the air, above the squirrels head. Before he could land, the squirrel dashed out of reach of the rabbit's powerful feet and safely into the tree. Just as it looked as though the rabbit was beginning to get more aggressive, the bus came and took me away.

When I got home, there was a message waiting for me on the answering machine. "Hey Dave, call me as soon as you can." It was my cousin, Devon. I dialed his number, but it was busy, so I started sorting my laundry. I put in a load of darks and pressed redial.
"Hello."
"Hey Dev. You called?"
"Yeah, if you want to come over for supper you can, my dad is coming in from the city. He can pick you up."
"I have an exam tomorrow... but that sounds nice, actually."
"Okay, I'll let him know."
"Thanks."

I finished sorting my laundry and brought the shovel to the front yard, thinking I would shovel the walk before my uncle arrived. As soon as I got outside he pulled up.

My aunt made taco soup, like my mom made sometimes. She said she got the recipe from her. Me and my friend used to eat it when we were kids and there was no one else around. We'd put cheese on top and put it in the microwave so that everything melted and we'd play WWF on Nintendo 64. That was usually in the spring or fall though, when we went down to Washington.

After supper my cousin said she wanted to get a Christmas tree, so we took the old half-tonne and went out to a farm where some friends of theirs sold them. We picked out a small, full one and sang Christmas carols on the way back. We set it up right away, which is never what dad used to do, he said it needed to adjust to the new environment, so we usually let it sit for a day or two and "breathe". We put lights on it and listened to Christmas carols and played with their budgie. Then Devon and I played Bach and talked about a piece he was working on.

On the way home through the prairie highway I closed my eyes and remembered Christmas at home and trips out to our friend's farm. There would be lots of Christmas baking and I remember singing carols sometimes. Then we'd travel back home and all you would hear were the carols in your head and the highway sounds all around you and the only lights came from traffic and the stars. Christmas was a mystery then, like the incarnation should be.