Merry Christmas everyone.  I hope you’re all where you should be, enjoying the company of family or friends.

I am where I belong, if not where I wish to be.  Sitting under the stars, dreaming of the future, remembering days past.  The wind is blowing lightly, briskly.  Even with their naked, frozen branches… trees still whisper the winds secrets. I sit here, listening to the music, hearing a melancholy melody.

The stars hold an untamable power… the vastness is seemingly endless.  I sat under a different starry sky just last week, up in Montana.  The Big Sky Country, was so very appropriately named.  There was no moon, and the night held her lights on a blanket of onyx velvet so deep and endless it took my breath away.  The clouds had retreated, seeking shelter elsewhere.  The cold was deep, penetrating, bone numbing, yet so very refreshing.  There was but a slight breeze… still she, sang to me.  The solitude, enveloping, pure, incorruptible.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Remember those who can’t be home with their families.  There are many service men and women, who have chosen to sacrifice for the rest of us.  Keep them foremost in your hearts and minds, while still enjoying the family and friends around you.  If you get a chance, step outside and look up to the stars. Whisper a dream for those who can’t be home.  Perhaps they will hear it sung on the wings of a slight breeze wherever they may be.

“I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them.”   by Clara Barton

Clarissa Harlowe Barton (better known as Clara Barton) (December 25, 1821 (although there is a confusion with her date of birth, as her birth certificate says the 25th, while her family members say that she was born the day before Christmas, the 24th)April 12, 1912) was a pioneer American teacher, nurse, and humanitarian. She has been described as having had an “indomitable spirit” and is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.