Its nearly Christmas. Since I was a little kid, this has always been my favorite holiday. I have been asked this multiple times by multiple people, why? Because I am Indian, and grew up in a Hindu family in Calcutta (not Kolkata, when I write in English), people in the US often asked me if I celebrate Christmas. The answer is yes. They don't know, Bengali's celebrate every damn thing they can get their hands on. Also Christmas was particularly important, because that is perhaps the only time in the year when it gets reasonably comfortable in terms of heat and humidity (notice I didn't write cold, as it never really gets cold in Calcutta, not in European or US standard anyways). That had been the time we would go out and have a picnic as a kid. Later on as an young adult, would walk around the streets randomly. So anyways, Christmas was and is important to me, and I celebrate it as an atheist. Also, just like in Calcutta, it never really gets cold in Houston, TX.
I am fortunate enough to live now at a very nice part of Houston, perhaps the best part of town. In my neighborhood, Christmas is notable on how the houses are decorated with light. It is often so nicely done that people from other parts of the town come and visit my neighborhood to see the decorations. This is nothing special for me, as these homes are right along the street of North Blvd, where I do my normal evening walk. However, the decorations does make them special. As you can see, it is stunningly pretty.
We are also fortunate to have mild weather during Christmas at Houston usually. One of the great perks of living in southern Texas (other than No State Taxes) is the mild winter. Please don't get me wrong, I do like snow for a few days, but I hate to get buried in it. So while rest of the country is shoveling snow from their driveway, I do enjoy my evening walks in relatively mild weather.
People spend a lot of time lighting these large texas live oaks. Lot of these lightings are professionally done, as people in my neighborhood neither have the time or inclination of doing this type of meticulous lighting fixtures by themselves. Velocity of money I say....especially during a recession, it is a blessing.
One of the joys of these evening walks from my point of view is the fact that I get to watch these homes from outside, including my own. It is charming to look at your own home from outside, watching your family through a lighted window. It does give me a sense of belonging while watching my family around the kitchen table, prepareing the evening meal. Kids doing their homework around the dining table. I like to recognize this good and fortunate times.
I recently watched a Kurt Vogenaut talk titled "shape of stories" on YouTube, where Kurt described many fundamental tracts of various classical literature. However, on the side, he also described, as a human race we often fail to recognize when we are in happy-times. Also, we never fail to recognize when we are in trouble. Kurt mentioned, it is critical to recognize the present, which is often reasonably happy. So I am following his recommendation and recognizing that the evening walk that I had yesterday when I took all these picture was a particularly happy time. We are thankfully living during a time of peace.......st least where I am. I am also fortunate to have a happy loving family, my kids are well and healthy and we are financially free. Clearly this is a recognizable fortunate and happy time. Right now is good! In fact it is great!
Merry Christmas, Everyone!
