Five Years Later

Facebook coughed up this memory from 2019 and it struck me that I liked it. It pretty much holds up on multiple levels— same exact time, same cast of characters, different house and in fact, different town (Indio), but basically near enough and the same vibe as Palm Springs. I like the sounds of it, the scanning, the sentiment, the humor, the reach for something meaningful amidst it all. So why not repeat it here? With one additional verse. Enjoy!

 

‘Tis the night before Christmas in our Air B ‘n’ B

With Malik, Karen, Kerala, Tals, Zadie, Ronnie 

The stockings are hung in this house in Palm Springs

Where the night’s filled with stars and the desert wind sings.

 

And inside the house, generations they gather

For the family vacation where nothing else matters.

But cooking and swimming and readings and walks

And touring and tickling and TV and talks.

 

Where days they are warm and the nights they are cold

Where grandparents feel young and the grandkids feel old.

Where the jokes they are funny and the music is groovy.

Where we surf Netflix for a good Christmas movie. 

 

Where no one is feeling down in the mouth

Only wondering if Santa will show up down South.

Where happiness reigns and we shoo out the blues

By vowing each day that we won’t watch the news. 

 

The presents are gathered beneath the palm tree

Lots for the kids and perhaps one for me

Which suits me just fine, not much do I need

And it’s the right time to downsize on greed. 

 

For it’s clear that the greatest gifts are both love and time

And music and reason and laughter and rhyme.

The things with no price-tags in this large land of plenty

May all good rise up in the year 2020!

 

We gather again here, none quite the same,

We’ve grown and we’ve lost but we still know our name.

Please no 2020, of that, please, no more

May we finally know healing in the year 24. .