Did you count the 12 days of Christmas? Yesterday, January 5, was the 12th day of Christmas on the Gregorian calendar. Today is Epiphany (Theophany). Time for a change.

Today is December 24, 2014, Christmas Eve, on the Julian (Orthodox) calendar.  So Merry Christmas – Christ is Born! – to millions of Orthodox Christians around the world, whose churches keep the old calendar.

I took the Christmas lights down from the windows of my condo today. I thought about leaving them strung about the living room – over the piano, the table, maybe up and around in the aging ficus plant. But I put them in a box. I will miss the warmth of colored light in the room.

The days after the holidays are past always leave me feeling just a little blue, you know? Autumn and the holiday season are my favorite time of year, and I’m sure I’m not alone. Hard to believe it goes by so fast.

So it goes. In memory there are so many nights of such lights in other rooms, lighting the faces of people who’ve been so profoundly dear to me. Let memory serve. Let darkness and silence abide as it will, until Christmas comes around again.

Until then, Here’s to the Old Long Ago.