December 27, 2004

Christmas has arrived! And for its arrival we have retreated to the country, arriving during the past week to stay until after the 1st, a wonderful, happy respite from the trials and travails of the last month.

The things which mattered to me this past week were all the individual moments of caring that were special and made more so as they happened during a time when busyness reaches mammoth proportions and no one seems to have time or patience for anything. OUT OF MY WAY! THAT’S MY [fill in the blank]!

It was that Dr. Paolino made time in his schedule to see me before I left town because this “cold” has been with me for the last five weeks and wasn’t getting better. When I was there he looked like he needed a break but he gave me one by seeing me.

There was the pharmacist at the drug store in Battery Park City who, when filling out the prescription given me by Dr. Paolino, caught that it was in the family of antibiotics to which I was allergic and got a new one for me to which I was not allergic.

It was the tired smiles of folks in stores who lit up when people treated them courteously and the bright happiness of some, having embraced and surrendered to the joy of the season.

What also struck me was the disarray in our world.

As we left our offices for the holidays a plan was put together in case anything, God forbid, happens to our crew in Iraq. With the Mosul bombing much on our minds, it was a thing that had to be done but which also put a harsh note into the week.

Here in the house by the Claverack Creek or in the apartment in the city we live in peace and quiet while almost half a world away the Iraq adventure continues its bloody course and continues to be, to my mind, under reported.

It is, of course, that adventure which has now become the steady backdrop of our lives.

I feel closer to it because of I have crew that is filming there and they are incredibly brave and special young men who are doing a damn fine job of covering the lives of a group of soldiers. With some projects I work on, I don’t feel this involved but with this one I do. I know these young men. I helped make their Iraqi adventure possible. I am on the chain of people to be contacted if something goes wrong.

And the very thought of that brings tears to the edge of my eyes.

If there has been a subdued feeling to this Holiday season, it is because of the war and the dark fears generated by it, gnawing like an uncomfortable, guilty thought at the back of our consciousness.

Here at home, we continue with our traditions, traveling to our homes and to visit relatives and friends, to use this time to knit back together any broken bones in our core relationships, to celebrate the joys of living and birth, knowing Christmas is the time of birth of the Christ child, celebrated in a tradition that grows out of ancient pagan myths, and that strange mixture has become a contemporary holiday when men and women of all faiths step back and take time to, hopefully, enjoy one another in the general societal slowing this time of year.

I know that when I sit down to our Christmas goose, my thoughts will go to the Renaud brothers filming in Iraq and to all the men and women they are following and all the others who are there, in the dangerous desert.

My prayers will be with them even though I do not agree with the reasons for them being there and I will also hold close to me all those I love, far and near, because I know how fragile life can be – a fact underscored by the news every day.

May your Holidays be full of love, friendship and joy.