One of my favorite Christmas presents so far this year is a heart-felt poem from my friend Emily. Rarely do I get gifts that take so much thought and time. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the things I get for Christmas, but as I get older, I learn more and more to appreciate the ones that take time rather than money. So, I wanted to post Emily's bit of writing because it is something now dear to my heart, and because I feel it is worthy of being posted and shared with anyone who may read.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

All along the horizon dimming
her eyes would follow the path of the sun.
Darkness coming, the insects greeting,
camp is made as day is done.

Her fire chases away the night,
chases the cold, with dancing flames.
Then dying embers, as everything fades
and even she, with sleep, is claimed.

So passes the night, in silence drifting
and dreams and nature hold their own.
With changing pictures of stars and colors,
giving way to light with the coming dawn.

Morning is broken, the path is found,
she sets her course for the day to come.
With gear together, and light of step
a last glance around, and then she's gone.

The forest pulses as the mountain sighs,
the wind carries her breath along.
And miles pass, through God's creation,
miles of trail, where she belongs.

The path continues up the mountain,
the edge of a cliff soon under her feet.
And far below, the expanse of green,
the fantastic view is all she seeks.

Her eyes are filled with a spark of light.
Simply watching, for the longest while,
til eventually the trail is calling,
and she heads back down with a smile.

Rising again?

TJ, this post is for you. I think you are probably the only one who checks this blog anymore, seeing as it has been almost a year since I last posted. I'm not sure when you left that comment, but I appreciated it. Need a swift kick in the pants sometimes.

Anyway, I'm not going to write anything extremely significant tonight, but I wanted to say that it has been on my heart to start blogging again, so sometime I hope to start up again on a regular basis, probably after the holidays. We'll see what happens.

Hope you are well, and looking forward to the Over the Rhine concert! It's funny that my last blog was about the concert and making it an annual occurrence. Here we are, one year later, and keeping to it! And I get to share it with so many more people this time, which is super exciting.

Here's a *hug* to you, TJ, and anyone else who might happen upon my blog after such a long absence. Stay tuned for more bloggalicious updates, hopefully to come in the nearish future.