What the Meadowlark Took

Ruminations on a solo Christmas

I woke up alone on Christmas morning. I made coffee, ate an apple, laced up my shoes and started walking. It seemed like the thing to do. I needed to think.

Christmas isn’t often a marker for self-reflection. Most distract themselves with a veneer of merriment, mountains of sugar, buckets of butter, oceans of alcohol and heaps of meat. We gather in group…