We awaken to a winter wonderland. Overnight snowfall decorates every rooftop and bare-boughed tree in luscious white. The street and sidewalks lie beneath a blanket of pearl fluff. More snow falls as I turn on Christmas lights in our Dining and Living rooms. However, the sun pierces the veil of gray before midmorning. The street,…

We decorated the apartment for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Winter village, manger and angels atop the mantle, and the Christmas tree—fully decorated—all erected and lit by evening. Is it unusual, then, that Mira and I spent our first day of December taking her sisters to the Met Cloister? brisk afternoon yet still lingering the…