Dear Friends,
We have the same complaint this year as last … the days race by too quickly. It seems as if we just took down the tree for 2011 and here it is: the decorations are in place for 2012. (Admittedly, Texans do get started early. And finish early as well; their trees – live or artificial – usually disappear on December 26th. We’re old-fashioned Northerners and aim for January 6th to pack away the holiday visuals.)
And what keeps us “busy” enough to have the days rush by? The same events as every year! Conversations with friends (and dinners, too); discussions with physicians (the usual routine ones, none new – except Karen is scheduling a shoulder-joint replacement in January to accompany her previously renewed knees); her continuing interactions with directees and prayer groups; Pat’s on-going bible study at Eagle’s Trace and his teaching classes at ET and at local parishes (at least he’s given up preaching at Christ the Good Shepherd and confines himself to less strenuous participation as a deacon there); and both of us attending as few “meetings” as possible in our active retirement community.
We also managed another foreign trip and have the edited results for showing on the ET video channel. In May we relaxed on another river cruise. This time, from Moscow to St. Petersburg … both of which are friendly, interesting cities to visit. We admit that there are few towns to visit during the 1000 mile trip in between; but the trees and tranquility of the Volga do offer their own rewards. Karen finally was able to stand and contemplate her favorite painting: Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son” exhibited in the Hermitage, a magnificent site on its own.
Our extended family appears to be as engaged in life as we, ourselves, are. Deb (or Cammie) and Frank Brantley continue their first-year status as newly-weds in San Antonio – she as manager of a SA branch library; he as an instructor of mathematics in a SA college. Ken and Tracey continue work (he as a salaried “senior technical writer” with United Recovery Systems and both as un-salaried parents and/or home-school teachers of Christina, Thomas, Victoria, Olivia, Damien, Joseph and Gabriel.) Jordan attends Blinn College in Bryan, TX and Dillon at Houston’s Lone Star Community College – in preparation for being physical Aggies and not merely spiritual ones. Their cousins are non-Aggies with Kirby in her third year at The University of Texas in Austin and Kennedy in her first year at Texas State University in San Marcos. This would leave Chris and Kelly as “empty nesters;” but with each other and with his work as an Assistant Principle (The Woodlands High School) and hers as a math teacher (Klein Oak High School), this is not a problem for them.
We’re continuing our “new tradition” and Karen’s Christmas poem is included in lieu of a commercial card. And so we conclude, as in letters past, “The Camerinos send our best/ With love and joy and all the rest.” May 2013 be less hectic and more peaceful than the private and public events of 2012.
Epiphany
Night sounds invade my world:
The squeak of the saddle,
The rhythmic ‘plop-plop’ of the camels’ feet,
The chuff of their breathing as they pace on endless sand.
The rocking motion should have brought me sleep,
But on this night sleep does not come.
The star is so close it seems I could reach out and touch it.
Such a star! I have never seen another like it.
The others are awake too.
I sense their awareness, their excitement,
Though none of us has spoken.
We have traveled far, together and apart –
Searching, seeking, following this star.
Suddenly – almost at the same instant – we pause.
The star has paused too.
It hangs in the sky, lighting our way – to what?
Surely not a king.
A stable stands before us,
Lit by the star and by a glow from within.
Silently, we bid the camels to kneel.
Gathering our gifts, we enter, not sure of what we will find.
Amid the animal sounds of sheep and oxen,
A family is seated on the ground.
Mother, father and newborn child lift their eyes to look upon us.
There is no fright, no awe, no annoyance.
It is almost as if we are expected.
I find myself kneeling in the straw –
Heedless of my fine robes or my station.
Wordlessly, I extend the gold I bear,
Sure in my heart that here indeed is the long-awaited king.
Karen Camerino
2012