As old as the hills.
As fresh as the dew.
As sure as the sun rises and sets, light and darkness engage in an eternal struggle. 
This time of the year, when its seems nighttime might last forever, we find ways to beat back the darkness.
Always have. Always will.
Just outside our door.
In our homes.
…and in our hearts.
With music…
…friends and family…
…stories…
…and more stories.
Parties help.
So does chocolate.
Sweetness of any kind, really.
And a sense of adventure, even if it’s just in your own mind.
When in doubt, add an extra pinch of spice.
May the New Year bring you fun and adventure, sweetness and spice.
All words and images ©2015 Naomi Baltuck.
Click here for more interpretations of The Weekly Photo Theme: Now.
Click here for more interpretations of The Weekly Travel Theme: Spice.
Zaphod from Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, T’Pau the Queen Bitch of Vulcan from Classic Trek episode Amok Time, and Doc Brown from Back to the Future. When Back to the Future was made in 1985, the distant future to which Doc travels is set in the year 2015! Yikes! If you think three weeks goes fast, see how fast three decades will sneak up on you.
The whole town turns out for Gallery Walk. Every shop and gallery in town serves refreshments and features local artists. People come out in droves, wearing their sequins and snowboots. 
I popped over to Annie Kaill’s and saw my sister’s painting, Holiday House, in the front window of the shop. This festive painting was on loan to the gallery from its owners. Someone I talked to said he overheard people praising the painting in St. Petersberg! My favorite art tells a story, and this one tells a story I know. Constance painted it as a gift for her neighbors Jeff and Terry. Look closely and you can see Jeff in his brown overalls on a ladder, putting up his Christmas lights. 
Jeff is the kind of neighbor every neighborhood wants and needs, but few are fortunate enough to have. When he mows his own lawn, he also cuts the grass of an elderly neighbor. If Constance comes home and finds her driveway shoveled, she can guess who did it. Constance met him for the first time decades ago, when she bought a sandbox for her kids out in the valley and it wouldn’t fit in her car. She recognized him and, not knowing what else to do, asked a stranger’s help transporting it in his pickup. It was all set up in her yard when she got home. On our visit to Juneau last summer he heard that my son Eli was interested in fishing, and offered to take him out on his boat. Jeff helped Eli land a thirty pound king salmon. It was the highlight of his trip–all of ours, really, because eight of us ate fresh King salmon every night and there was still some to share with the neighbors. 
Every year Jeff spends the weeks preceding Christmas putting up tens of thousands of lights on his house, and at least a dozen Santas and snowmen. His electric bill spikes each December, but the people of Juneau count on him to put some serious twinkle into their holiday. 
Some people save their treasures for heaven, but I think there’s a twinkle light shining on his house for each kindness Jeff has paid to others. They add up, all those little lights, and push back the darkness for us all.
Writing Between the Lines 