After Christmas

We are now entering my favorite time of year, which lasts from maybe a couple days from now until about the middle of next November – in other words, that ever shrinking portion of the year which is not Christmas.
Not to bitch and moan too much – most people in my family like Christmas just fine, and they are entitled to a month, I suppose, but I’m always glad when it’s over and we can get back to normal.
My wife and I went for a nice long walk down country roads this afternoon. Her fit bit said 5 kilometers, but I’d swear it was closer to twenty. We wandered through silent villages and I was daydreaming about what it would be like if there had actually been an apocalyptic event and all the other people were gone.
It’s generally a very pleasant daydream, and I enjoy books and movies with that theme, but the reality, of course, would be different. First of all, if almost all of the people in the world were to suddenly cease to exist, chances are that I, or you, or whoever is contemplating this, would be among the dead rather than the living. You can’t win.
One very nice thing about it was being outdoors and not wearing a mask. It was an off and on drizzly afternoon, almost snowing at one point, and you could see for miles and miles across the winter fields. It just felt good to breathe.