Ah, but the spirit is warm

The air is really cold outside the four walls of my house.  It's one of the coldest days of the year. I can hear the sleet falling through my back window and the rain dripping from the patio roof onto the deck below.  The wind from time to time howls through the fireplace damper.  And it is these conditions that make me the most nostalgic.

So I look into the recesses of my mind and pull out the four warmest days I've had in my life, coming from one year.  It seems an eternity away... it seems like tonight.  The scenes are crystal clear, warm, cheerful, and life-giving.

They are such a welcome contrast to this very cold, precipitous night.  They warm my spirit and calm my soul.  What a welcome, comforting, treasured time tonight as the early morning hours creep in carrying their sacred scenes.