December 16:  December brings a feeling of finality with the impending year end.  December is probably the best time to meditate, consciously taking time out to reflect and to be thankful.  It’s also an ideal month to re-consider the needs of others:  family, friends, along with those who we do not know but are in need. December can also remind us of the welfare of all living and non-living constituents of our blue-green earth. 

 December 1.0 is the most difficult time of year to resist rampant consumerism, excess eating and drinking for those of us who enjoy more than our share of the world’s material wealth.  Maybe December should be reformed as an environmental season of Lent, a time when we give up some habit that causes more damage than healing to our planet and all its inhabitants.  We could re-designate December1.0 as December 2.0, the time to chart our sustainable paths toward Earth Day on April 22 of the coming year.

 This is the first December that our family hasn’t purchased a Christmas tree!  Sean and Kate harvested our tree from along a roadside in the Tahoe National Forest.  Zahava, Chalyn, Robert and I decorated it the next Saturday.  While it’s not picture perfect, this Western White Pine adds a joyful spirit and a woodsy aroma to our home.  It manifests how we can come together as a family to create warmth and color as winter approaches.  While we call our tree a Christmas tree, some members of our family call it a Channukah Bush.  December is the time of year for everyone, irrespective of belief, ethnicity and gender to reconsider where we have been in 2024 and the direction we should taking in 2025.