tradition or rhythm and christmas walks

How long does it take to make a tradition? Is there some sort of parameter, or is it something that just comes to be? By definition, a tradition is something passed down from generation to generation, but how are new ones established? I mean, they have to have a beginning.

That little diatribe to say, my cute man and I have a new Christmas morning rhythm, since tradition might be too strong of a word.

After coffee, breakfast and the Christmas story, we donned our hikers and headed out to walk the trail at Shevlin Park. Others had the same idea as we met families large and small; folks out for a run both with and without furry friends in tow. The mood was congenial with Holiday greetings. I made it my mission to say “Merry Christmas” to everyone we met.

The day was stellar, cold, crisp air, ice crystals sparkling in the late morning sunshine.

The beginning of the trail is enclosed in bare-branched trees that only a couple months ago were ensconced in iridescent golden coins that quaked in the wind. Walking, we chatted – about Christmas, our lives and nature around us. Being outdoors, we have captive audiences in each other; there’s an easiness that we share.

I took my camera to photograph; to photograph the same things I’ve photographed before, hoping for a different slant, a new shadow or downed branch. Familiar places change as the wind blows and time moves on; sunlit paths and fallen logs over the rushing creek, or early winter sunshine peering through icicles and ice build-up in the mash of limbs.

I’m sure I must already have a strangely familiar picture from a Christmas past. For all I know that’s exactly how a new tradition is more or less developed. The familiar is repeated over and again until it becomes tradition.

So, on future Christmas mornings, we’ll don our hikers and head for the trail. The trail may change, the scenery and the people will, but the Christmas morning rhythm, over time, will be our tradition.

Missy

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