In the spirit of the holidays

This holiday dinner had just the right mix of warmth and intimacy

Last night I got together a few good friends- some old, some new- for a cozy little dinner and gift exchange. When talk turned to Christmas traditions- the New Zealanders talked about Christmases spent on the beach... and those of us from the North hemisphere wondered in our "northcentric" way what parents told their kids about Santa Claus, going down the chimney, the reindeer, and the whole sh-bang. Cartoon images of Santa in a bathing suit and sunglasses, riding waves on a surfboard crossed my mind. All this talk made me nostalgic for all that reminds me of this holiday season:

The excitement felt over the season's first snow
Glimpsing at a single, delicate snowflake
Freshly fallen
Moments before
It melts away
Into my sleeve
The look of
Pristine, freshly fallen snow
Snow-covered evergreens
The warmth and glow felt
By the fireplace at home

Oh and just what is up with eggnog that odd "northcentric" tradition? A mixture of milk, eggs and alcohol you say? And in this age of the bird flu several of us wondered if the eggs in eggnog were pasturized along with the milk. My friend L spotted eggnog on the drink menu and ordered it, so out of curiosity, I also decided to order an "eggnog", which turned out to be some milky looking, watered down, unidentifiable alcoholic beverage served in a shallow champagn glass. Ah yes, Christmas in this here, southern Taiwan is just not the same!