Post-Christmas Reindeer, The Stairs, Bowling in the Desert

This is a post-Christmas reindeer, recovering from
the Trip and reflecting on a night of teamwork
and good cheer!

Christmas Future, Christmas Past

I've always been slightly haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Future from the Christmas Carol(s) I watched when I was young. The creepy faceless hooded reaper figure, pointing its wan bony finger towards Ebenezer's grave filled me with a certain kind of dread it's not easy to escape.
There is always one of these reapers at work in our lives, I guess, but it gets mitigated by so many other joys and distractions.

This year I researched the history of Christmas and found out that the Evergreen tree was originally part of the Norse winter solstice festival for its ability to survive through winter. It symbolized hope that the people would also find a way to live through the winter.