The Magic of the Season

I love the magic of this time of year. I love the light as the sun travels further away from my spot on the planet. I love the added light of the candles lit, be they Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Christmas or just for the fragrance.

I love the magic of the soft light as dusk settles onto a city and the lights pop on. I enjoy having an early meal and then walking into Union Square, San Francisco with the sparkling tree towering over the ice skaters.

 I love the magic of seeing a little girl who looks like a life size doll in her red coat and beret.

 The tiny balloon lady, who twisted and turned colorful balloons into animals, entranced her.

I love the magic of the creative gingerbread villages. One was modeled after the Swiss village the Chef of Lugano Restaurant came from. He spent hours on it and bragged that it was the best one ever.

Every year the Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach build a village. This year they modeled it after the streets of New York. It is so finely detailed it is difficult to reproduce in a picture.

I love the magic of Carmel. The flowers that bloom in the winter.

The dogs

The brilliant fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

 The rock sculptures and the “snowman”on the beach

The pelicans and the gulls in the bird sanctuary

 I love the magic and beauty of Big Sur at any time of year. We spent Saturday afternoon at artist Erin Gafill’s studio at Nepenthe and gazed at the view she wakes up to every day.

 I love the magic and the light of the sun setting on the day of the solstice, the furthest away from the northern hemisphere.

May the world and all in it, have many magic, light filled moments in 2014.