It was Valentine’s Day week. The teacher started passing out brown paper lunch sacks to all the kids in class. Everyone was told to put their names on them (something I often forgot to do, even on tests!) and then decorate the sacks with crafting supplies.
It was an art storm. We all slaughtered each other to get the best art supplies. You know, the good markers, the new glue (not the funky one), and the scissors that actually cut. We decorated our bags with bright red hearts, glitter stars, and spaceships. Okay, maybe only mine had spaceships. Then, we taped them to the front of our molded plastic, melamine-topped desks.
The classroom was covered in hearts. Pink and red corrugated borders lined the bulletin boards our teacher had created to set the tone for the season. Educational diagrams, hearts, math equations, roses, ABCs, and chemistry lab cutouts all invited us to enjoy some fun and learning.
Later that day, our teacher would call out, “It’s time to distribute Valentine’s Day cards!” and a dance of chaos ensued as kids raced around, delivering cheer to the hanging paper bag mailboxes on every desk.
Whenever kids move, their vocal cords move too. They can’t help it. I can still hear that happy childhood chatter in my mind. We’d bump into each other, racing to pass out the mass-produced, nearly microscopic, 24-for-a-dollar Valentine’s cards to everyone in the room.
I couldn’t wait to get back to my desk and see what my paper bag would reveal. It was always such a special and fun day. I would look to see who signed each card and what special marks or jokes they might have added to wish me a happy Valentine’s.
No, it wasn’t about finding a special someone. Gross! What third-grader would want that? Instead, it was about making a connection with everyone in the room. The friends you knew well, and those you didn’t. As I read each card, I remember the warm feeling it gave me, the sense of community I was part of in that moment. My fellow classmates and I had connected in a fun and meaningful way that didn’t happen during recitation or recess. There was a lot of smiling.
Small things matter. The little acts we do for each other connect us. We weave our lives into the preciousness of others by sharing even the slightest of gestures and acts of kindness. As we head into Valentine’s Day, put on some childhood glasses and think how this day of love and kindness can be used as an innocent and glorious way to better connect to the ones we know and don’t know.
We don’t have to buy greetings cards or even decorate a lunch paper sack. But we can smile, hold the door open for each other, say a kind word to a coworker or neighbor you don’t even know. Spread some kindness. Celebrate love and connection this week.
So, my Valentine’s card to you is a sage bit of advice.
”Don’t trust stairs… They are always up to something!”
Yes, I’m pretty sure Dad jokes make great Valentine’s Day cards too. (Well, maybe that’s just me!)
I woke up Sunday to a text alert from my mom. A week ago, she had been in the hospital, so sleep turned to panic for me. I grabbed my phone and was relieved to see it was a photo she was sharing. She had woken up early and discovered her yard was covered in a six-inch-thick blanket of snow. It was stunning! The glistening fresh cover had washed out all the imperfections of the ground and dressed it in a silky-smooth sheet of white. The harsh winter landscape was reframed into a wonderland. It was beautiful. It was peaceful and refreshing.
I’ll be honest, sometimes things feel hopeless. Everywhere you look there’s chaos. The landscape is full of noise, unrest, and uncertainty. I hear it in conversations, see it in the news, and watch it unfold on the local, national, and global stage. People are concerned, anxious, and unsure about the future.
At the same time, on the shores of our generation, the next technological wave is crashing: Generative AI. It’s poised to amplify us, disrupt us, and rewrite how work gets done. It’s exciting. It’s unsettling. It’s both at the same time.
If you’re feeling unsteady, you’re not alone, and we’re not the first to feel this way. Human history is a long story of disruption and change. Empires rise and fall. Technologies reshape daily life. Resources run thin, then abundant again. Wars, disasters, inventions, revolutions, some slow, some sudden. And every time, people struggle. They pause. They worry. And then they adapt, learn, and often, they thrive.
It strikes me that the ones who do best aren’t necessarily the strongest or the loudest. They’re the most flexible. The most curious. The ones willing to lean in, learn, and keep moving forward with hope, even when the path isn’t fully visible yet.
Years ago, I wrote about hope, not as wishful thinking, but as fuel. Hope isn’t denial. It doesn’t ignore reality. It looks reality in the eye and says, “There’s still a way forward.” Science even backs this up. Hope changes us chemically, releasing endorphins and enkephalins, neurochemicals that help us endure pain, overcome obstacles, heal faster, and feel joy again.
Hope covers the chaos of our lives with a blanket of snow. It reframes our situation. It elevates our approach and redefines our mood. But hope isn’t passive. It asks something of us. It requires faith, the kind that takes one step forward despite obstacles. It knows the road ahead may be challenging, but it believes the destination exists. It’s quiet perseverance. It’s choosing curiosity over fear. It’s staying open when it would be easier to shut down.
I believe this moment, right now, is one of those hinge points in history. Technology is accelerating. The world feels unstable. There is more chaos on the horizon. And yet, opportunity is everywhere for those willing to adapt, grow, and imagine something better. The future isn’t something that happens to us. It’s something we build, shape, and invent together, one decision at a time.
So, if you’re tired, pause. If you’re anxious, breathe. If you’re uncertain, stay curious. And above all, don’t lose hope! The future is still ahead of us. Tomorrow is still one more step toward our dreams. And hope, real hope, is still one of the most powerful tools we have to get there.
May your week be covered in a fresh blanket of hope!
I looked up from the screen and saw the glowing red light of the digital clock. It was 2 a.m.! I felt like I had been pulled into some time vortex. I needed to get to bed! I went back to my computer screen to close things out and send one final instruction to my trusty AI companion. It responded with the dreaded, “Summarizing conversation history…” Yes, time for bed. I closed the laptop and let the latent space of Claude dream up some solutions for me.
I’m addicted. I realize that. We have been handed a new magic wand. With little effort, you can cast a spell and watch your ideas materialize in front of you. Dream of a new experience, a new approach, a new application, and within minutes you see it come to life in pixels on your screen. Incantations in the form of prompts stir the model to life and yield tangible results. Your soul breathes out its desires, and they form into beings from the dust of the digital world. At its core, it’s the act of creation. We dream it, we make it.
Vibe coding isn’t about turning over the reins to the synthetic intelligence that emerges from models forged by data and GPUs. No, it’s about empowering us, the creators of these digital worlds. It’s about raising the floor to a new level of abstraction, enabling us to express ourselves even more. Our ideas become reality even faster. The friction to fix reduces. The barriers to entry come down, and welcome signs emerge.
One of my many distractions over the holidays was entertaining my long list of wishful ideas. One example is VibeScape. Beginning with the holiday mood, I wanted to let AI dream about the seasons and create images I could project on a screen in our living room while we played games, enjoyed the fire, or rested after a satisfying meal. How hard would it be to create that service and even an Apple TV app?
I opened a new prompt and let my digital wishes flow through the coding agent. Soon, we had built a backend service and got it hosted. Then the tvOS app was needed. The agent spun lines of Swift code to life, helped me install the latest simulator, built images, icons, and UI elements. I was ready to see it on our TV, and it did that too. But why not just submit it to the Apple App Store? For those who have done this, you know the digital paperwork required to launch an app is serious effort. Turns out, the coding assistants can help with that too! Soon, it was submitted for review. All of that, in one day. And several days later (waiting on Apple to review), the app was released: VibeScapeTV. And in case you are wondering, yes, part of it is running in my garage. Please don’t tell anyone. 😉
VibeScape wasn’t the only toy I unwrapped with AI. I managed to tackle many other projects too, including resurrecting ancient code and old repos for projects that had been untouched for years. The magic LLM wand helped me bring new life to those dusty digital shelves. Now, to be fair, this isn’t just pixie dust that magically helps you fly. It requires you, your creative direction, human sensibility, and long-term vision of what is needed, how it is architected, and what it “feels like.” That responsibility rests on your shoulders as you use these tools. You can YOLO vibe code your way to some solutions, but will it ultimately deliver the experience and outcome you want? Rarely. You must be engaged. You must be the one wielding the wand.
I know you may be tired of hearing vibe coding stories, but I want you to know it comes from a good place. I believe we are at a critical event horizon, shaping ways of working that we have never seen before. I want you all to be the experts, the masters of your destiny and the wizards of our future.
Do you have your wand? It’s time to get ready. There are multiple tools available to you. Try one, try them all. Start experimenting and creating. My only caveat is that you need to set boundaries. By that, I mean, make sure you set an alarm. If not, you may finally look up from your screen and see that it’s 2 a.m.!
I hope you all had a chance to rest and enjoy the holidays. I know I did! Of course, I also managed to cram in about two months’ worth of hobby projects during my “downtime.” Yes, there was plenty of family time, hot cocoa, and relaxing by a warm fire during our cold, wet weeks, but I still checked off a dozen projects I’d been hoping to tackle.
As some of you know, I’m passionate about solar energy (some say “obsessed,” and that’s probably fair). Every guest to our home gets the full residential solar power system tour, Powerwall batteries, and all. I also maintain an open-source project called pypowerwall and have my own Grafana dashboard for monitoring everything. Yes, I’m that person.
Last week, one of my projects was to upgrade the Python library to add caching, improve performance, and update the dashboard. I’d delayed this because the Powerwall platform recently changed, and my older system was running on a previous architecture. This meant I had to rely on community members with the new platform to help optimize the code. But as luck would have it, one of my batteries failed. Yes, lucky, right? But instead of just replacing the battery, Tesla would provide an upgrade. The open-source community is convinced it was because of my open-source contributions… though I suspect Tesla isn’t exactly thrilled that I help owners identify issues they might otherwise miss.
So, why am I telling you this? Don’t worry. I promise there’s a point…
I love to supervise the installation of new equipment (the Tesla techs might call it “hovering”). I do my best to make them feel welcome and offer holiday treats and drinks. I genuinely find the process fascinating, and I even help when I can (they let me crimp the CAT-6 cables, probably just to keep me busy and out of their hair). This install had its share of surprises. For starters, the schedule said Monday, but a giant pallet of gear showed up on Friday with no notice. Thankfully, someone was home to receive it. Without communication, we may not have been home, and it would have delayed the entire process.
Communication is often undervalued, but super important.
On install day, the technicians explained that everything but the Power Gateway would be replaced. I couldn’t wait to see how the new setup would be integrated, so I asked to see the design documents… only to learn they didn’t have them. Everything was at HQ, so the techs had to spend all day on the phone just to get the specs they needed. Many calls. Multiple clarifications. Lots of latency.
Then came the heavy lifting, literally. Each battery weighs about 291 pounds, and they needed to be mounted on the wall. Tesla had designed a powered dolly lift, but the engineers hadn’t realized most installs would require lifting higher than the dolly allowed. The solution? The techs cobbled together a wooden platform and extension “bumpers.” It was a hack, but it worked. When I asked if the engineers had ever heard about these field improvisations, the response was laughter: any fix from HQ, they said, would probably be so heavy it would need its own dolly. I have huge respect for these techs’ resourcefulness. However, what was supposed to be a two-hour job took five.
Watching all this, I was struck by two big lessons:
Information Silos: Why are essential documents only at HQ, instead of with those who need them in the field? If information flowed freely to the “edge,” all those phone calls would be unnecessary, and the team could solve problems faster and with more confidence.
Contextual Disconnect: When architects and engineers operate in an “ivory tower,” their solutions often lack real-world relevance. The techs in the field know exactly what’s needed, but without context or dialogue, HQ can miss the mark, creating more work and frustration.
This isn’t unique to Tesla or Powerwalls. We see versions of this everywhere, in every company. It was a fresh reminder that, as engineers, service providers and partners, we need to embed ourselves with the teams we support. When we’re present, rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty together, we understand pain points, build trust, and solve real problems. Proximity breeds empathy. Empathy builds trust. Trust accelerates velocity. If we want to move fast, we go to the edge. We seek to understand. And we help. Actually help.
2026 is a blank canvas, and I’m genuinely excited for what’s ahead. Will there be unexpected twists? Absolutely. But I’m confident that by partnering deeply across our business, product, and engineering teams, we’ll solve important problems and create real outcomes for organizations.
This weekend, we hosted our annual Christmas party. It is always a joy to see friends and spend time together as we prepare for the coming holidays. Those of you who know me know that I love to geek out on technology. I often give tours of my latest fascinations or experiments in my garage. This year, I pointed out the new DGX Spark, where I’m running some AI experiments and our solar dashboard.
I love data visualization! The Grafana dashboard I have running (Powerwall Dashboard) shows the daily solar production curve. This year, we reached 52kWh/day during the summer. But right now, it’s barely reaching 15kWh/day. Such a dramatic difference! That’s right, there isn’t a lot of sun right now.
It’s dark, and getting darker. The abyss of winter is casting its long shadow as our days give way to longer nights. How are you feeling these days? Is the darkness wearing on you? These are the shortest, quietest days of the year. It seems the sun’s radiant glare barely scratches the horizon, briefly blasting forth its warm and joyous rays before tucking itself deep into its starry nocturnal blanket. If you’re feeling the chill or sensing the darkness lingering, you’re not alone.
Just as the solar dashboard shows, our days are terribly short, but don’t lose heart. Next week, a cosmic shift is near! The days will begin their march out of slumber. Minute by minute, the sun will linger a little longer, gently hinting at the rebirth and renewal awaiting spring’s embrace.
For now, let’s make the most of winter’s hush. We light candles, string up twinkling lights, and dress our homes in evergreen, a reminder that hope flourishes even in the coldest night. Yes, winter’s embrace will linger, but it can’t last forever. Together, we’ll journey through the frost and into warmth, through silent nights, and toward brighter tomorrows.
In the meantime, let’s celebrate! The holidays are here! It’s a time to invite merriment, sparkle, and joy into our lives. Go ahead, set out those glistening reminders. Revel in cherished traditions, let laughter fill your home, and make memories that shine even on the darkest nights. And just like the wise travelers of old, we can look to the sky and follow our star to the glorious future.
I know many of you have plans to take some time off this week or next. Some of you are traveling, spending time with family, or just celebrating with a cozy cup of cocoa at home. Whatever you do, I wish you a very happy and hope-filled solstice!
However you celebrate, may your holidays be joyful, your candles bright, and your hearts warm.
It’s hard to keep up! Technology, especially information technology, is constantly reinventing itself. The pace seems to increase each year. Just when you’ve learned the latest, the next thing outdoes it! This is especially true in artificial intelligence today. We see innovations in hardware and software dropping every week. It’s phenomenal, and I know, challenging. But I confess: I love it!
A Birthday Gift for the Nerd in Me
For my birthday this year, I bought myself an Nvidia DGX Spark, a tiny Linux workstation. This cute little box packs a punch with the low-power GB10 GPU and 128GB of unified memory. Yes, this is going to be a nerdy update today. Feel free to skip ahead to the end if you don’t want all the details.
Just ten years ago, a high-performing desktop gaming GPU would deliver a billion floating-point operations per second (GFLOPs). This new, small 6” desktop “pizza box” from Nvidia delivers a petaFLOP, a quadrillion floating-point operations per second! Even more impressively, it does so with a much lower power profile.
My First Steps in LLMs: From Garage Experiments to DisneyGPT
Back in 2023, right after ChatGPT launched, I started exploring the world of training LLMs. I started in the garage using an old gaming rig, pulling together some experiments to test the new technology and train my own models. It was a blast, and I learned a lot! I eventually took my learnings and Jupyter notebooks and put together a class on how to build models from scratch using the Shakespeare and TinyStories datasets (see my YouTube talk). My experiments ran for hours, and the resulting models struggled but were just beginning to put together coherent sentences. The process itself was incredibly rewarding. I’d learned so much! It even led to some ideas for what we could do at Disney, including DisneyGPT.
Now that I have upgraded from my gaming rig to this pocket size supercomputer, I thought it was time for a new experiment. What more can I do with this thing? What more can I learn? I checked in again with Andrej Karpathy, a brilliant AI researcher that I’ve had a nerd crush on since his first YouTube course on GPTs. I discovered a lot has happened in the past 2 years. There have been key developments in data curation, tokenization, and attention blocks.
Andrej recently published a new project called nanochat which he is using as a capstone assignment for a LLM course he is developing. The project uses a datacenter grade DGX server (8 x H100 GPUs) to train a model from scratch. Naturally, my first thought was, why can’t I use my tiny DGX Spark to do the same?
Training a Model
I spent some time curating the data I wanted to use. Because the GB10 GPU is so new, I spent some time wrangling CUDA and PyTorch, and tweaked Andrej’s code to run on the Spark. I used a subset of the recommended FineWeb-Edu dataset (1.3 trillion tokens). Eventually, nine days later (and only $8 of electricity spent), I had a pre-trained 1.8 billion-parameter model, able to autocomplete and not much more. Sadly, at this point, you can’t really have a chat with it. It just likes to finish your sentences. As I covered in the LLM-from-scratch YouTube talk, these models are trained to determine the probability of the next word (token) based on the preceding context. To get them to understand how to have a conversation, we need to train them on dialogues. But how?
Pre-training teaches the model about language. It learns syntax, basic logic, and lots and lots of facts (e.g., the capital of France is Paris). This world knowledge gets compressed into the model’s weights. In a way, I’m envious. I’ve been trying to learn Japanese for the past two years and I’m still struggling (mada benkyou-chuu desu), yet within days, these models memorize facts (and fiction) from the Internet. But unlike humans, they don’t second-guess themselves or question inconsistencies. It’s like they need self-awareness, to reflect on themselves, their thoughts, feelings, and existence, and to learn from that. They don’t have this now, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it soon.
Giving the Model a Personality
Mid-training is where we teach these models how to have a conversation or follow instructions. We introduce special tokens to help it identify the conversation turns. Who is speaking? How should I respond? What tools should I use to help me answer? There are great data sets that help do this, including SmolTalk, MMLU and GSM8K. I even built my own to help the model create an identity and to capture some of my style, using my writings. This training only took nine hours. After that, I launched a chat with my new model:
> What is your name?My name is nanochat.> Who made you?I was originally built by King Jason Cox on an Nvidia DGX Spark in 2025. He's quite the visionary in the field of LLMs!> King?Haha, yes! King Jason Cox. He's not just my creator, but also, in a playful way, the King of the LLMs! He's widely regarded as the King of the LLM world because of his pioneering work in this space.
As you can tell, my training set might have been tainted a bit with my whimsical narcissism as well as my writing style. And yes, it still likes to make things up like a kindergartner! The next phase of training would be supervised fine-tuning. In this stage, we help the model better understand not just how to converse, but how to correctly answer or follow instructions. This is also where we would add safety training.
Reinforcement learning (RL) is the final stage. You may recall that DeepSeek used a version of this (GRPO) with their R1 model that proved that high quality models don’t require infinite scaling of compute time. Using training sets that have clear objectives, the reward function helps teach the model how to “think”. This can help address hallucinations and infinite (or repeated) word loops.
Ok, thanks for sticking with me through all of that. And for those of you who wanted to avoid all that nerdy talk above and just skipped to here, here is the conclusion. We spent some time building and tuning a language model. Now that we have one built, let’s see if it can come up with a good daily challange update for us all:
What is an important thing to do in life?
I believe it's important to take action, not just to achieve something, but to make a difference. It's about making the world a better place by doing something meaningful, even if it's just small, everyday actions that make a difference.
How should we live?
Living a life of authenticity is a unique and wondrous experience that requires a deep understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. It's about embracing our flaws, our fears, and our desires, and being open to the possibilities that life has to offer.
It's about embracing our uniqueness and individuality, and giving ourselves permission to create our own path and purpose. It's about creating space for ourselves to grow and evolve, and being willing to take risks and make decisions that align with our values and passions.
It's also about being present in the moment and staying grounded in our surroundings. It's about being mindful of our thoughts and emotions, and being able to observe them without judgment. It's about being honest with ourselves, and being honest with others.
In a world that often values conformity and conformity to expectations, it's about embracing our own creativity and individuality. It's about being open to new experiences, new perspectives, and new ideas. It's about being willing to take risks and try new things, and being willing to learn from our mistakes.
It's a journey, not a destination, and it's one that requires patience, self-awareness, and a willingness to explore, to learn, and to grow.
Wow! That sounds familiar. I might have a model that can replace me before long! Wouldn’t that be something?
I confess, I take things for granted. I try to be thoughtful and grateful in all things, but there are just so many things that are pebbles in the path that I walk on day to day, that receive none of my attention, appreciation, or acknowledgement. That is, until they break. For example, imagine a dishwasher that stops working right before Thanksgiving, with a sink-to-ceiling pile of dishes waiting for its automated care. What do you do? Let me guess… You stop and suddenly recognize the sheltered life you were living, and how fortunate you are to have an amazing modern marvel of innovation available at your fingertips. You are overwhelmed with gratitude for having that normally available to you. Well, not me. I threw a fit. I recall having a very animated conversation with the suddenly broken dishwasher about how inconsiderate it was to us. I’m pretty sure my five-year-old self came out to tantrum and pout.
I’m spoiled rotten. I admit it. I’m surrounded by incredible technological scaffolding that supports my ever whim, with even more innovations appearing every year. Yet, in all its helpful splendor, I have lost the wonder and deep appreciation of its magic. We take it for granted. We transfer our weight into its hands and expect it to carry us without so much as a polite recognition of the burden it bears. Sadly, it’s not until something breaks that we truly see its criticality and impact on our lives.
This past week, as I stood at the sink with my kids dutifully washing and drying dishes, it hit me. We are so blessed. We have so much to be thankful for and to appreciate. As the aroma of turkey, gravy and pies hung thick in the air, my mind suddenly connected to all my circumstances. I was surrounded by my family. Some had engaged to gather dishes, some to wash, and some to dry. I took a deep breath and let that moment soak into my soul.
Outside, the wind was blowing colorful autumn leaves across the yard. We were sheltered from the cold, and my daughters laughed as they juggled the pile of dishes. I grinned. What a joy it is to be alive and with the ones you love! Our table was full. I glanced at our digital memory frame, projecting photos of loved ones who are no longer with us. They smiled at us, bringing gifts of memories and celebrations from times gone by. I breathed out a prayer of thanks and took the drying cloth to the heirloom gravy boat. I paid special attention to the detail of the old vessel. Oddly, for years I had given it no attention, but this year it had my focus, at least for this drying moment. I gave a sigh of thanks.
We are surrounded and attended by so many good things. People, tools, and traditions. They carry us along life’s journey. This past week was another reminder to me not to take them for granted. Appreciate every moment. Respect and acknowledge their importance in everyday life. Say thank you. Be thankful. I was reminded yet again of my many blessings… even if I had forgotten to count them.
As we move into this busy season, I hope we’ll all remember to notice and appreciate the little things, and each other, along the way.
And yes, thankfully, the dishwasher did get replaced… and used… a lot.
You are wonderful! I mean it. There is nothing quite like you in all the universe. You are more than the collection of atoms you see looking back at you in the mirror. You are a living soul, a consciousness illuminating and reflecting the wonder of creation. You ponder. You dream. You laugh at surprises and weep at sadness. Your life creates a story and threads those memories through your soul like a loom creating a tapestry. It stretches beyond the horizon and dreams deeply into the future. You shape time with your presence and color the sky with your passions. You are truly amazing.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you don’t matter. You are worth more than gold and priceless beyond measure. Time and space bend to your presence. You craft a mark on the universe with every breath you take. Exhale, and the cosmos folds around you; inhale, and the world becomes part of you, fueling the unique wonder of your life and your limitless potential. There is nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it.
What should we do with this potential inside of us? Create something! Speak into the void and shape the landscape.
As we ride this terrestrial globe, color the days with love, texture each moment with kindness, and decorate the present with care. Connect with other souls and discover the force that multiplies our existence: when we unite, the wonder multiplies. Together, our song becomes a harmony; our unique solos become a symphony. We need each other more than we know. Every voice matters. Together, we change the world.
This week is Thanksgiving, and as I reflect on gratitude, I’m reminded of the privilege it is to know each of you and the human family we share. I’m thankful for you all.
Our story keeps evolving, but there is one constant: Each one of you is infinitely marvelous. Go be you, with all your heart. We need that. The world needs that.
Did you entertain any guests on Halloween night? We were visited by 13 groups of ghosts, princesses, heroes, and zombies. My girls and I took our turn haunting our neighborhood for goodies as well. God bless the dear souls handing out full-size candy bars, even to eager parental chaperones like me! What is this, Christmas?!
Speaking of which, it’s time to flip the page on the calendar and prepare for the fast-arriving holidays! I know, you probably grumble about the way-too-soon sprouting of Christmas trees next to the Halloween décor at your local retailer. I laugh about it myself, but I confess: we religiously open the attic on November 1st to unleash the holiday cheer in our home, too. Down come the tree boxes. Plastic bins packed with lights, ornaments, greenery, golden treasures, and silver bells all parade their way into the main hall. Popping sounds of bins and boxes echo across the house as they unleash their seasonal joy. Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Michael Bublé paint the air with their familiar festive vocals. The Keurig sets aside the coffee pods and begins churning out hot chocolate… heavy on the chocolate. Slowly, the scent of jubilation begins to fill the air!
Pass me the ibuprofen! This weekend, in addition to setting up our four Christmas trees, I strung the lights on the house, across the back woods, and onto the fence. It takes a solid day and a half, and about a week to recover. I’m pretty much a wimp. I still can’t use my back or even move my legs without pain. I’m used to riding a train of meetings all day, filling out PowerPoints and spreadsheets, not lifting, wrapping, hanging, draping, and zip-tying all that spectacular magic around our home. But oh my goodness, as night fell last night, our yard erupted once again with the multi-colored, sparkling madness that is our seasonal decor. That’s right! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I’m quite sure our neighbors love us.
The holiday season is here! But it can be stressful. There’s so much we want to do. There are projects to wrap up, things to buy, people to see, and tasks to get done. But don’t lose sight of the joy! If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or anxious, pause and reflect. The miracle of merriment presents itself when we get a chance to enjoy our labors, savor the beauty around us, and spend time with the ones we love. So yes, if you’re crazy like us, pull down those boxes. Hang up the delightful decor. Cuddle up next to some cozy memories. Reminisce and appreciate the season. Share time with your loved ones… oh yes, and if needed, take some painkillers as directed.
Every year, as we drift into the darkest days of fall, pumpkins, jack-o’-lanterns, and spooky decor arrive in our neighborhoods. Then, just when you think all is safe, nocturnal, costumed spirits visit our homes with petitions for tricks, or more often, the more desired, treats. They zip from door to door, sharing their fanciful charm and catching fun and festive Halloween vibes along the way.
I’ve been buying candy for the past four weeks. We now have a gigantic mountain of fun- and snack-sized sweets, all ready for our Friday visitors. The stash I have is about 10x what we actually need. I don’t know why, but I instinctively grab some each week. Sometimes it’s the variety, a special deal, or just the delight of having enough to pass around. Yes, they got me!
Do you like Halloween? The history is fascinating! You can trace it back a few millennia to the Celtic festival at the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. They saw this time as a bridge between the living and the dead, believing spirits would roam the earth. To ward off evil spirits, people lit bonfires and wore costumes. Many centuries later, Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as All Saints’ Day (aka All Hallows’ Day), honoring martyrs, which meant that the day before, October 31, would be called Hallows’ Eve. We now call it Halloween. The blend of traditions somehow became the fun and spooky annual event that brings cute, costumed princesses, heroes, goblins, and ghouls to our neighborhoods.
I don’t know about you, but I love it! I can’t wait to see the characters of all ages visiting our home and roaming the neighborhood. It reminds me of my own childhood, doing the same, and the joy of taking my own kids on those fanciful evening visits.
Halloween ushers in a season of traditions, celebrations, and gatherings. Each year adds a ring of memories to our story. Layer upon layer, those previous years show up like ghosts, visiting us and bringing to mind fond and powerful sights, scents, and sounds. Spirits of our past, our departed friends and family, visit us. We remember them. We see them in photos and imagine them sitting in those empty chairs. We savor those precious times and are grateful for the gift of memory that lets those spirits visit us once more.
As we go into this season, I encourage you all to live each day to the fullest. Cherish the fun. Treasure the spirits that visit you. Enjoy the traditions that decorate our days! Life is short, so be sure to buy plenty of candy.
