I think it was one of the best activities on our advent calendar so far.
After dinner last night we lit a couple of our DIY glass lanterns, bundled up, and walked around the neighborhood delivering Christmas cards to a few of our neighbors.
It was a great feeling. It was ever so cold. Our little lanterns, with their tiny Ikea tealights, gave off just the right amount of heat to warm our chilled fingers. As we quietly slipped the envelopes into creaky mailboxes, Mark was at home setting up the telescope in the backyard.
We arrived back home to a crystal clear view of a waxing moon, as seen through the eye of our telescope. (It’s a good one, it actually tracks the moon as it moves through the sky.) Each of the girls had a good long look, especially Sarah, who took the whole thing rather seriously.
“I’m going to be there someday,” she said. As she moved away from the telescope, across our backyard moonscape, she did one of those “there’s no gravity” wide-legged walks across the snow.
“I’m on the moon,” she yelled. “I’m on the mooooooon!”
One of the tealights in one of the lanterns had blown out. I held the remaining one in my hands and looked down into the flame. I could smell it burning. The melted wax formed a shiny puddle underneath the wick. The heat from the glass warmed my frozen hands. It felt like a dream.
