Winter has crept in but not really. It came with a shout, a roar, overnight just before the “Gales of November.” I’ve already wiped out, going up into the air and flat on my back because, of course, I missed, or rather found the black ice under the fresh layer of snow. I got big air and nearly reached flight. Laying on my back with my arms sprawled out, I didn’t exactly see stars, but I did go back in time.
I’m thinking about putting up my white Christmas tree with blue lights soon. The pull of the season is strong. Juliet has been talking about cooking Thanksgiving dinner with her grandma since she left in September for her junior year of college. She’s deep in the halls of creative writing, film production and editing her college newspaper.
On Sunday afternoons we listen to her DJ voice on the radio and get to add new songs to our playlists that now remind us of her. We routinely watch film clips and read stories she’s writing. She loves Halloween and on the weekends that surround it, she plans out different costumes and themes for her alter egos at parties she and her friends attend. After Jen posted a retro-Halloween costume she made for Juliet online, I was struck that Juliet has transformed from a girl with big dreams into a woman with super skills.
I remember sketching the Supergirl symbol out onto a piece of old scrap KMR or Wintergreen red fleece I snagged at a garage sale. I remember Jen creating the cape and the suit and I remember the smile that lit up the room. Arms lifted in flight to soar higher and higher. At that age we couldn’t have known that those blue fleece pantlegs were covering legs that would soon raise her up to six feet tall, but we did know that her little self held super powers.
When Juliet was a baby, she spoke her own language. Because she had an older brother and sister who basically spoke for her, she took longer to adapt to her second language, English. Lucy, four years older than her, understood her made up, native language though and she translated to us. This prolonged Juliet's affinity for words that seemed to originate from another planet (aka Supergirl). To me this has always set her apart and goes hand in hand with her creative spirit. Secretly, I hope to someday learn to understand those conversations she was holding with us in those early months. She’d have to resume the language in order for that to happen, I guess. Or perhaps, someday, I’ll read those plots on her published pages.
The closer we get to Christmas the more I think about one of our favorite movies that we used to watch over and over again together when she was about the age she is in this picture. “A Muppet Christmas Carol” epitomizes the seasons to come and does so with unique creative spirit and vintage, timeless charm. I look forward to watching it again after I pick her up for break and to singing along with Rizzo the Rat.
The coffee is dark and hot, the boots and shovels are out, the weather is going to fluctuate because this is, after all, Minnesota, but the reason for the season and the season itself cannot be denied. Winter is here and while it is cold outside, the warmth in my heart is burning strong. Super strong. Our kids don’t have secret identities, they are free to be super, free to soar.
