'Tis the season

It would be dark soon, the last light of the day caught in the tops of the trees.

For more than a week now the weather had been frigid. Snow covered the ground and ice grew thick on the ponds.

Pheasants flew out of the cattails ahead of the dogs and vanished in the gathering gloom.

Back at the house a wreath graced the front door and a Christmas tree lit up the dining room.

But the melding of the seasons was illustrated most clearly on the buffet where the crèche set sat next to a hand-held GPS hooked up to a charger. The screen read “looking for satellites” and cast a greenish glow on...