I wish I had a river so long. . .

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs, even though it's not a traditional carol. I grew up on a lake, and we used to skate on it every winter. The world is a different place from the middle of a frozen lake.

I remember being out there at dusk, my cheeks and fingertips tight with cold, knowing it was probably suppertime but wanting to hold onto a few more minutes. All that ice, all that dark sky running outward and upward. As alone as I could ever be.

Then digging my toe pick into the bumpy lake ice and skating toward the tiny lighted windows of home.