Spreading Christmas Cheer.

: take a christmas card and write something nice inside

: then bake some christmas cookies and wrap them festively (cellophane and paper plates count. also, the same christmas cookie recipe you use for everything all the time also counts)

: hire a cute delivery boy, wagon-pulling abilities preferred

: and make some special deliveries to the people behind those privacy fences. your neighbors.

: we even met neighbors we hadn't met before. their names are john and alice. they fly an american flag and a wwII flag outside on their flagpole every day. cub loves to stop and look at the flags while we take walks. john has a great-grandson named caleb. he patted my caleb on the head.

: i don't know why it took me so long to meet them.

: but i'm glad i did.

(comfort and joy, indeed.)