Redtree Times

2011

We’re so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past, like ancient stars that have burned out, are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about every day, too many new things we have to learn. New styles, new information, new technology, new terminology … But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone.

― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Touchstones are those memories and recollections by which we judge every new experience in our lives. Each of us have memories that stand out and above other memories of certain days. There are certainly memories of from the Christmas holidays from my past that dwell in me in vivid detail, and color, much more so than some others. There are some that are now barely detectable, remaining only in tiny bits and pieces in black and white, all color drained from them.

Perhaps sometime today you will be able to take a moment to revisit those touchstones from Christmases past that remain with us like ancient artifacts just waiting to reveal their secrets and stories.

Though they are buried beneath the layers of the new, like archaeological treasures, they remain there for us always. And when we extract them from under the vast accumulations of new memories and information, they immediately shine for us, fresh and vibrant and filled with as much meaning for us as when we last inspected them.

Here’s hoping that you have a Christmas morning that might someday become a touchstone for you or someone you love in the future or that you unearth a long-hidden touchstone of your own to inspect and cherish anew.

Here’s a song, Remember (Christmas), from the late great Harry Nilsson that captures this perfectly.