I've always been struck (disheartened) by how rarely I see people sitting on porches and balconies in South Florida. (I blame technology.) So imagine my surprise (joy) yesterday evening - one of the coolest of the year - when, riding my bike down Coconut Drive, I spotted a young couple sitting on their front porch.
They were especially noticeable because they were both wearing Santa Claus hats. The man strummed a guitar. A small boy walked out and offered me a candy cane.
"Are you playing Christmas carols?" I asked.
"Yes," the man said. "What's one of your favorites?"
I told him "O Holy Night."
He handed me a Christmas Caroling Songbook. "It's on page 19," he said. If I'd known I was going to sing, I would have chosen an easier carol.
He strummed the guitar, and the three of us sang: me sitting on my bike on the sidewalk next to their porch, they in their droopy red-and-white caps, their son looking up at us with wonder. It was an awkwardly beautiful Christmas moment.
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