Tradition gives our holidays resonance, while surprise helps us to distinguish one from another.
On Christmas Day Hania and I took a walk around the island. Coming to the river, we saw a circle on the surface of the water and, peering over the side, spotted a manatee. It was swimming up river, sensibly close to the bank. And it was not alone. Following its progress, we saw another adult and then two infants. They swam just beneath the surface, sometimes breaking it with an air-searching snout. We called to the families cooking out by the pool, and everyone came running to see the improbable creatures.
Yesterday I received a card that showed an old photograph of a little girl standing next to a Christmas tree with her new rocking horse. Opening it, I found a picture of my friend Kristen standing in a paddock hugging her horse.
In the afternoon there was a knock at the door. A man from DHL stood in the hall holding a large envelope. I signed for it and brought it inside. Opening it, I found a CD of Sezen Aksu - one of my favorite singers - and scribbled in the top left corner the words: "Greetings from Turkey. Wish you a happy new year! Warmly, Gizem." Gizem was in my class of conversational English last year at Palm Beach State College.
