I prefer to look backwards at the holiday season. This hairy woodpecker is the symbol of all that happens under the title “Holidays”. We travel more, eat more, laugh more, cry more, want more, give more and all this affects the rhythm of our families and our lives.
The reason I like to look backwards is because it give me a better perspective on the hairy holidays. I can remember the good and forget the bad. The task list which is so big late in the year in now finished, forgotten or not applicable any more. I can take a deep breath and believe again.
What bothers me is the energy that is pushing the holidays. I want to believe that it is a spiritual energy, but I think it is consumerism. I want to turn off consumerism and not feel guilty. It is hard.
This gorgeous Hairy Woodpecker helps me remember even something beautiful can peck away at our lives and be destructive. This family friend from my yard gets suet balls to keep him off my wooden swing. He’s back every day with beauty and a little bit of pecking to remind me that everything is not good or bad, just real and inspired by a loving presence.

Happy Post Holidays! I hope your time was full of love and life, crying and laughing and reminds you that family is a gift even as it pecks away.