A Winter Carol

That night of the year used to be restless, not because it was cold but because I used to be half asleep listening to the tinkling of happy bells and dreaming of an old man in red coat. His beard as white as the snow through which the rein deers pulled his sledge. The children waving at him merrily as they decorated their snow man. The curious hours of the night would pass rather slowly as I promised God that I'd be more obedient and serious about my studies the coming year. I feared to be left without a present for being a little naughty and mischievous at times.Well, now when I look back it seems like 'once upon a time'. The restlessness got washed out with the splash of new teenage excitements...day outs with friends, evening parties, dinner with someone special and many more. However, being born and brought up in the plain-lands of a tropical country I could never get close to that childhood dream of a snow covered winter.

But I think there is a right time for everything that is worth waiting for. This time the winter itself seemed like a package of best gifts from Santa. It was my first winter in the U.S with the love of my life.The first gift arrived on my birthday as Kansas City greeted its first snow of the season. It was definitely a cherry on the cake as we indulged in KC's famous bar-b-que scene. We were so full that the best option was to sit back and enjoy back to back movies. And so we did. However, to my surprise, the day had more goodies lined up for me. It seemed to be the grand finale to the all day long pampering as I was offered mouth-watering biryani and a decadent birthday cake (both hubby-made) to dig in.


That wasn't the end of 'sweet November'. How could I miss shopping on the Thanksgiving weekend! My closet gladly embraced the stunning evening dresses, coats, and boots. Through the next few weeks I kept myself busy planning our coming holiday. In the midst of all this something unplanned happened. As I woke up that morning and looked out of the window it was all white, starting from our patio till my eyes could reach. The usual rush hours of preparing breakfast, packing lunch ended with bidding goodbye to my hubby as he left for office. The snow could no longer sooth my eyes and the long cold day started to get boring by the hour. But then.. spark.. a brilliant idea.. "let's make a snow man".. I said to myself. In no time I was out on our snow-covered patio crafting a childhood fantasy. I felt so close to my childhood dream and Hurray!! There it was, my cute little snow man.

And finally on the night of December 23rd we flew for Las Vegas and then followed an entire week of madness. One of the best trips of my life.. sin city, night club, tequila shots, on the road, Grand Canyon, California beaches, Hollywood and so on.

Last but definitely not the least, and perhaps the most special gift of this winter was our first wedding anniversary. The dinning experience at Fogo de Chao,  the esteemed Brazilian steakhouse tended by the gaucho chefs, would be a fond memory for life time. Tiffany, our hostess, received us warmly. She even changed the regular round table cards into pretty heart shaped cards(the ones which are be to flipped from red to green as and when you need more meat), when she came to know that we were celebrating our anniversary that day. We were spoilt for choices at the gourmet salad bar and by the variety of cuts of meat. One full year of togetherness seemed like a fairy tale at that moment as I could distinctly remember the day when a eighteen year old girl fell crazily in love with a charming young man.

As I say adieu to this blessed winter it leaves me with new longings taking my soul back home as I miss my parents, friends, picnics, nolen gur, Joynagar er moa, pithe and that restless night of my childhood.