This is Muir Beach, the start of our Christmas Eve hike along the coast. We brought turkey sandwiches from our local deli. The skies were absolutely cloudless, a drastic change from yesterday, when we were barraged by torrential rains. As expected, the holiday is tense. It always is, for different reasons. I wish we didn't have the red-alert fight last week. The air is still heavy with all of that negativity. Plus, I have the hugest zit on my cheek. I get a really deep one there every three years or so, and I'm in the thick of it. On the bright side, my brother is coming to visit tomorrow. Well, we're not really that close. And increasingly he's been using sappy language that tight-knit movie families might use and it makes me soooo uncomfortable. It's just not me. But I welcome the distraction he'll bring to our household. He'll break the tension a bit, I hope. So, that's where I'm at this Christmas. To quote the famous Christmas song, "[I'll] have to muddle through somehow."—SF

PS: Merry Christmas!