A bit of light and color

I'm having a hard time mustering the Christmas spirit this year, for various reasons. Chief among them-- I'm working the whole weekend. The bright side: for the first time ever, we have a real tree

My parents' tree always had white lights, but for as long as I can remember, I have craved the colored kind-- and to my eye, we could probably use one more string:

We also didn't have much in the way of ornaments, but some spray paint, gold twine, and a bag of walnuts fixed that:

I was also lucky enough to draw this guy in the annual knitting group ornament swap:

Courtesy of the lovely and talented Leah

To which I have added my own creation:

My only sweater of 2011!

I may be spending my nights in a fluorescent-lit cave, but each morning and evening I get a few minutes to sit by the tree and soak up some much-needed color and light-- a little hint of the light and color that are getting closer now, if only by a few minutes, each day. And that may be enough.

Merry Christmas.