December is a dark month here in central Germany. It was a dark month where I grew up, too, in a place that averages about 200 cloudy days a year. But December feels somewhat less dark than November, likely because the Christmas Markets and the special events that take place during Advent make this month seem brighter.

Today is our last day of school before the holidays and the days will grow longer soon.

As a treat, the sun has broken through the clouds more than once in the last week, if just for a few minutes at a time. On two occasions, this delightful happening coincided with a time in which I did not have a lesson, so I pulled on my coat and went straight outside. I stood in the direct path of the rays, tilted my face skyward, and soaked in what my body had desperately missed.

For the past weeks, we’ve been keeping it cozy at home. Our paper star hangs in front of the balcony door in the kitchen and I’ve been burning candles in the living room. I got into the mood to bake earlier this week, a rare thing indeed, just to bask in the scents that would fill the kitchen. Evenings have been spent cuddled under blankets on the couch, drinking tea, reading, watching.

We’ve almost made it to the darkest day of the year.

As I write this, the sun is struggling to show itself through steel-gray clouds that held rain earlier today. I’d prefer it to snow, but the climate here is such that the beginning of December is significantly colder than the middle, and Christmas itself has been remarkably warm each of my years here. I am expecting this to be the case again, but there’s always a wish for a white Christmas. I wanted a white Christmas growing up, regardless of not celebrating, and remember equal numbers of years where it was or wasn’t that way.

Snow is, after all, brighter than rain.

But tonight we’ll meet friends at the Christmas market, drink mulled wine, and enjoy each other’s company. We’ve been there in below-zero temperatures, in the rain, and in a surprise snow flurry, so the rather warm weather of today, leaving the earth smelling more like spring than winter, should round everything out nicely.

The communal warmth of December comes exactly when we need it to, and it’s not a bad thing to come together with others at a dark time.

Happy holidays, happy New Year, and all the best to you and yours.