Tropical Christmas

Heavy rain falls in the tropics of lusciously green and surprisingly warm South America as my relatives sweat through dances passed down the generations of age-varied cousins meeting every year to celebrate the birth of the savior child and party through the night.

Lovingly wrapped trinkets of adoration

sit in a pile in the center of the room,

labeled with stickers and Sharpie pen. 

Every gift thoughtfully chosen for a 

member of the family, even those who are not often seen in person. 

Thank-you-hugs and kisses on the cheek for the givers of such attentive presents. The clock will move forward, late into the night as the eyelids of small children droop,

overwhelmed with the colorful haul that lays underneath their plastic chair. 

Forested mountains surround the tight knit family

as the guard donkeys bray at the stray dogs that fill the grounds of the estate. Flowers line every walkway

as the youngest are carried back to their bed by their parents, exhausted from smiling and laughing with their beloved aunts and uncles, ready for the next day to arrive now that Christmas Eve is over.