Holiday - Christmas

…Christmas 1854…
It’s hard to imagine how difficult times must’ve been—desperate times of blizzards and frostbitten fingers. Water freezing in the wash basin every night. The Specter of Hardship lurked on every doorstep, mean-eyed and hungry. It was a primitive existence.
Survival wasn’t just a goal. It was an all-time career.
I stood on a hillside, gazing down [...]