My First Christmas In My own Place Tempered by warm well wishes for those less fortunate

This image was taken about five or six years ago when i was homeless for Christmas.  I had walked off from my usual spot in Racine and hiked down to Kenosha.  Was sleeping on city benches.  I got a few good things to eat with food card at a gas station nearby and parked myself in front of one of the downtown christmas trees surrounded by park benches.  There was a few inches of snow on the ground and the wind was whipping up.  All I could think was how pretty the geometric pattern on these christmas lights was.  They were big and sparkled like warm firelight.  I snapped a couple photos with my windows phone and settled in for a night of half sleeping and walking from bench to bench to avoid being kicked out of anywhere.  The next day I went to the library where i had managed to get a card and computer time.  I hooked my phone up to the computer and transffered my image after I put it through some kind of paint filter I had on the Windows phone.  It turned out nice.  I uploaded it to Zazzle and wrote some kind of description.  I had made Christmas art.  I was again part of the holiday season, though my. surroundings dulled the senses.  Share your images.  Share your view of the world.  even when it seems like no one cares.  It may someday be viewed by someone who had little or less than you now and it may make them smile.  may this beautiful image taken on a cold december night in downtown Kenosha warm your soul and let you know that even at our lowest, art can still motivate us to keep going.  Without that tree that night, I might not have made it to the library the next morning to warm up.  I might not have found the soup kitchen around the way from there.  What draws us in, fills our senses with wonder allows us to keep going.  keep warm thoughts in your heart for all those on the outside looking in this holiday season.