It was nip and tuck.

When the winds of December chased Thanksgiving away, while holidays aligned on the horizon, and rain rinsed Dearborn and Rainier Avenue, the star shone in its singular way, lighting up the South End.

From downtown, up on Capitol Hill, over in the CD, the simple star atop the old hospital announced hope was on the air.

The star was a gift.

Longer than neighbors knew, the old tubes, transformers, and power cords had been hauled up to the roof. One generation of janitors passed the business along to the next maintenance engineers. All seemed to think it was a pretty good idea.

The neon glow made memory warm the cold. Hearts - heavy from a day of toil - picked up as the cheery glow caught an eye at the bus stop. Kids liked it, even teenagers too busy with themselves or each other would halt in their footsteps, take a deep breath, and let out a sigh.

She was the queen of the hill. The old hospital rose, majestically orange and red and brown and yellow and black and pink and gold above the hurly-burly of the town.

Things change - sometimes, we don't want them to, but they do.

A new life came upon those bricks. Important people - there is never a shortage of importance - made decisions, and those decisions gave birth to other decisions, and before you knew it, someone who said he was very important showed up in the neighborhood, and tooted his horn.

"We're going to convert PacMed into the headquarters for the world's biggest online reseller, Amazon.com! We're your friends! Have I told you I know the mayor? I'm on your side! There's a lot riding on this! Just think of your property values! I'm your friend, your best friend ever! I want you to help me be as rich as I can be!"

He didn't like the star.

It would have to go, he insisted, there were complaints.

Only, there were no other complaints, just his.

He promised much, offered a couple of bribes, but no one with an ounce of sense gave him more than a moment's notice or took his cash. The very important person went away, as is the nature of very important persons. He rode the monorail out of town, and was last heard of making land swaps east of the Cascades.

The star still shines over Christmas.

There are wise men on the move tonight, wise women on the hill, children awake to the dream.