Multiplicity

The Christmas season can be a pain in the neck or it can be the most wonderful, joyous time of the year. Yesterday a clerk at the grocery store gushed, "Oh, I LOVE Christmas; it's my favorite holiday!", and then added, "It means the semester is almost over!" In essence, this dichotomy reflects the multiple reactions we have to Christmas. It made me smile and it started me thinking.

Some folks mourn the loss of the true meaning of Christmas, which church-going people celebrate as the birthday of Jesus, the beginning of mankind's salvation. It's nice to see the stable scene set up outside churches and in peoples' yards; it makes me a bit sentimental, remembering the Christmas songs and midnight masses of my childhood.

Others mourn the loss of Christmas traditions, which revolved around the warmth and comfort of family and food and the simple joys gift-giving. Those traditions have gone through a metamorphosis to become a mad rush to buy more and better gifts, to hurry up and mail out those cards before Christmas day, to host a Rachel Ray or a Martha Stewart dinner or brunch or open house, to have better and more decorations inside and out than the neighbors, to suffer stress and worry over what was once such a simple day.

We've certainly lost something along the way, haven't we?

There will always be the special feeling we have when family is gathered around, and that's not lost. We find ourselves excited as we watch someone open our gift, hoping they like it, knowing they will. When cards come in the mail, we're grateful for the touch of far-away friends and family. That feels pretty special. We can't help but smile when we set out the Christmas decorations we've had for years and years, because sometimes memories are better than what we have today.

Whenever there are children in the house over the Christmas holiday, we can't help but share their sparkle and excitement. We're drawn into their sense of wonder, and realize that most of us have lost that special joy. Maybe we need to search our memories for what was most important to us about past Christmases. We might just find enough there to jog us back into the amazement and delight of our own childhoods, and of the days when our own children were small. Perhaps then we will experience again the calm and silence and peace that Christmas offers.

Pre-Christmas Tree

Well, here it is, mid-December already and my blogging has really gone by the wayside. Much of my computer time these days is spent doing edits of Kiva loan descriptions, and of course lately I've been Christmas shopping online. There are winter projects lined up, too, involving a personal recipe book I've been working on for years and also the Dropbox photo albums Marty and I have been trying to find time for. Good thing I'm going to live forever!
I bit the bullet the other day and bought an artificial Christmas tree at WalMart. I never thought I would do such an awful thing. Christmas trees have to be REAL trees, preferably a LIVE tree, right?! However, we've not had any kind of tree for the last 2 or 3 years, and it just got too sad. Having no little children around changes the character of the holiday season entirely, and I guess that was my excuse. During those "off" years, though, it was nice to rid myself of all the "shoulds" and "oughts" that used to surround Christmas.
Anyway, here it is. THE TREE. Pretty poor excuse, but better than nothing... that's all I can say. Maybe next year I'll have a better idea how to arrange the branches so it isn't all cattiwampus.
Now to get the shopping done. Groan. Oh, and the Christmas cards, too! Oops.

Thanksgiving

...and then suddenly it was Thanksgiving!

We had dinner at Marty and Laura's new home in Noblesville; they've lived there only two weeks and already they have it painted, furnished and decorated so completely one would think they had lived there for a long time. Laura is a master decorator, a talent I am sorely lacking, so I was in awe. Seeing the house for the first time were Mike, Eric, Lucas, Ian, Miki and Kevin, so Marty had a well-orchestrated guided tour for them. I went along and thoroughly enjoyed it, because everything looked so different when I was last there on Nov. 6th & 7th, painting completely empty rooms. Including Laura's daughter, Kayla, we numbered 10.

Laura is also a very good cook. Determined to please every palate, she had prepared several side dishes to go with a big turkey and a ham. She also had five desserts, so there was more than plenty to go around (they'll be eating leftovers for a few days!). We all had a great time and it seemed Marty and Laura were very happy hosts. Mike and I had a second Thanksgiving dinner tonight with the food I brought home from there. Oof, too full again!

Danielle had 16 at her house in Kirkland, WA. She and Phil were pleased to put their newly renovated kitchen through its paces, and also pleased the crowd by announcing Danielle's pregnancy... another girl, due in early June!

There's nothing lacking in my life, and I have so much to be thankful for, I can't begin to list it all. I dare not even think about it too much for fear of tempting fate.

Christmas is coming fast on the heels of Thanksgiving, and though I've begun shopping, it's far from done. I'm seriously considering getting a tree this year; it's been many years since we had a Christmas tree, and maybe it's time. I'm even considering sending out cards via snail mail, which would be a truly old-fashioned Christmas!

There were lots of shoppers on the road today, even in small-town Loogootee. I'm sure the WalMarts across the country were full of customers. Colleen had to work the holiday, actually pulling the night shift Wednesday to get ready for the crowds, and then also having to be there when the doors opened to the madness of Black Friday. It would have been nice to have her with us at Marty's, but it was not to be.

Many busy days ahead. I'm going to concentrate on the good stuff and try to block out everything that's going on politically, both locally and globally. It's just too much to hear it all and know I am helpless to change things, except in my own little back yard (where all the good things are happening anyway :)

Halloween - Past and Present

THIS IS A TIMID DAYTIME JACK O'LANTERN


When I was a kid, we waited anxiously until it was pitch-black dark before we went trick-or-treating. If there was a parent, they usually carried a flashlight, but us kids relied on our "night-vision cat-eyes", and considered it sissy to carry a light. We were free to go anywhere and knock on any door, say "Trick Or Treat!", and hold out our brown paper grocery sack for the goodies.



THIS IS A SCARY NIGHT-TIME EVIL PUMPKIN!

You could usually tell which house was rich and which was not by the quality and amount of candy they handed out. One year we got an entire caramel candy apple on a stick from one house, and a softball-sized popcorn ball from another. Rarely did we get a candy bar, but I was happy with Tootsie Rolls or Tootsie Pops, or even the smaller lollipops. Double Bubble gum was another favorite, even though Mother didn't like us to chew gum (not ladylike). We never worried about there being a razor blade in an apple or a poison pill in a box of Milk Duds.

Favorite costumes were hobos, clowns, cowboys, witches, scarecrows, and mummies. If your mom made the costume, you were a sissy; if it was store-bought, you were a spoiled brat. The best costumes were put together at home, with the moms and older kids helping.

We ran in bunches from house to house, knocking or ringing the bell, and when someone answered the door we all shrieked, "Trick or Treat!" at the top of our lungs. It was a very special and happy time.

When my older sister and I went out together, we sometimes took a jar of Vaseline to grease doorknobs or car windows, but only on the houses where no one answered the door or where they were grumpy and mean. That was the only "trick" we even knew about. Nobody "toilet-papered" other people's yards and trees and houses back then. If there was a group of older boys being loud and raucous and running down the middle of the street, we quickly cut over to the next block. I guess they were the genuine tricksters.

When I was in high school, I had to take my little sister around on Halloween. Boy, was that boring! She was so shy... but she was so cute... always looking like a little orphan with her big brown eyes and straight-as-a-stick brown hair. In those days, the homeowners would invite the kids inside and talk to them about their costumes, making a big deal out of trying to guess who each kid was. If we didn't actually know the people, it was frightening to be in their house. Very scary, much scarier than being outside in the dark!

Once back home, we would dump out our treats on the living room floor and make some trades, sometimes even sharing with a parent. After stuffing ourselves sick, our treat bags went into our own clothes closets, where they rarely lasted through November. I don't remember being told to ration the candy to "one a day", nor being reminded that sugar rots your teeth. It was our "take" and it was ours to eat.

Sure not like today. People still carve pumpkins, but this year I have a PLASTIC Jack O'Lantern in the front yard that lights up at night. Some folks decorate their yards with strings of orange lights... how weird is that? The Wal-Mart costumed trick-or-treaters go with their parents and their flashlights to allowed areas at designated hours. Anyone walking around outside after dark is deeply suspect, Halloween or not. The stores are packed full of individually wrapped candy for sale, as if the wrappers would prevent some maniac from poisoning kids.

Sure, we buy candy. Sure, we leave our porch light on. Sure, nobody comes. Sure, we eat the candy ourselves. Trick-or-Treat!