A Yuletide Season Celebration

It was -2F (-18C) as I crawled begrudgingly out of our warm bed the other morning and made my way to the bathroom (a very cold seat!) and then to the kitchen for two cups of steaming coffee that I had smelled brewing for the past half hour. Keeping warm is a major occupation these days in Boston and we wonder sometimes if we're up to the task. Too much warm living. After managing a cold day of food shopping, tromping around in slush, shoveling snow and lots of shivering, we prepared to go to Lin's Earth-centered group's annual winter solstice celebration … aka Yule. The best part of celebrating solstice besides the camaraderie, eating and drinking is that solstice signifies the end of shortening days and the beginning of the northern hemisphere's slow return to spring and summer. The days will lengthen again and the warm will eventually return. Hallelujah!

We've attended many Yule celebrations with this group and it's always a pleasant experience despite my griping and grousing about heading out into the dark of night and freezing temps to get there. Milton's First Parish, dating to 1787, is a white-clapboard UU church and always serves as our venue.

The group has gotten smaller over the years, but the core group remains solid and wonderfully welcoming. Pam led us through a simple, but thought-provoking ceremony. We reminisced about the old year and shared plans for the new. We sang carols and made beeswax candles as part of the festivities. And I, thoroughly involved in the ceremonial activities, took no pictures till it was all over. Darn!

We later shared a potluck dinner and exchanged gifts in a traditional Yankee trade. Everyone brought wonderful gifts so there were no white elephants … well, maybe the year-old Truro cranberry wine qualified. But we sampled it when we got home, and lo and behold, it was quite good and will be used as a dessert wine after Christmas dinner. A fun and meaningful evening. Let the longer days commence … soon!

Finding the Holiday Spirit

It's that time of year when spirits should be running high, but sometimes it's kind of hard to get into the seasonal mood. With Rebecca's recent death and lots of other things on our minds, it's been a challenge to make the transition to jolly, but we're trying. Remembering just how much Rebecca loved Christmas and the holiday season makes it a bit easier. Being in New England with Lin and her family has certainly helped. We picked out a Christmas tree the other day and began to decorate Lin's house.

We have a new grand-niece and this will be her very first Christmas … definitely something to celebrate.

I first heard, then saw the local flock of wild turkeys traipse trough Lin's yard. We see them at dawn and dusk and they always bring a smile to my face. Tuesday, Lin's cat, watched them carefully, but wisely opted to keep her distance.

It snowed the other night. Though only an inch or so, it was the first substantial snow of the season and covered the ground, frosting the evergreens, making everything white and clean … at least for awhile.

We had a tree-decorating party with just the family last Sunday, and the spirit of the season seems contagious. The excitement of new parents delighting over their baby daughter's smiles and giggles is “chicken soup for the soul”.

I've done some shopping … the minimal amount possible, but enough to fill the Christmas stockings with fun goodies.

Bring on the holidays … we're almost ready.

Life after Black Friday?

I went shopping on Black Friday. I wasn't after any deals … well, maybe a few. I read all the ads for “Doorbuster Sales” and “Black Friday Specials”, but they didn't really interest me. The local Salvos (that's Salvation Army Thrift Store to you non-thrifters) was having a 50% off everything in the store sale. I like rummaging around to see what bargains I can find. There are two Salvos close by and I visited both of them. I netted six gold and white coffee mugs (Pier 1) to go with our eclectic gold and white china set (previously purchased at a thrift shop) plus six dessert plates, lots of holiday faux-greenery for house decorating purposes, a very stylish Abercrombie & Fitch pull-over sweater and a New York & Co. zip-up jacket. Total cost: $12.67. I didn't feel guilty in the least.

When I got back to the house, I found David and Paul busy in the back yard finishing up a rather elaborate planter project they've been struggling through. They were in need of a heavy-duty stapler and staples, so I went back out to Walmart of all places … on Black Friday. Oh, my! It was bedlam. Merchandise piled high in the aisles. Kamikaze shoppers raced around with carts crammed full of stuff. Children, obviously high on sugar, screamed and ran around unsupervised. Boxes torn open. Stuff laying on the floor, long-since trampled by frenzied consumers. Interminably, long lines at the registers. What had I gotten myself into?

I fought my way bravely to the tool department which was remarkably empty. There was the Stanley Heavy Duty Stapler I needed … behind locked glass doors. As luck would have it, I spotted a Walmart employee immediately who (you'll find this hard to believe) had the key, opened the door and presented me with my stapler and appropriate staples in two minutes flat. Flabbergasted by my luck, I stumbled in a daze to the front of the store to confront the check-out lines. Lo and behold, midst all the turmoil, I spotted what appeared to be an empty line. Could it be? Without skipping a beat, Mae checked me out in a flash and I was on my way back home in record time. I might add … cost of stapler and staples $24.46. Let's weigh the enjoyment factor of each purchase. Hmmmm … I win, hands down.

So what comes after Black Friday? Why, Cyber Monday, of course. That's today, but we're not shopping on-line nor otherwise. And after that? Countdown to Christmas. We're heading to Boston in the next couple of days. We will not participate actively nor willingly in the madding crowds of consumerism. No family gift exchanging this year for us except for trinkets in our stockings. We'll indulge in family time, good wine and fine dinners at home and leave the buying and subsequent credit card debt to others and feel no regret.