Jumping for Joy

It’s Saturday and the day looks promising both with the weather and the plans ahead of us.  Mother and I are taking a jaunt into the big city to start our Christmas shopping and then hook up with our book club friends.

       I’ve always loved the month of November which begins that happy momentum into the holiday season.  In recent years November is the beginning of Christmas parties and already the stores are stocked up on Christmas finery.  Surveys have already started coming out on how much people are going to spend over the holidays, drink and eat themselves into a January diet program and so forth.  I like the hustle and bustle of November.  I enjoy the socializing aspect as well as the anticipation of festivities and gift exchanging.  Few things give me more pleasure than seeking out a perfect gift for a loved one, hiding it away until that special day when I start wrapping all the treasures up.  In the past the wrapping has been random and uncoordinated but Martha Stewart has waved her wand of influence over we happy few who still follow her artistic lead.  I have the added influence of my native country that goes whole hog into the Christmas season.  Regardless of the season the Danes have an amazing ability to make things hyggelige and one of my pleasures is to pull out my mother’s immense stack of Danish magazines and pore over the holiday editions.  What a Dane can do with a candle and pinecone is priceless!

       Then we have all the baking, recipe hunting, pre-cooking, card and letter writing to begin.  My family and friends are scattered around the world and Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the traditional card.  I’m sorry but an email just doesn’t do it for me.  Let’s not forget that I am an addict for stationery of all kinds. 

       Lastly there is the socializing and oh what fun can be had with that.  Now that’s for tomorrow.