It’s hard to believe that we are midway
through December, 10 days to Christmas and 16 days to 2016. How do you approach December? What I mean by this question is what type of
emotions do you have when December 1st hits? Do you become filled with anticipation, joy,
love for neighbours and friends? Do you
start getting anxious about Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, Christmas
obligations and too many expenses? Do
you think that the year has gone too fast and do you start to feel regrets for
things left unfinished? A combination of
two or more such feelings or something completely different?
This year I found myself anticipating
the holiday season but when it continued brown and bare I did not get that Christmas
feelings. Now with the first real
snowfall of the season everything is covered with hoar frost and snow so it
looks especially charming. My evergreens
are getting taller and so now I can actually see them Christmas-like with snow
weighing down the branches and small birds flit in and out as they gather seeds
they are collecting from around the chicken coop. They are busy little birds and it’s wonderful
to think how they can exist on so little and in such harsh conditions.
As the month progresses closer to the
big event Mom and I start pulling ourselves together, then we pull out the
cookbooks and eventually we get started baking our “usual suspects”. The challenges of going beyond vanilla krans
and chocolate chip cookies is daunting since all the batches apparently produce
mega cookies and we know that they will only be nibbled at and then set aside. So what’s the point? This year we miss our baking Santa who whips
all kinds of cookies up in a weekend of marathon baking.
Then there is the wrapping and all I can
say is bless the inventor of Christmas bags – so much simpler than paper, tape
and ribbons especially with awkward parcels.
Then of course there is the tagging, covering up last year’s tag because
we cannot get away from that frugality of saving every possible scrap of
Christmas wrapping. Or can we? In past years I have tried to do themed
wrapping, going with a colour scheme and making nice little bows of ribbon but
other years it’s a case of “let’s get this over with”. Not exactly the kind of emotion one should have
when wrapping up a gift, lovingly chosen and hoping to please a loved one. That’s when you know you have hit stress
level with too much buying, not enough time.
That’s when you start to question what the fuss is all about and pretty
soon you can start blaming the Merchandizing Machine for all your troubles and
woes. Oh you’re a mean one Mr. Grinch.
In truth, I love this time of year even
though some of the self-imposed obligations may seem tiresome once in a
while. Once I get in the swing of things
I am loving every minute of it, especially when I have the Christmas carols
blasting away.
Merry Christmas.
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