Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I am, at heart, a true curmudgeon, & I realize that I alarm people when I announce that I don’t really like holidays. Most people in my life are crazy & over the top about holidays, especial Halloween & Christmas. I am not out & out mean spirited or Scrooge-ish about this, in fact I give a nod to the major holidays: a beautiful heirloom pumpkin on the porch in October, or a big bowl of the Husband’s famous potato salad on the 4th of July. Christmas is the tough holiday; people are so offended if you declare a displeasure with what I feel is the most imposed upon celebration of all. I felt so bombarded with- “it’s the most wonderful time of the year…” as I traveled around Portland yesterday. I kept thinking- “Really, is it? Really?” Christmas has become a very modest holiday at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia, with no gifts exchanged between the Husband & myself. We have developed a new tradition, though. After decades of not having a tree, we are having our 2nd Christmas with a great big Tannenbaum. We have a 12 footer from a tree farm & it is placed outdoors in front of the big window that overlooks the back garden & Boy’s Fort. The big fir is decorated with blue lights & suet balls for the birds. My favorite tree was at the cottage in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle circa 1987. The Husband & I decorated a large sagebrush, found in the desert of Eastern Washington, with tiny white lights. It was beautiful & yet ironic. Another Christmas in the 1980s, the Husband did a small tree decorated with photo copies of photographs of the 2 of us from childhood Christmases past. The Photos were fastened to the tree with cloths pins. This tree was adorable without being precious.

The Husband & I both work on the 24th & 26th this year. On Christmas Eve, we will go to our friend Syslee's. Every Christmas, Syslee has a 36 hour long party that celebrates the Holiday from the point of view a different culture, complete with food, drinks, music & gifting appropriate to that tradition. In recent history she has done Kwanza, India, & Hawaii. This year it is Italy! Cia Bella! Buon Natale! When we return home, will watch our Holiday favorite- Bad Santa. The Husband & I will spend the special day going to a movie & then we will be in our home, with a fire in the fireplace & a bottle of whiskey at hand. We have invited a new friend- Peter, who has no family close by, to join us. My favorite Christmas song? That is easy: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, introduced by Judy Garland in 1944’s Meet Me In St. Louis, because Christmas, for me, has always been a little warm, a little happy & a big dose of sad. Of course, I will be wishing the readers of this blog & my fellow bloggers, no lumps of coal & instead- big of lumps of love & warmth.