it's SO not Christmastime anymore

Try as I may to get my sorry ass self over it, I experience a tremendous let down the week following Christmas.

Each of the seven days leading up to January 1 of the next year leaves ChristmasHolidayTime further and further behind. As it should. But so quickly?!?!? It's only been a few days post, and holiday decor looks faded and dated. 'Fast away the old year passes'. Indeed. Faster than the Nike Whooooooosh. It is OVER, baby. Collect your toys from under the tree, find a place to stash 'em in the already crowded closets and start vacumning up those dried pine needles from the floor.
(Though this year, I'm amazed at how my tree still feels and looks fresh at this late date. More so since I bought it early, and from a Christmas tree lot, yet. So no spent pine needles for me.)

Nope.
Post Christmas week is NOT my favourite time.

Maybe it's how that magical spiritual sweet feeling of good will towards
man/woman/child/allcreaturesgreatandsmall goes bye-bye and seems to make such a sickening metamorphosis into a
WhooooooHoooooo Party Animal Wild Drinkin' Adults Only atmosphere . . . just in time for a Rollicking New Year's Eve.
Hmmmmm.

Another personal effort then, must be made to counter the media madness to do the expected and instead ride off into the sunset Doin' My Own Thing.

Here then, is the encouraging bit.

Our (somewhat established) New Year's Day tradition usually rescues me from a true post holiday letdown. Traditionally, that's the day to go for a long quiet walk with family and/or friends. Fortunately, we've always lived near enough to the ocean or the woods, and can take advantage of that by ushering in the new year, properly nurtured, by nature. Wide expanses of beach and ocean. Big waves. Tall trees. Snow on the ground. Dampness and cold, with a promise of hot tea or cocoa - and a fire in the woodstove upon our return.

So thank you very much awreddy. For small favours. Nature walks. Getting cold only to be warmed again.

my very fave contemporary christmas song

perhaps I've even posted it before....

Alright, JT!



Bonus Sweet Baby JT, circa 1970's:


Oooooh on a roooooooolllllll with 70's JT:


anyways.
have a good 'un.
be kind.

Thank the universe for...

So much on TV is crap.
Not all of it, mind you. Just most of it.

When I tire of channel surfing for something worth watching (the ultimate exercise in futility) , I head straight for TCM.
Turner Classic Movies.
There, I can almost always find something: movie, a documentary on films or an interview with the moviemakers. Yes, I loves me some movies.

These last few days I've opted to stay around the homestead and putter (or as my Brit friends say - potter). A good deal of this pottering time has been spent on my latest knitting projects. Settled on the couch or in a comfy chair, I can sit and click the sticks for hours.

Just me and the needles. And yarn. Sometimes I knit in absolute silence. I do like the quiet. At other times, I crank the tunes. Loud.

If all else fails, there is TV: A home improvement show. Some PBS. Dirty Jobs (ah, you know I just had to link to another Dirty Jobs episode).
But mostly - there is TCM.



Lovely.

KISS

Keep(ing) It Simple(r), Stupid.

Simple quiet pleasures at holiday time
... then and now...
1. Then: Being mesmerized by Bubble lights on the Christmas tree.

2. Then and Now: Staring (as a kid, I could do this for what seemed like hours on end) at one's distorted reflection in a round glass Christmas tree ornament.

3. Now: Reflecting on Christmas past. Missing those who were there who are no longer here. Being sad for their absence yet happy to have shared the time with them. This helps with keeping the proper perspective.

4. Then: Christmas in our home was not focused on receiving oodles of presents. Santa didn't come down our tiny gas faux fireplace. (We went to see him downtown San Francisco at The Emporium). Because Santa didn't make house calls, we didn't hang Christmas stockings. My family did decorate a tree, sing Christmas carols, drive around to see decorated houses and visit with relatives / friends. There were just a few smallish gifts to open on the 25th, and they were very special. One year, my favourite present was a plastic mesh basket which contained days of the week panties. You better believe I wore the right panty on the right day. Another year, it was (the original) Barbie (in black and white striped swimsuit = WhooooHooo!).

Otherwise, playing with the shiny tinsel on the tree kept me pretty happy.

5. Then and Now: Every year, there is joy to be found in holiday displays, clear, cold crisp nights, sparkly twinkle lights and the scent of freshly cut pine.

You know what?
I'm not feeling so Bah! Humbug! this year. Go figure.
Here's why.

The increased commercial hyperbole of a Consumer-Driven Christmas has me moving towards adopting non-participatory status. Post T-Day, I'm ready to take (real, not virtual) flight to evade the pressure to get into the holiday groove.

This year I finally reached a breaking point and am streamlining to the best of my ability. Embracing the slower, quieter (yet still sparkly) moments surrounding the December holiday. Sharing quality time instead of getting caught up in equating holiday connectedness with the overkill of abundant, superfluous gift-giving. No longer a rabid shopaholic, I now suck at over-gifting anyway, so earn a 'D' if not an 'F' at the frenzied consumerism encouraged at this time of year. I release myself from even trying.

I'm reminded of those simple pleasures. I want and need to get back to 'em.
Zero'd in. Focused.
Simplicity may well be my holiday salvation.

Truly - more is not better. Less really is more.

As Leonardo Da Vinci put it so eloquently:
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"

It's beginning to SOUND a lot like Christmas...

Holiday tunes are fine.
Ye olde standard Christmas carols are mo bettah.

It's a rare occurrence anymore to hear a bona fide Christmas song on popular radio stations. I grew up listening to old-style Christmas carols. I still expect to hear them during the month of December.

For many a good reason, holiday music at this time of the year
has gone generic. It's all about snow, cold, warm fires, parties, presents and rockin' around the Christmas tree. Understandable, considering all the end-of-year celebrations that are not Christmas-related. All that is OK-fine with me. And so we are reduced to Christmas Music Lite. Which is also OK-fine with me. For the most part.

(Exception: I run screaming after the first few listenings of 'Santa Baby' sung by anyone other than Eartha Kitt)

Yet I do miss the good ol' Christmas carols. You know what they are.
The ones about Baby Jesus. Sung by choirs and choruses. In perfect harmony. A cappella. Or accompanied by a few instruments. A full orchestra for those amazing spirit-lifting crescendos.

To fulfill my need for soulful Christmas music, I sought out and subscribed to a 'Christmas Classics' station at Pandora.com.

Hearing those classic songs transports me back to childhood - to a time when Christmas felt most magical. Less to do with any clear religious conviction and more to do with holiday ambiance. That may sound a tad heathen, but what it is is what it is.

Imagine just how lovely for a little girl in the 'hood to entertain imagery of a starry night, a manger used for a babe's cradle, 3 wise men bearing gifts (myrrh?!?), barnyard animals...it's tough to fathom such ethereal things when living in the underbelly of a big bad but wonderful city.

O Holy Night style Christmas music.
Voices raised in joyous song.
Other worldly.
Peaceful.