Wednesday, December 1, 2010

What's The Difference??

Osiyo~

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone! I’m weird in that I believe the best Thanksgiving I ever spent was on the vinyl seat of a Grey Hound bus when I was seventeen. I’d taken a weeklong trip into inner Illinois, USA  to visit friends. I started home on a snowy Thanksgiving morning and the bus stopped at a town somewhere between there and Oklahoma. I remember to this day my feast. It consisted of a greasy cheeseburger and soda. Ah, heaven. I just don’t get the week of preparing food that’s scarfed in less than an hour—and I’m left with the cleanup… Huh. What’s that about?

My Canadian author friend, Brenda Nyveld, asked me this year what the difference is between Thanksgiving and all that food, and Christmas with its food and trimmings. I’d never thought about it like that exactly. The food, time devoured, storage, cleanup, is all the same- more so with the added chores of decorating and then taking all the decorations down again, until the next Santa visit. So, what is the difference that makes me anticipate Christmas so much?

To my surprise, the obvious answer came right out in startling clarity.

The gifts and shopping, joy of anticipation—of expected gifts as well as seeing the faces on the ones receiving them.  And for some reason, Christmas Eve is a magical, mysterious night for me. I hate going to bed on that never-ending night. I can sit in a silent room just staring at the lit tree and day dreaming. You spend a month preparing so it’s not a rushed single week of exhaustion that ends in a disastrous mess and nothing to show for it. Maybe that’s a cynical view from one who isn’t a huge foodie who doesn’t eat a lot on normal days. Like I said…weird. My family and I have come to accept that about me. I’m broken when it comes to the ‘dreaded’ November holiday.

Then again, maybe it’s the extra present(s) left under the tree at the end of that magical day… My birthday gift(s). Yep, I’m a Christmas baby. Well, I was supposed to be. Momma used to laugh (how I miss the sound) and tell me that I was late for my birth, and I’ll be late for my own funeral. So, does that mean I’ll die late? Yeah—not in any hurry to see if she’s right about that, but my birthday is the 28th of December. I feel New Years, with all the sparklies and fireworks, was created to finish off my superb day. Mark your calendars people. I like candles, unicorns, and books, books, books! See, I’m a low maintenance gal.  Email me for the snail-mail address, ‘cause I’m not the least bit shy about asking for stuff!! Hehe

So, now that you know how strange I am…what about you? Which of these mega holidays is your favorite? Why?

Dodadagohvi~

10 comments:

Carol said...

I'm also a December kid. But, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. The sad thing for me is a little magic has gone out of Christmas since I have no little ones at home and my husband died. Difficult to hang onto that Christmas Eve hope for magic and miracles but love the season anyway. Maybe I'll get HQ magic down the line.

Joanna St. James said...

am still waiting for my ideal christmas

Calisa Rhose said...

Hugs Carol. HQ will come through for you I'm sure! I don't have little ones 'in' the house, but close enough to have them here at any given time I like.

Is there such a thing Joanne? Hope you get it!

Calisa Rhose said...

And then I write your name wrong JOANNA! Sorry. ;)

Nas said...

Hope everybody have their ideal christmas this year! Merry Christmas!

Joelene Coleman said...

Definitely Christmas, especially Christmas Eve. I had sixteen cousins who lived within a mile of me and we'd gather Christmas Eve at Grandma's dressed in our finery, for a big dinner. Then she'd gather us kids privately around the fireplace and read us The Night Before Christmas. I swear by the time she was through we'd seen his face in the window. She had a dear friend who would call on the phone and pretend to be Santa, making us all want to rush home and sleep (ha!). Like you, I sit up late by the tree and wait for the clock to chime in Christmas morning. We used to have a church down the street with an old fashioned bell tower, and they rang the bells at midnight. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Merry Christmas!

Sandy said...

As our family has dwindled, moved away, etc., Christmas is often me, my husband and the cat. Sure, I miss the big family get-togethers that phone calls don't quite make up for. But there is still the magic of Christmas Eve: driving to town and seeing the lights framing every store window on our 2-block long main street, the decorations on the light poles and the row of holly trees decorated with red and green lights on either side of the street. Then we go into the church and enter the sanctuary, with its simple decoration of greenery and red bows. We sing carols and hear the old/new story, then light candles as the overhead lights dim. It is a magical moment. We return home, feeling peaceful and hopeful for the future. Have a glass of wine and are grateful we are still together.

Calisa Rhose said...

I love those memories! I have a few I treasure too. Thanks for sharing.

Amos Keppler said...

I dislike holidays, for several reasons, mostly because they are usually tied to either religious or nationalistic events.

Give me a great weekday any night.

Calisa Rhose said...

I try to overlook the negative and focus on the positive childlike aspects of the holidays. But weeknights are wonderful as well.