Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas in October?

Yesterday was a study in cultural contrasts. My youngest son and I went to the house of a relative of my oldest son. Now.... I seldom put much emphasis on Christmas, given that I'm not a Christian. Of course when my sons were small, we gave into the whole secular christmas experience for their sake. But yesterday I had a taste of other peoples traditions. I like my traditions just fine.

So this year the push has been on since before Halloween! Decorations suddenly showing up in grocery stores and drug stores with ghosts and goblins. Now... I've often thought to myself over the years how pretentious it is for children to wish for a white christmas... when winter doesn't start as a season until Dec. 21st! Sure... I know, it's the influence of an old show tune that made it into a movie, coupled with an image from Currier and Ives! Suddenly every weather man or woman is pushing the hopes of flakes of white on that special day! I appear to be looking at them, as the babble about the weather. But Christmas in October? Actually, that's closer to the date of Jesus' birth according to some scholars. Scholars aren't certain what date Jesus was actually born on. In fact, if you look up Saturnalia, you'll discover the reason we celebrate in December!

So pondering the inclusion of October into the season of Christmas, it occurred to me that we should forget the Catholic choice of December for this birthday celebration (Christ Mass) and pick a day in October! The weathers nicer, and travel is much easier. People can go outside, and get some fresh air and marvel at the changing of the colors of the leaves in fall. You can still have picnics and meet at parks. Parades would be more pleasant too! Yep... I think we should change the date of Christmas to better reflect the time when Jesus was actually born! Fire up the grill and bring on the Brauts! Toss the elves into the pile of leaves and break out that football! And when it's over, it's still nice enough outside to take down all the decorations! Makes sense!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Happy Festivus! (for the rest of us)

Happy Festivus! (for the rest of us)

Here's a holiday tip of the day.... if you clean your pole first thing in the morning, the fragrance lasts all day... even clings to the clothing of visitors! You can smell the snap of abraded aluminum in the air!
Of course, not everyone celebrates Festivus, intentionally! Some people celebrate Hanukkah. Some people celebrate the Mass of Christ. Others celebrate the season of Saturnalia with the abundance of food, drink, merriment and materialism. Some combine two traditions from the list above, without knowing why. The end result of this "not knowing why" tends to lead to the addition of some Festivus traditions being added for good measure. Too much food, too much drinking, too much preparational stress, too much idealism and projection of those ideals onto loved ones while seeking the most perfect day ever... and well.... you do end up with the Airing of Grievances and the proving of ones strength, but you miss out on the crisp smell of aluminum.
Whatever your reason for celebrating this time of year, just remember.... you have to live with it the rest of the coming year and for years to come.
Oh, and if you happen to feel that fleeting sense of warmth and well being known as LOVE.... well, that's the Festivus Miracle!