This is a photo from, oh, maybe 9 years ago. My daughter, her boyfriend (now her husband) and their friends getting ready to go to the high school's winter formal. We were at my house, with our nice big tree all glammed up for the season. Don't 'the kids' look lovely? Makes me kind of weepy....where has the time gone?
My tree this year (and for the past 3) is about 20 inches tall and cost ten whole dollars at CVS. My times have changed. Sometimes I miss being part of a family -- the kids coming and going, the dogs running around with the cats, my wife and I sprawled on the sofa watching television. I wonder if I'll ever have some of that again. Certainly I'm fine without the kids part, but some grand kids running around wouldn't be half bad. Someone to curl up next to each night wouldn't be half bad, either.
The holidays bring out a certain sadness about my single status, until I remember the struggle it was to get my spouse(s) to enter into the spirit of the season. Seems like I was always draggin' 'em, kicking and screaming, to show some Christmas cheer. Although there were some really fun Christmas mornings, like the one where my then wife gave my daughter a box filled with one dollar bills. She, of course, threw them into the air. Or the time my daughter gave her step-mom a case of beer for a present. Fitting.
This year, my parents' neighborhood has gone all out with the lights and decorations. I'll try and get a photo to post. Sacramento boasts some gorgeous Christmas light displays, with neighborhoods competing with one another. Many neighborhoods coordinate their lights and it creates quite the festive mood. Perfect for night strolling, except tonight is going to be too cold to actually go out. Last night it was 28F (-2.22C). It's been even lower than that over the past week. But at least we're not an hour up into the mountains, where snow is abundant and temps are in single digits. Where some people's furnaces are not working.
I was walking the dog (twice today), donned in my thermal underwear, jeans, turtleneck sweater, winter coat, knit hat, gloves and warm boots. I was still freezing my ass off. Welcome to December.
Grandkids do enhance the Christmas experience. Dorothy and I still have a big tree each year but only because the grand kids expect it. In a few years we'll probably not put up a tree.
ReplyDeleteI admit to never experiencing the "Christmas spirit." I like solstice celebrations and a big shout hello to the returning sun. I understand the love for the season, and especially for people who grew up with these beautiful, colorful trees and lights.
ReplyDeleteIt's true about "some people" whose furnaces stop working on the coldest freakin' weekend of the season. They remain optimistic, but have plans for an electric space heater if things don't work out as hoped. This has been a true nightmare.
I get some of that nostalgia because when the empty next comes along, it does change whether you have a partner or not. I hear songs from the season and can get teary over years past and even those when I was in the local church with the lovely little programs and seasonal stuff. It was a simpler time in so many ways for how I believed but can't go back. And good stuff does lie ahead, just different and I don't think it's wrong to feel some of that nostalgia. It's the season for it.
ReplyDelete"---good stuff does lie ahead, just different "" So true!
DeleteWe still have a big tree but it's artificial now instead of real. So much the better as far as I am concerned. My husband fills the air with Christmas cheer starting the day after Thanksgiving. He loves the season.
ReplyDeleteI switched to what I like to call "hand-made" trees years ago, because, as it turns out, I'm allergic to pines in enclosed spaces. Makes it easy to just unpack it each year -- and it is pre-lit which is the best thing of all! I have it set up at my parent's house this year.
DeleteAh, yes. This post resonates mightily.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
Was is better then, or is it better now? Does it matter? No. It just is.
As Rain says, "good stuff does lie ahead". Indeed it does.
Cheers!
It many ways, it's better now. I get nostalgic for those married days, but when I really think about it, it was a pain in the ass. And the teen years were no picnic either! Why do I get so misty about it all? It's more for the ideal than the reality. And I really do know that good stuff lies ahead! It's already here!
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