A different Christmas…

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This current year began with so much hope and a positive outlook that it would be better than the last.  So far, 2021 has been like traveling on a winding road, bringing us back to the starting point rather than to a new beginning.

I think all of us share the same determination with trying to get back to anything normal.  Especially during the holidays.  Yet, we take a few steps forward and a mother-load of steps in reverse.  It’s sad, in so many ways, especially as we prepare to celebrate what should be a joyful time of year.

The dynamics of the ongoing virus war against humans, and all the protocols involved are exhausting.  Still, most of us continue to forge ahead, just trying to make it through one more month, week or day.  I’d guess that all we can do is to throw caution into the wind as we attempt to plan family gatherings, shop until we drop and try to enjoy the Christmas season.

My home will be missing family and the usual holiday chaos.  The decorations are up, the tree is a magnificent presence, taking up almost half of our living room…but that’s it.  My usual holiday frenzied behavior is nowhere to be found.  At least for this year.  In the middle of it all, I’m feeling and sounding much like Scarlett O’Hara, fists firmly clenched and determined that tomorrow is another day and next Christmas will be different.

It damn well better be, as God is my witness!

 

workshop-button-1From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop…Write about how you plan to spend your holidays this year.

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Cockeyed optimism…

Gaynor

And…here we all are, more than one year after this virus insanity began.  At least most of us, and I’m not waxing sarcastically here.  My heart hurts still for those lost from COVID-19’s rampage, and for their families and friends.

In March of 2020, as the panic set-in, well, make that started sinking-in, people valiantly started adjusting to being at home, wrapping themselves in a cocoon of safety, and living with a fair amount of fear.  There was still so much unknown about this virus last year and, frankly, as far as I’m concerned, it’s still a ludicrous crap shoot with each news release and conflicting opinions shared by the medical field and media.

Looking back over my posts, almost to this same date a year later, I’m once again doing what I did last April, cleaning, re-organizing and purging.  But what’s different this time is that it’s for happier reasons, other than just passing my “virus-avoidance incarceration” time.  Family is coming, and not soon enough!  My Florida family, to be exact.  After not seeing them for two years, I’m pulling out all the stops, still proceeding with recommended caution, and plan to enjoy as much normalcy as possible.

Wow, that’s a loaded word…normalcy.  We have the old normal, temporary normal and, of course, new normal.  That last one sucks lemons, let me tell you.  I can’t wait for one year from today to write about what I was doing this year and how things have changed. 

Will we still be hiding behind masks? 

Was the vaccination process successful in controlling the virus? 

Will we be lining-up for booster shots to reinforce the biological preparations that were unceremoniously jammed into our arms? 

Did Joe Biden stop reading from Etch A Sketch when he gave speeches? 

Did Maxine Waters get shown the door in Congress? 

Oops, sorry, politics just slipped out.  My bad.  I feel that we’re moving past this damn virus blockade, slowly but surely.  Call me a cockeyed optimist. Sure, there will be setbacks ahead but none comparable to what this world suffered in 2020.  I have to believe that.  We all do.

 

workshop-button-1From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop…Throwback Thursday: Choose a photo or blog post from a previous April…how have things changed?

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The spirit moved me…

Reading

Holiday spirit.  Two words that, for many, have been difficult to muster up this year.  Especially for me, someone who usually cannot wait for the first Christmas music to start playing on the radio along with the sappy and fun holiday movies that pop up on television. Oh yes, besides being a Hallmark movie junkie. I scour the zillion channels on FIOS for White Christmas, A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol.  In fact, this year, I spent time on Christmas Day watching both Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman…just for snowflakes and giggles.  Both brought back memories of watching the shows when my own children were small.  That was a yearly tradition, along with never missing the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center.  Such simple things that made the holiday spirit come alive.

This year was so different.  Too many things became almost a chore, a tiring ritual with a lack of excitement involved as the preparations began.  Let’s face it, with the virus undercurrent flowing everywhere, so much of what we’ve all taken for granted was compromised.   No rushing into shopping malls for gifts, ordering instead from online sources and then hoping, wishing and praying with each tracking number received, that items would arrive in time for Christmas.  No large family, or other, gatherings to celebrate the season, opting for Zoom or other apps for human connections.

Still, underneath it all, some element of seasonal spirit managed to remain, mainly with the happy memories of holidays past and the hope that there would be more in the years ahead.  Somehow, these very thoughts kept dancing in my head as I made every effort to dive into my usual seasonal frenzy.

Our annual Christmas tree trek.  With the grandkids, of course.  (I blame them for choosing the 10’ tree that takes over the living room.)

Decorating the house, inside and out.  Bows and lights everywhere.  (The electric provider loves me during the holidays.)

The traditional Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner.  Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, Mussels, Clams, Scallops, Bacalao, Anchovies.  (I know that’s 8 fishes.  I cook outside the box.)

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa (which I end up consuming while I’m wrapping presents).

Misplacing Baby Jesus for his birthday debut in the Manger (finally locating Him at 3 on Christmas morning).

Tracking Santa’s flight on Norad. (Yes, I still do that.  Don’t judge.)

And…one of the best of all, reading The Night Before Christmas to my grandchildren on Christmas Eve.  No matter how old they get, or how old I get (and can still hold the book up without assistance) this will be a precious family tradition. 

My hope is that they all carry it on, long after I’m gone (or I will come back to haunt them, like Marley’s ghost!).

 

workshop-button-1From Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop…List the top 7 things that fill you with the holiday spirit.

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