Okay. I don’t like Valentine’s Day. Why should I? No love on the horizon. Thanksgiving just means I have to spend several days in the kitchen. Christmas means I have to spend lots of money. And several days in the kitchen. Actually, all holidays require lots of money these days.
And apparently kitchen time.
July 4th? Well, that means I have to go out into the crowd of people in order to watch the fireworks display. And on a hot Carolina night, that’s just not fun. At least not anymore. Easter? Now that used to be a cute holiday because of the kids. I loved to dress them up and hide eggs for them and watch as they toddled around with their baskets to find them. Loved the expression on their faces when they discovered their Easter baskets. Then they got wise to the BUNNY and suddenly baskets became jewelry and video games. AND I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. We don’t do Easter anymore except for chocolate bunnies.
The only holidays I really celebrate are Christmas, Thanksgiving, and HALLOWEEN.
So what about Halloween? Today is the day, of course. I have a pumpkin. We carved it last night and roasted the seeds. I have autumn leaf garlands displayed at my front gate. Tonight I’ll have a few candles lit outside along with the pumpkin.
And the doorbell will ring. And ring. And ring. And ring. And ring.
Maybe.
It’s cold and rainy here. Not sure how much of a damper that will put on trick or treating. I noticed lots of churches this past weekend held fall festivals. Some had trunk or treating. When my kids were younger they went to the school festivals. I was in charge of creating many many fall festivals complete with haunted house or maze.
Halloween used to be a fun holiday for me. My absolute favorite. I went all out with decorating—just like I did for Christmas. But I’m cynical these days. You’d think that Halloween would be a great holiday for cynicism but it’s not. My kids want me to go to a haunted thing with them tonight. NOPE.
So what’s up with me and holidays in general? They used to be fun and now they all just seem like work. Except for Valentine’s Day. That just seems like the waste of a good day to me. LOL
Anyone who comments to this blog before Friday’s post by Natalie Dae will be automatically entered into an informal hat drawing for a $5.00 Starbucks gift card. Good luck!
“There he goes! Look at those reindeer fly!” His strong right arm balanced the little girl with soot-colored curls on his hip as he stretched out his other arm and pointed upward into the wintry night sky.
Her eyes widened with wonder and searched every nook and cranny of the star-laden blanket of black. She shook her head, her curls bouncing with the movement, the icy cold air biting her nose.
“You don’t see it?” he asked in disbelief.
She shook her head again and tipped her tiny finger to the edge of her mouth, worried that she’d missed something so very important.
Her daddy took her hand and held it between his two fingers. “What did Granny say about puttin’ your fingers in your mouth, Tessy?”
One front tooth already missing, she whistled just a bit when she spoke. “Ladies don’t put their fingers in their mouth.”
“That’s right. That’s my good girl. Now, look up again. I can hear him, can’t you?”
This time, her mouth formed a huge O as she craned her neck and looked toward the sky once more. A nervous flutter swirled in her stomach. She couldn’t hear or see Santa. Maybe only big people could.
Her daddy grinned and jostled her on his hip. “Those reindeer are really fast. Ole Santy’s a streakin’ through the sky so he’s hard to see, but you should be able to hear him. Try doin’ this,” he said, his eyes bright with laughter as he cupped his free hand to his ear.
Tessy placed her hand to her ear, mostly covering it up rather than helping her to hear anything. No, she couldn’t hear Santa. But her daddy heard him, and she didn’t want to disappoint her daddy, now did she? She grinned that one-tooth-missing smile of hers, threw her hands up in the air, and giggled. “I hear him! I hear him!”
“Do you see him, too?” Daddy asked.
“Uh huh.” She nodded, almost certain she did see and hear Santa now.
“You do? Well, what’s he sayin’?
Tessy thought a moment then tucked her chin into her chest and made the Santa face her daddy had been showing off for days. And in her best Santa voice, she said, “Ho Ho Ho, Murry Kissmuss!”
I think my daddy must have told that story a couple of thousand times before he left this world to move on to the next. I take great comfort in knowing that the memory was just as special to him as it still is to me. It was Christmas Eve and for some odd reason, my parents decided that I’d get all my Christmas goodies under the tree that night instead of the next morning. They may have wanted to sleep late for all I know. LOL
So while Mama and Granny were getting the gifts ready and putting them under the tree, Daddy took me for a drive. I was six at the time and my sister only three. So Sis didn’t get to go along. She was too young to know what was going on, and besides, I recall my daddy saying on more than one occasion that he couldn’t handle little kids—they had to get old enough to have some kind of personality before he could deal with them (and I’m told I was basically born with some kind of personality, lol).
When we came back home and got out of the car, he started carrying me across the yard, and then suddenly stopped and pretended that he had seen Santa and his reindeer up in the sky—that he could actually hear them. LOL And what I wrote above was, of course, the way it happened. Even though I was only six, I honestly remember that entire scene just like I was there right now. I remember the scent of Daddy’s Old Spice aftershave, how bitterly cold it was that night—me wearing a fuzzy little red coat and a hat that matched, but I kept putting the hat in my pocket because I hated the way the ribbon felt tied beneath my chin—and I remember that sky. It was so clear that night. So quiet. But in the distance, with Daddy’s careful prodding, I heard the jingle of sleigh bells and Santa’s voice loud and strong.
I sure miss my daddy.
Merry Christmas, Daddy. I love you.
I hope everyone who reads our blog this month will share in the spirit of the holidays with us and tell us about some of their favorite Holiday memories and traditions. That's what this time of year is all about--sharing. We might be online and unable to exchange gifts, but we can certainly give each other that special holiday spirit by exchanging little bits 'n' pieces of our lives from over the years. So, c'mon, share a memory with us or tell us something about the way you celebrate the season. We'd all love to hear from you.
