Fa La La La La

Fa La La La La...

Yep, still with the Christmas songs.  Around our house, the Christmas decorations and tree and such go up gradually, and we keep them up until Twelfth Night, January 6th.  Lots of people seemed to throw Christmas together the day after Thanksgiving.  I actually  climbed up into the attic the Night Before Christmas and found our Christmas stockings (plus some extras for some extras sleeping in our house that night!)

I am sure our holiday festivities sound much like everyone else's.  Big Family (39 of us) Christmas last weekend, reading the Christmas Story and eating and opening presents and then singing Handel's Messiah.  For nearly 3 hours.  We sing all of it: start-to-finish, and everyone sings the solos in unison.  This is something my family has done for years.  My sister used to be our pianist.  Barb would commence practicing the day after Thanksgiving, and by our Christmas, she played every song seemingly with ease.  For nearly 3 hours.  My sister has passed away now, and we are left using an orchestral CD accompaniment, which, let me tell you, is NOT the same as a piano in the same room.  Not the same at all. 

A few days after Big Family Christmas we geared up for Little Family Christmas, which happened to actually fall on December 25th this year.  Living far away from family, we are usually traveling on Christmas Day.  When our kids were little they would write letters to Santa explaining the situation, and asking if he could perhaps jump the gun and deliver their presents early?  Santa and the elves were always happy to accommodate.

Christmas Eve...in the midst of blizzard warnings and drifting snow, sudden whiteouts, and REALLY harsh, cold wind, we ate dinner, went to church, went to a party, and came home and played games.  There were 10 of us, and it was such fun!  Toward bedtime, I cleaned up and, as I used to do on winter nights in Michigan, I set the dinner ham out on the back porch in the blizzard, till morning.  Trouble was, in the morning it was gone.  Hmmm.  Who would have thought that a fox or coyote A) would come into our fenced back porch, and B) who would have thought a fox or coyote would have been out sniffing around in a blizzard?

Today was Boxing Day.  Tradition is that this was the day that servants were given off to be with their families after working on Christmas Day.  OUR Boxing Day/Weekend is such that I am urging everyone in this household to go through all their worldy possessions and let's-throw-it-in-a-box-and-get-rid-of-it and strive for the Shaker existence!  And no, this is not just a year-end/New Year's mental deal.  With three  two kids in college, (strike that:  Daughter #1 graduated last week!!  Yippee!!), or in geographical quandary (Daughter #1), we seem to be bulging at the seams in this household, even though we have a barn and another outbuilding in which to store things! It's time to assess the inventory.  High time.

And so goes our Christmastime.  Next week, New Year's.  Week after that: Twelfth Night.

More holiday...tomorrow!