Christmas. Thanksgiving sort of 'breezed in and out' with many people giving it little thought. Others thought of it kindly and celebrated it's meaning. For some, it simply signaled the day before their Christmas decorations went up.
In our house, we like to give each holiday it's due...when it's due. We aren't pleased to see Christmas trees going up in the stores before Halloween arrives and we're still walking around in short sleeved shirts. We know about the commercialism and the need to advertise for business reasons, but we also understand that everyone knows that Christmas is on the way, and will do their fair share of shopping for gifts. We'd rather see the anticipation rising as the costumes and masks are taken from the shelves and the Autumn garlands and flowers are put out. When those are past, and taken down, perhaps on the first of December, then we'd welcome the lit trees and huge red bows all over creation.
As it is, our neighborhood is already decorated, but for a few homes, Mom's and ours included in the 'but for' category. We are beginning to think about it, and how things will be decorated this year, but we are sticklers for live trees in the living room, and we like to leave them up into January, so we're not in a great rush to put them up too early. I will say that I like to shop for Chrismas all year long, as I don't like crowds, and as the years go on, I'm getting slower and less apt to love the 'meandering' all day long. I tend to be on the lookout whenever I'm shopping, and if something 'jumps out' at me for someone on my list, it's purchased then and there. However, I do save the wrapping for a cold, December day, when I can put on the Christmas music and take care of the tasks.
So, we'll be the last in our subdivision to put our lights on the house and bushes, and probably the last to take them down. It's such a busy time, we like to enjoy things, after Christmas, without the confusion, rather than packing things up the day after the holiday, as we see so many folks doing here. Sometimes, I think it's nice not to be 'first'. We savor our holidays, the way we enjoy our food....one bite at a time...in order to allow the fragrances, the look and the taste to make it's own impression.
