Yes, I do love me some Christmas. When I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, my family's Christmases were very much in the traditional mode of the times—Santa
Claus, presents, family gatherings, serious feasting, and all that good stuff.
I come from a long line of very religious folks, and even though I haven't
exactly followed in those footsteps, I appreciate the holiday as a celebration
of life, love, friendship, and special memories. As the sole remaining member
of the family with which I grew up, I have many, many precious memories from
Christmases past, and I do pray that, unlike my mom—and others in my
family—I'll be able to hang onto those for the rest of my days. But we don't
get to choose that kind of thing, so it's one of the reasons I record so many
personal memories, thoughts, and reflections in this blog; and while I
endeavor to make them relevant, or at least engaging, for those who choose to
follow my ramblings, I think it's obvious they're more for me than anyone
else.
This year, I can't say there hasn't been some pretty intense stress leading up
to the winter holidays; numerous factors at work here, but neither Ms. B. nor
I have allowed those outside stressors to overwhelm our joy of the season. And
today, our morning together made for a new memory that I am joyfully adding to
my carrying case of special memories I so hope to retain till the end.
Our house—as at least some of you know—is the house in which I grew up
from my second year of life until I left for the wild world out yonder. In our
just over a year living here, Brugger and I have made it a melange of the old
and the new, combining countless relics and reminders of all the best my past
offers in equal measure with everything Ms. B. and I have created in our
almost fifteen years together. This year in particular, we did up the place
with all the spirit we could muster, and when I think about it, that's an
awful lot. We watched a host of Christmas or at least Christmas-themed movies
and shows during this past week—Die Hard (YES!),
A Christmas Horror Story, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and
A Charlie Brown Christmas — and I even watched
Andy Williams' 1966 Christmas Special on YouTube (which I saw
when it originally aired way back when). And last night, we continued our
longstanding Christmas Eve tradition of watching
A Christmas Story and
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. That made it all fine for Christmas to actually happen.
It was a beautiful Christmas Eve and Christmas morning—cold (but not too
cold), clear, and, for us, comfy and cozy. It was just the two of us; Allison
will probably be hear over New Year's, so we'll have a little belated
Christmas celebration with her. Last night, for Christmas Eve dinner, we had
boeuf bourguignon, which I spent a couple of days preparing (and it was
delicious, certainly worth every minute of it). This morning, we exchanged
some really, really nice and personally meaningful gifts. Our friend
Yvonne stopped by and dropped off some lovely goodies from her and her
husband, Bob. And this afternoon, we'll be having Christmas dinner with friend
Samaire, her son, and friend Charles.
I'm posting some of my favorite photos from the past few days and nights. To
all of you, our best wishes. Scary Christmas, Happy Horrordays, and all that.
