Holiday hurricane

Valley Words 12-10
cle rinker

(sorry for the delay - it's hard to hit even self-imposed deadlines this time of year. expect spotty delivery of columns until we are through with the holidays...)


Fa-la-la-la-la. La-la. La. La.
I sing while I live in the eye of the holiday hurricane.
The initial stage of holiday preparation – dragging decorations from the basement, attic and anywhere else I stuck stuff last year – is over. I survived the forward edge of the holiday hurricane. The Ump even helped somewhat.
He is not a holiday elf. Since we have married, I my attitude about the holiday season has changed somewhat.
When my friend Richard lived here, we did it up. His house, my house, the newspaper office. No door was left unswagged. No window uncandled. Christmas music rolled down every hallway and invaded each open ear within caroling distance.
We watched every Christmas movie at least once and some – Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, for example – we watched over and over. Holiday Inn, Christmas in Connecticut, White Christmas, A Christmas Story…
I usually watched A Christmas Carol alone because I enjoy the black and white version from the 1930s which is closer to the Dickens’ tale than the more recent versions like Scrooged with Bill Murray. As far as Richard was concerned, the campier the better. More lights, more ornaments. More merry.
He moved away in August of 1991 and that Christmas I was unable to put up a Christmas tree in my home. It was too depressing. I went to Richard’s apartment in Charlottesville and helped him decorate his tree, but I was miserable.
The next year brought a solution for my holiday blues. I threw my first Christmas party. Richard came from Charlottesville and I got over my holiday malaise. The tradition of my holiday party was born then and continues to this day.
Initially, the guest list was confined pretty much to workmates. Then some church people started coming and then neighbors. Now it is “our” party and the guest list that once featured about a dozen people has now grown to dozens of people.
The Ump still struggles with his inner Scrooge this time of year, but he has embraced the holiday party – inviting all the people he works with as well as some friends.
I conquered my biggest challenge so far this season.
I just didn’t want to put up a Christmas tree. Not because I am depressed, but because I was feeling limited by the traditional tree. Normally, I put up one real one and three or four fake ones with different themes and ornaments.
For weeks I struggled to find a different centerpiece for my holiday cheer. On a cold Saturday morning, I stopped at Fort Valley Nursery to buy some pine roping and I talked to Terry about my desire to do something different. While we were talking I spied this large pot full of what looked like tall, thin, bright red sticks.
“What’s that?” I asked, and Terry told me the barren bush was a Red Twig Dogwood. In the spring and summer, the bush has leaves like a dogwood some sort of compound flower. In the winter, after the leaves have all dropped off and the weather gets cold, the twigs turn bright red.
I was inspired by this bucket of red twigs. It wasn’t quite a Charlie Brown moment, but close. It took some trial and error before I decided how to make this purchase the center of my decorations. The best aspect is that after the holidays, we can dig a hole and plant it.
I’m not sure what the Ump thought initially. I didn’t let him see the twigs until I figured out how to decorate it. He never liked all the different trees all over the house anyway, so I think Christmas twigs fit his holiday spirit much better.
The other side of the holiday hurricane is about ready to hit. First the party. Then more gift shopping. Then packing for his home and my home. Oh yeah, the other side is going to hit.
Until then, however, I will continue caroling in the eye of the storm.
“Oh, Christmas twigs. Oh, Christmas twigs. How lovely are your branches…”