Ten Things About Our 2009 Belated Christmas

While I’m on the “ten things” kick, I decided to explore another topic entirely: our current (still upcoming) Christmas celebration as an extended family.

For the past several years the old cast-in-concrete traditions governing Christmas Eve and Day have melted down. New ones are emerging, including an extended family “Christmas party” soon after Christmas Day. The mood and food (excuse the poetry) are festive if not loyal to the old tradition of stockings hung from the mantle and turkey with all the trimmings. This year the fun begins TODAY - woo hoo! - and will continue until Saturday. A top-10 of expected happenings are listed below.

1. We no longer have a horse and never have had a sleigh. But since we DO have lots of snow right now, we’ll hook up an old kneeboard and tow rope (meant to be used behind a boat in the summer) to John’s 4-wheeler and take some “sleigh rides” over the river (creek) and through the woods (scraggly junipers in the pasture). Wheeeeee!
2. Riley, Fritz jr’s golden retriever, has already proven himself as a competent reindeer for the youngsters who want to take private sleigh rides on plastic sleds. Just hitch him up and THEY’RE OFF for a not-too-fast ride!
3. Mr. Claus (that would be Fritz) has purchased several new snow tubes to encourage sledding. He’s also identified a potential site for an outdoor winter-campfire (which Mrs. Claus will use to heat hand-pressed spiced cider - a good warm-up station for snowy sleigh-and-sled-people).
4. Mrs. Claus (that would be me) has prepared an indoor scavenger hunt for the grand-kiddos this year. They will follow clues inside the 4 stories of the old farmhouse until each has found a handful of little surprises.
5. Emily is bringing assorted board games in case we fall prey to cabin fever and need indoor diversion. If I dare to play checkers with Caleb (who is now 9 years old), I’ll no doubt lose. He’s a sharp cookie and I’m a has-been; he always creams me.
6. Amy is bringing Christmas-red beet soup (it’s soooo yummy!) to pitch in with the wide array of foods I’ve prepared: miscellaneous homemade soups, breads, dips/spreads, desserts. (Oh, and I have some very special and artistic springerle cookies to offer everyone. They were hand-fashioned by my sister, Mame, who mailed them from far-off Seattle.)
7. An alternative activity, if we need one, might be to visit a nearby indoor theme-park-swimming-pool called “Buccaneer Bay” that offers lots of water slides. Everyone’s bringing swimming suits just in case.
8. New Years Eve means champagne in plastic flutes (our glass ones are in Michigan, of course) and foodfoodfood – including the traditional cold shrimp and braided orange bread that we used to have every Christmas Eve.
9. Gifts will be exchanged Friday morning, as if it were Christmas morning. Dick will be here as well, mirroring the decades of Christmas mornings he shared with us. My bake-a-rama continues and even as I type cinnamon roll dough is rising. These gooey things will be for for the mock-Christmas-on-New-Years-morning breakfast if they survive that long, along with a bake-at-the-last-minute hash brown/egg/sausage casserole.
10. You might well ask, “Where’s Jesus in all of this? Where’s the Christ of Christmas?” In answer to that question, I will close with a recent quote from an anonymous family member: “I wish everyone could react to each other the way people in our family do – but then each one of us has the indwelling Spirit of Christ (which is, in itself, amazing).” With that said, He will be here among us.