Celebrating the Holidays

The season when to come and when to go, To sing or cease to sing, we never know.

Alexander Pope

The title of the sculpture in this photo is actually, “I See What You Mean.” Interesting, because I’ve never heard it called anything but, “The Blue Bear”. I took the photo from my son’s condo, across the street and several floors above. I realize it’s a bit fuzzy. Going through my photos it seems to best portray my feelings as the holidays approach, so here it is fuzz and all.

Halloween is in the rear-view mirror and the holidays are bearing down on us like a freight train at full throttle. I have maintained that once Halloween was here the year was over in a heartbeat. The older I become, the faster the timeline speeds up. Don’t misunderstand. As noted in my last post, I love celebrations. The difficulty is, as the years go by, maintaining the same level of holiday preparation becomes more difficult.

Through the years, I have Thanksgiving down to something I can manage. The days of baking pumpkin for pumpkin pie from scratch and sit-down dinners for twelve are gone and I’m okay with that. This year everyone will bring something and we will order a fully cooked turkey. I am considering trying a new stuffing recipe.

Christmas, that’s another matter. We use to do lots of entertaining. Bookclub brunch and cookie exchange for ten, a holiday party for twenty, Christmas tea for a small group of friends. After the pandemic, I have not been motivated to entertain on the same scale. The only thing remaining is Christmas Tea for a few friend I’ve known for many years. I don’t think I could ever give that up. I love doing it. A couple of friends have moved away, but they are often home for the holidays. It’s a time to catch up and share old memories with dear friends.

Of course, there are many other pieces to the Christmas celebration. The cards are bought, I have ordered holiday stamps from the USPS and a new wax stamp with a fir bough and pine cone to use on a few special envelopes. I’ve started collecting gifts to be wrapped. We will have a family gathering here on Christmas Eve and go to our son’s on Christmas Day. That’s the easy part. Decorating and putting up the tree is more of a challenge. I’m not as confident about unpacking boxes, climbing around and putting up decorations as I once was. I have cut back some and tell myself I should give away things I’m not using. Last year the Christmas village stayed packed away. I’ve thought about donating it to the Assistance League. But I began to wonder if maybe I’ll decide to put it up another year.

The Blue Bear says, “I see what you mean.” What I mean is, I don’t want to admit that as I get older, things I once took for granted have become harder. Let me preface this with saying, I am in good health. I volunteer every week. I am active. The fact is, somethings are not as easy as they once were. I don’t think I even thought about aging until I retired , when I was seventy. I have realized, acceptance is key. We, as I country, value youth. We deny aging. The truth is, my dear, deny it until the cows come home it’s still going to happen.