... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 Happy New Year!!!!!!!

If I was to ask you what song is most sung on New Year's Eve, no doubt you'd say "Auld Lang Syne." The song was originally a poem, and was old when Robert Burns set it to the tune of an old Scottish folk song in the late 1700’s.  The title itself roughly translates to "for old times' sake."  (You can read the full history of the song here, as well as find all the lyrics.)  It’s a song that most of us know at least the first verse and chorus to, and we often find it tossed in with all the other Christmas songs on those CDs we pull out every Christmas.  It is, however, a New Year’s song, rather than a Christmas song, but since the two holidays are so closely placed on the calendar, they are often heard at the same time... as if Christmas started the day after Thanksgiving and lasted until after New Year’s Day. 

New Year's Eve and Day are a time to reflect on what has been in the year soon to pass, and look to the future for what we want to accomplish in the coming year.  As I look back over this past year, memories (some good, some not so much) swirl around in my mind as I remember people, places and events that have been part of my life.  I don't think it would be too presumptuous of me to say that this has been quite the year, with some most unusual things going on.... around this neck of the woods... around the country... and around the world as a whole.  The annals will show that we lost many good and famous people this year, that we tread where none have tread before in the political arena (in several ways), and that many new family members made their grand debut, as babies were born.  The history books won't have to look far to find something to write about for 2016.  It feels good to tuck that one away and look toward a New Year, full of..... well, nothing really.... it's up to each of us to do our part to fill it with whatever we think is best to fill it with.  My hope is that it will be a bit more goodness and kindness, a bit more compassion for our fellow man, and a bit more of the celebrating of the differences between us rather than letting the differences separate us. 

As with any ending and new beginning, traditions spring up around ways to celebrate the closing of a chapter and the start of a new one.  Some throw parties, or go to one.  Some go to New York's Times Square and watch the ball drop, in person.  Other people attend local fireworks events.  Some prefer a quiet night in front of the TV, watching the ball drop with the family.  Some toast the New Year with a glass of champagne, some with sparkling grape juice... and some don't toast at all.  Some kiss a loved one.... or whoever is near by...  some just scream "Happy New Year".... and some just nod and mumble "Well, that's that" as they sit in their PJ's in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn and a soda.

When we were kids, our family always put a jigsaw puzzle together that night, hoping to finish before the ball dropped at midnight, but seldom accomplishing that.  Dad would always get at least one jigsaw puzzle as a gift for Christmas (usually one that was very hard to do.... one Christmas, it was a big red dot... nothing but red).... so on New Year's Eve, we'd get out the square card table (you know the one.... green plastic top, legs that came out from underneath and latched at each corner [careful.... don’t pinch your finger], and wobbly all around) and empty the box of puzzle pieces onto the table.  First we had to turn them all over, picture side up, laying aside the edge pieces and corners.  The edges went together first, then any major feature in the puzzle picture, filling in the sky or water (or whatever the background was) last of all.  Popcorn, Pepsi, and roasted/salted Spanish peanuts were the usual snacks.  Sometimes we had peanut brittle, or fudge, or taffy.... depending on what Mom had made during the Christmas holidays.  It was a fun time with the family, and a nice quiet (ish) way to celebrate the last night of the year.

New Year's Day in the south consists of a meal of collards greens,black-eyed peas, and cornbread... worked in somewhere around the Bowl games that are on TV that day.  They are said to bring luck in the coming year, but we liked 'em because they were delicious.  The black-eyed peas are said by some to be symbolic of humility and a lack of vanity, and to bring monetary luck in the coming year.  There's an old saying, "Eat poor on New Year's, and eat fat the rest of the year."  As for the collard greens and cornbread... the saying goes: "Peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold," so it's supposed to bring money to you in the coming year.  While I'm not a superstitious person, it feels like something is missing if I don't eat these things on New Year's Day.  The collards can be fresh or canned.... that part doesn't matter as far as I have ever known.  The black-eyed peas can be from the can, frozen, or cooked from dried beans.  Ham, left over from Christmas, is usually added to the beans and the collards for seasoning (and to use up the last bits of the ham.... waste not, want not!)  It's just plain ol' good ol' down home eatin', is what it is... and if it happens to bring luck in the coming year, so much the better. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the time honored tradition of the New Year’s Resolution.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  We make promises to ourselves (and often others) that we're going to do something or other.... some life altering something, like dieting, or exercise, or quitting a bad habit. Our intentions are great.  We want to better ourselves in the coming year.... make our self a better person somehow, whether it’s stopping something (like a bad habit) or starting something (like exercise).  We know that setting a goal is how to accomplish a thing... so we imagine ourselves as the best person we can be, and reach for the sky full of hope and determination.  Then a week or two later, we find out we're human after all, and give in to temptation, or take a day (or seven) off from going to the gym, or whatever.... then we guilt ourselves for weeks because we broke our promise.  After participating in this hallowed tradition for many years, I realized (probably the day I broke my New Year's Resolution for the year) that I was, in essence, starting my new year with failure.... and that wasn't really the message I wanted to give to myself, or give to others who were around me........ Sooooooo..... The next year, I made a resolution to NOT make resolutions.  So far, I've finally succeeded at a resolution.  :) 

Whether you celebrate big and loud... or with just a small group of family or friends....  Whether you eat your collards, greens and cornbread, or go out for a hamburger.... Whether you make a resolution or not.................... Take time to count your blessings...  Look at where you were at the beginning of the year, and how much you’ve learned over the year...  Remember all the times that you showed love to family and friends, and they to you...  Take time to be grateful for all you have, for there’s always someone with less than you have.  Bring the good, the hope, the love, the friendships to the front of your vision for the past year. 

And when you look toward 2017....  fill it with compassion.... fill it with hope.... fill it with goodness..... fill it with love.  Sure, we all know there are going to be bad times and bad days... that’s just part of Life.  But Life is 90% how you look at it....  The choice is yours!  

To quote one of my favorite TV shows:  

“We are all stories in the end.  Make it a good one!”  

(Doctor Who)

  

The Christmas Rush… The Struggles are Real!

Where did I put the tape?  It was here just a second ago.  Oh, there it is. 

Now for a bow…. Red?  No, maybe Green?  This is when I encounter the ultimate frustration in gift wrapping:  the paper on top of the stick-em on the back of those bows.  I try each corner, hoping to find the magic one that lets me peel it off instead of separating the layers of paper itself, and wonder why some genius… or elf… or someone hasn’t invented an easier way to do this.  Finally…. I congratulate myself for accomplishing the impossible, and stick the bow to the package… I frown as I notice that it’s not going to stick.  Need some tape.  Wait, where did I put it?  Oh well, I’ll open another dispenser. 

Looking left, right and underneath the wrapping paper scattered all around, I see that I’ve lost the scissors….. again!  I’m certain that the exhaustion from wrapping gifts isn’t the actual wrapping itself, but the twisting and turning you have to do each time you need tape, scissors, ribbon, or gift tags. 

List After List...

The struggles are real this time of year.  Hurrying to get that last minute shopping done… wrapping the gifts, and double-checking to make sure you didn’t forget someone in the rush… trying to find the scissors (again), when you just had them less than five minutes ago.  Checking list after list to make sure menus are prepared, gifts have been bought or made, and schedules are all worked out so that no one has to be two places at once.

The tree is all decorated, the gifts have been purchased…. You and the UPS guy are on a first name basis nowadays as he delivers all your online purchases.  The menu has been planned, the groceries bought… candies and cookies and cakes are beginning to be baked, cooked, and otherwise prepared.  One more stop at the grocery store should get all those items that you were sure you got last time but can’t seem to find.  Decorative boxes and bows are stacked on the table, waiting their turn at creating the perfect present for under the tree.  What was once excitement for Christmas to come has become an unending To-Do List of things to get done before The Big Day.  The struggles are real!!!

"How many sleeps til Christmas?"

When we were kids, this was the time of year when we could no longer sleep at night.  Those “visions of sugar plums”?  Not so much!  It was more “visions of Santa’s toyshop” really.   Everyday we’d ask Mom and Dad how many sleeps left before Santa came.  Dad seemed to love the excitement, getting us kids all worked up before the big day with his teasing and joking around.  Christmas morning was his favorite time to get us all worked up one last time, as he made us go back to our rooms to get slippers, house robe, etc. before we’d be allowed down the hall and into the living room where the tree was, along with the surprises from Santa.  Our Christmas stockings would be laid out in front of the gifts, and it always always had an orange in the toe of the sock.  I never was sure why, but carried that tradition on down to my children.  There was the usual fare of nuts, fruits, and candies to fill the rest of it up. 

Christmas was a “nothing but fun” time when we were kids.  Grandmother and Granddaddy would come over for breakfast that morning, then afterward Granddaddy and Dad would help us assemble anything that needed assembling from our Christmas toys.  Later that afternoon, all the aunts, uncles and cousins gathered at Grandmother and Granddaddy’s house for a big meal and gift exchange.  Rare was the Christmas when someone didn’t get a joke present that someone had skillfully crafted.  Fun, laughter, and love was the theme of the day… with all us kids leaving exhausted at the end of the evening. 

"Thank You" & "I Love You" Gifts

Today, we’re the planners of those gatherings instead of the children running around laughing and playing…. But it’s no less fun.  Family comes in from all across the country.  We see friends we haven’t seen for years.  We eat far too much food, and indulge in far too many sweets.  But it’s worth it!  Every bit of it!!  It’s our way of punctuating the year…. Putting a period on the end of a sentence that has lasted all year long.  It’s a time of love and laughter and celebrating… It’s a time for church and remembering the reason we celebrate… It’s a time for saying “Thank You” to those around us, to those we love, and to those we work with… 

Yes, the struggles are real, as we prepare for such a big celebration, but the rewards are always more than we can ever imagine.  It’s all worth the effort!!

Wishing all of you a Joyous Christmas, 

surrounded by those you love most dear… 

and a New Year full of wonder, surprises, and success!

… and if you see my scissors, could you lay them on the kitchen table please?  I just had them five minutes ago…… 

The Signs of Christmas...

1966 Sears Christmas Catalog

It all started about the time that the Sears Christmas Catalog came in the mail each year.  From there, the excitement just continued to build until the crescendo on Christmas morning.  The old Sears Christmas Catalogs were about an inch thick, and full of dreams… dreams of what Sanny Claws (how we pronounced Santa’s name back then) would leave us under the tree.  Us kids would pour over that catalog time and time again, circling the treasures we’d found, and folding down the corner of every page that had something on it we wanted to add to our list… comparing with each other, and giggling and laughing, ooo’ing and ahhh’ing, planning and scheming the entire time.    We knew we couldn’t have everything we wanted, so as time went on, we pared down our lists to just the few things that we’d finally decided on.  We made sure to show Mom and Dad, but we knew it was really Santa that would bring it to us.  They were, somehow, just the intermediaries. 

Decorating for Christmas started well in advance of the big day, and was always an all-day affair that started early in the morning with a trip into the woods behind the house.  We always had a real tree, and Mom would give us our instructions of what we needed to get (what type… pine, cedar, or whatever) with instructions not to get it but just “so tall”… along with mentioning any other stuff we were to find as well… running cedar, blue ball cedar, holly, mistletoe.  In truth, we had to get multiple trees most every year because Mom didn’t go with us to actually chop down the trees, but she was the one that had to choose which one went into the house.  So off we’d go, with the wagon hooked behind the tractor, Dad driving, us riding.  We’d look at lots of trees… some pine, some cedar, choosing the two or three that would be cut and loaded onto the wagon, then it was off to find the running cedar and blue ball cedar. 

Running Cedar

Running cedar is a vine sort of plant that runs along the forest floor in places, and is usually found in large patches with its frilly leaves poking up out of the blanket of leaves.  We’d pull some up to use for wrapping around railings and banisters and the like, making sure to clean off the leaves and dirt as much as we could first. 

Blue ball cedar is a cedar tree that grows tiny blue balls on its limbs and always has that Christmas smell to it.  This was to be used to adorn shelves, mantles, flower arrangements, and tables. Then we were off to get a couple of branches of holly with berries… it had to have the berries on it.  It wasn’t “real” holly without the bright red

Blue Ball Cedar

berries peeking out from amongst the glossy, but prickly, green leaves.  These added to the overall decorations wherever Mom decided… a sprig here, a sprig there… usually in with the blue ball cedar.  Sometimes we’d be lucky enough to find some mistletoe growing wayyyy up in a tree.  Dad would take his shotgun and shoot some down, then us kids would scramble around picking up the pieces.  Sometimes Dad would find mistletoe while he was out hunting rabbits and squirrels, and would have already brought some back to the house.  He always made sure to pick the mistletoe berries off of it before bringing it home though.  Those were poisonous and not to be brought into the house.

Once we had everything, we’d head back and show Mom what we’d found.  She’d pick out which tree we’d use and Dad would put it in the Christmas Tree Stand.  (It would be the kids’ job to make sure it stayed watered during its stay in the house.)   The trees were never the right shape since they had grown in the wild, so they usually had to be shaped into the typical Christmas tree shape before taking them into the house.  The main thing was that they had no gapping bare spots that couldn’t be hidden by turning that side toward the wall. 

Wreath flocked with
Ivory Soap Flakes "snow"

While we were gone, Mom would have cleared out the space where the tree was going to go that year.  Several years she put “snow” on the tree by mixing Ivory Soap Flakes with water (recipe here) and carefully placing it on the tips of each limb.  It was a messy process that was done outside, but made the tree look like it had been snowed on.  Once the tree was inside, Dad put the lights on the tree (the ones with the big screw-in bulbs, not LED like we have today), and then ducked out to leave the rest of the decorating to Mom and us kids.  One of the first things Mom always did was to cut the top out of the tree.  It became a big joke as years went by, but there was a method to her seeming madness.  These days, I understand why… the star (or angel or whatever) that was on top wouldn’t stand up straight on the flimsy top of those trees, so the only thing a body could do was snip - snip and get down to a small branch that was sturdier. 

My daughter's Name Ornament on my tree

Mom would spend all day, and sometimes into the next, completing the decorations all around the house… every shelf, every outer door, every windowsill, even the mailbox… the house was transformed into a magical land of dreams come true.    We always had an ornament that had our name on it (written with the “snow” that Mom made for the tree… a tradition that I carried on to my kids when they were small (though the names were written with glitter fabric paint instead of snow), and still put them on my tree each year.  One of my favorite things to do, after Mom finished decorating, was to turn off the lights in the room where the Christmas Tree was and lay on the floor and look up at the tree.  If you squint your eyes just right, the whole room is filled with streams of colored light, twinkling like magic.  My favorite lights we put on the tree were what we always called Bubble Lights.  They were in the shape of a candle with a bulbous “stand”.  The “candle” part was glass and filled with some sort of colored liquid that would bubble when the light heated it up.  Years ago, I found a remake of those types of lights and was as thrilled as a kid on Christmas morning to add that to my Christmas decorations that year. 

Believe!

Everything that happened during this time of the year just added to the overall excitement that us kids experienced each and every year.  Every day built on the excitement of the day before, and when Christmas Day finally arrived, we were nearly giddy….  But that part of the story will have to wait for another day. 

Make memories, hold to family traditions… for it is on those memories that the bonds of family and friends are woven.  Wishing each of you a Christmas full of blessings, joy, and the love of those most dear to you.

~ Merry Christmas ~