Every year, after January 1, my heart is bathed with a low-grade sadness that seems to leach into the bloodstream and is death to smiles. This feeling is not a massive depression, rather it is a kind of deeply remembered sense of loss. We seem to have transitioned from a world marked by many days of tasty nog to the many weeks of the daily slog. In 92128 the Christmas decor is being packed up and hoisted into the community’s many attics. We have surely left the season of delight and returned to the drab season of de-light. Darkness seems to be gaining on us. In 92128 older folks are up on ladders removing the twinkling bulbs from the eaves. Frosty and the reindeer are disappearing into plastic bags ready for a protracted nap. The beautiful Christmas star at the end of our street will not shine for a very long time.
We are about to tip over into a new year and leave the deadliest year in American history. It is hard to conceive of a good outcome when we collectively meet the Ghost of Christmas Future. In 2021 all will not be bright. Not everyone will be home for Christmas.
Scrooge was reminded to “keep Christmas well” and that seems like a very good idea. We must make the effort to make the spirit of the holidays last. When we decorated the tree, every ornament came with a narrative …we got this one from Grandma. We got this one on our trip to Paris…and so on. Sadly , when the ornaments came down there were no heartwarming stories; each bauble was unceremoniously bubble wrapped and shoved into a tub for next year. We need to fight back.
I will not take down the mistletoe and I will find new ornaments to hang all the year through. The Gang of Eight are already decorating the bare branches of the scary year 2021. The reading and studying are up. Some are festooning their days with running, walking, home projects, binge watching, cooking experiments and political activism. That is the spirit. In time there will be a narrative attached to each and every new experience and the light will grow. It will take some focused effort to keep our Christmas cheer alive as we venture into the unknown.
In spite of everything the Gang is soldiering on and refusing to put their lights in storage. I fervently hope for good outcomes for all that are suffering and I admire those who “keep Christmas well” in their hearts. May we all be gifted with grace in what looks like a tough year.
God bless us…every one.
Olio Folio 
Jim –
There is a street near us – Peacock Lane – that has many smaller older houses, all of which decorate to the
max every Christmas season. There may even be a covenant among the neighbors that stipulates a requirement
to decorate, but I’m not sure about that.
No doubt there are many such places across the country, but this one happens to be a notable one for Portland.
On one occasion there was an estate sale on the block and I went more to see the inside of one of these houses
than to look for anything to buy. True to the spirit of the street, the ENTIRE HOUSE was FULL of Christmas stuff.
EVERYTHING in there had wreaths, Santa images, reindeer, you name it. The basement was FULL of lawn and
yard decorations from years past including sleighs, reindeer, elves, etc. Foil ‘Merry Christmas” hangings. Coke
items with Santa. Dishes. And this was after the sale had been going on for a while with the place packed with
browsers. I like Christmas, too, but this was a bit like the legend of Groucho telling a contestant that he liked his
cigar but he took it out once in a while.
We took the tree down last weekend and in a few minutes it was reduced to neatly sliced off branches and
the trunk sawn into pieces, all to go in the green recycling bin, which has now been picked up and is off to the
mulching station. The stockings that were hung by the chimney with care are now in a plastic bin until next year.
This is why they call it ‘the Christmas season’. It comes to an end at some point. But I look forward to the next
one. . .
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Yes it comes to an end and the kitsch can be aggravating but don’t you think mistletoe is a damn good idea every day ?!
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Yes to the mistletoe! Every chance!
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