From the Observation Deck

I love decorating my house for Christmas. And I love seeing all the decorations around town and the neighborhood. I especially love looking at the houses that go all out. You know, Clark Griswold style. There’s one in every neighborhood. And I’m glad it’s someone else’s house.

We know that outfitting our homes with decorations is fun and helps the economy, but have you ever wondered where the various ideas and traditions came from? We have pretty much managed to tie in various pagan and secular traditions with Christmas themes. I think it’s fine to decorate with trees and lights and poinsettias and plastic deer, just as long as we remember why we are celebrating. The birth of Jesus. It doesn’t matter that He was probably born in the spring, just as long as we celebrate it.

In fact, Christian leaders from long ago—in an attempt to get people to recognize Jesus and become a Christian—often used established celebrations and traditions. Late December was a time that people celebrated the solstice. You can imagine a need for people who didn’t have central heating or refrigerators to have one big blast in the middle of a dreary winter to celebrate life with food, burning logs (Yule log), bringing the only tree that lives during the winter into the house as a sign of life, and singing. The days were short and the winter was long for them. So why not establish Christmas, a time of celebrating salvation (life everlasting), of giving (Christ’s gift to us), and of love and cheer during that time? I love it for all of those reasons.

And plastic Santas with twinkling lights and blow-up reindeer are cool, too.

What?

Everyone has traditions for various holidays and special events. My family has a few at Christmas time.

On Christmas Eve day we go to church for a candlelight service and then for dinner we have fondue. We’ve been doing it at my house for the past few years and so I break out about three fondue pots and put out a spread of cheese, meat, and chocolate fondue. The kids then watch a movie while the grown ups watch our bellies expand before our eyes.

Each year my mom makes a beautiful gingerbread house from scratch. She gives it to the kids and they love it, eating bit by bit until their cat finally gets to it.

Another tradition is leaving goodies out for Santa. Last year Harmon was sick and went to bed early on Christmas Eve, so Tyler decided to do Harmon a favor and put out something of Harmon’s for Santa. It was a nice little art project of the macaroni and marker variety that depicted …wait for it… a menorah. Yup, the boy put out a picture of a menorah for Santa. I can’t even type it without laughing.

That’s all the Christmas traditions I can think of for now. When I was young we spent a few Christmas holidays traveling and my mom would bring along a mini tree with us. But now we pretty much go to my brother’s house and watch the kids open up a plethora of gifts. My brother has our old train set up under his tree and the boys like to play with that. I would say being together is the best tradition of all. That and stocking stuffers.

What are your favorite traditions?

A menorah for Santa

Oh boy, I love snow!

Grandma's gingerbread house

The list. Hmmmm. World peace. Snow. Eradication of hunger, poverty, and violence. All noble and worthy dreams. But let’s talk about the wrapped stuff. I like giving presents and seeing wrapped packages with pretty paper and bows beneath the tree. I love seeing stockings full of fun little stuff.

It’s the shopping and traffic and lines that most of us don’t like. That’s why I heart the Internet.

Kknnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn]]]]ktree

 My apologies—that last line of nonsense is what happens when you leave the laptop open and the cat sits on the keyboard. I’m not sure if I’m freaked out or not that she actually spelled out tree at the end. It could be a coincidence but the cats do love the Christmas tree. They sit underneath it and pretend that it shields them from view. But I digress.

I was talking about the fun of exchanging gifts. Last year I was feeling a bit Grinchy but this year I’m feeling like Tiny Tim. I’m breaking out the credit card and hitting the mall. Or most likely Amazon. What do I want this year? I’ve already got it. A loving family, great friends, a job, and the possibility of some snow. But if you really want to give me something that’s wrapped, I’m okay with that, too. Happy shopping.

Which present should I play with first?