Ready or not, the Christmas season has dropped in on us, and no matter what cards have been dealt to us in the off-season, it is happening.
The. Christmas. season. Happening. Right. Now. As we speak.
As I have mentioned in my previous columns, I have not been feeling up to snuff for the last little while and I certainly was not feeling ready to celebrate anything, let alone Christmas.
But, even at my great age, I discovered life had a way of teaching me yet another lesson and I needed to pay attention to just what that lesson might be.
And so, I did. I paid attention.
And the lesson I learned was that it is okay to slow down, the world will not fall of its axis and so far anyway, I have found that most people still like me.
Whew! What a relief.
I also learned it’s okay to take a nap every afternoon. In fact, it’s very delightful.
I have also realized just sitting and listening to someone play the hauntingly beautiful age-old Christmas carols on the piano on a still, white afternoon in a deep, dark December is not a waste of time.
It is a gift.
Afternoon visits such as the one I received today from long-time friends have been another delightful gift. They came bearing a beautiful Christmas centrepiece, fresh baking, and a whole Santa bag full of shared memories.
And I learned it is okay to binge-watch Christmas movies, which have, kind of like the Christmas elf, started showing up, everywhere.
Last night we watched ‘The Christmas story’ about a kid who desperately wanted a BB gun for Christmas. The two men who watched it with me very much related to the show as they had both wanted a BB gun for Christmas in their younger years.
I so enjoyed watching these men chuckle as they recalled their own growing-up years. One scene in the movie showed this boy, who was probably about 10 years-of-age, sticking out his tongue on a frost-covered metal flagpole after being triple dog dared to do so. Of course, his tongue got attached to the flagpole and all three of us watching the show in that room cringed in horror.
“Did you ever do that?” one guy asked the other. “No, did you?” he replied.
“I did,” he said, shuddering at the memory. “And you weren’t even triple dog dared?” the other guy said with a laugh.
One of my favorite Christmas movies, other than the all famous’ A Christmas Carol,’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Clause.”
And, so we watched that one, too.
I was, of course, delighted.
“You know sitting in cozy slightly overdecorated living room with the fireplace burning cheerfully watching ‘Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus’ is an excellent way to be spending an evening, I said to my companions.
Unfortunately, I noticed they both had nodded off in my cozy living room with the fireplace blazing cheerfully and red and gold Christmas decorations spilling out everywhere.
I smiled.
I enjoyed today. Very much.
Treena Mielke is a Central Alberta writer. She lives in Sylvan Lake with her family.