This has been a Christmas of catch-up at our house.
The season is always a busy one, but this year for some reason I’m working about two months behind. It’s constant catch-up at the office, cards and letters are being mailed at the last minute, shopping usually accomplished by mid-November is dragging on.
I have a schedule and I find myself doggedly moving from one task to the other, thankfully crossing off items as I go.
More than ever this year, I’ve enjoyed what I call “Christmas moments,” brief times of peace in the midst of the chaos.
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The first came around Dec. 1 when I had a clear afternoon and decided to put up the tree. Everything was being done in a rush, tree up, find the decorations, slap them on.
I realized that it shouldn’t be this way; the hi fi went on with Elvis’ Christmas album from years ago, the tree lights blinked as I put together our memory tree for another season.
Each year we add a few decorations of meaning to us. This year, there is an oversized Saskatoon berry Santa head from the Berry Barn near Saskatoon, a gilded maple leaf from Ottawa, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler from Gone With The Wind, one of our family’s favorite books, an ornament made out of barbed wire and baling twine from Canadian Western Agribition and of course one marking the passing of 1999.
The decorating ended with hot chocolate and shortbread.
Another Christmas moment came when we hosted our annual supper for friends. I wondered what on earth I was doing having a party with so much work to be done but it was a highlight of the season and the traditional toonie gift exchange was a lot of fun. People went home with a wide assortment of gifts worth no more than a toonie.
The final Christmas moment came at our annual carol festival. I rushed in, sat in the back row telling myself I could leave whenever I wanted to, then got caught up in the music of the season and stayed for the whole thing.
When I went into the hall, we were experiencing the coldest night of the winter so far. We came out into the first blizzard of the season.
Driving home in the blowing snow, the mellow mood persisted. At least there would be a white Christmas.
With the Christmas season upon us and another year and another century, not far behind, from our house to all of yours, I wish you many Christmas moments of peace this season and throughout the year, prosperity, good cheer and, above all, good health.
