Christmas decorations make me happy too.
My favorite are artificial (not green fake, but really fake) trees.
One of my first-ish memories is having a metal silver tree in my room one Christmas.
I believe it is when I lived on 6th street in Manhattan Beach. I am not totally sure how long we lived there, but I think we moved out of that place when I was in first grade. Anywho, I don't recall this particular Christmas tree at other houses I lived in, so maybe it was a one off deal.
One night I was in my bed and looking at the tree. I had a radio in my room and there was Christmas music playing...The song "12 Days of Christmas," started playing and I remember thinking to myself that it was like nothing I had ever heard. I am sure the music was to soothe me and send me into slumber-land, but it did quite the opposite. After the song was over, Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," came on and I have a vivid memory of listening to every sound of the piece. Of course, I didn't know anything about it at the time and when I saw the Nutcracker on television for the first time, I was really excited to see the dance along with listening to the music. It was quite a few years later, because I lived in the IE with my dad. The next song was "Deck the Halls," and after that was "Carol of the Bells," with vocals. I fell asleep once the programs switched to regular classical music.
I am interested in the manufactured nostalgia that comes along with Christmas time, and the longing for the sublime. I grew up in Southern California and never celebrated a Christmas in snow. More often than not it was 80 degrees outside on the 25th of December. I have step-siblings that I acquired when I was in high school, who were close to me in age, so there was no sharing a room and the nervous not-sleeping energy of Santa coming down our nonexistent chimney.
However, we have created our own traditions: tuna snowman, driving around looking at lights, and baby cheeses. They are not the ones you see in Hallmark movies, but they work for us.
I guess the manufactured nostalgia is more esoteric than I thought. Hearing the above songs remind me of that night and I now have a growing plastic Christmas tree collection. So...well done?
I think that many folks have a negative reaction about Christmas because it is too commercial, or there is an assumption that everyone is supposed to like AND celebrate Christmas.
That is just plain silly. I don't like football, techno music, or macaroni and cheese. No one else needs to be concerned by this...
With all the craziness happening all over the world right now, it is sometimes difficult for me to focus on what is in front of me. That is why I am doing something for someone who may not have the basics that I take for granted. I am facilitating two separate donation drives at my campus. To me, it is the least I can do.
I hope all have a peaceful new year.
