Is It Still the Holidays?

Some of my neighbors take the outdoor Christmas lights down the day after Christmas and many trees will be out in the trash tomorrow. Others leave the lights up until Easter causing some kind of seasonal disconnect. Somewhere in between fall the Twelve Days of Christmas. These were the days my parents considered The Holidays. They put the tree up on Christmas Eve after I went to bed and I first glimpsed it on Christmas morning when I came out to see if Santa came.

We kept the tree and decorations up until January 6th, Epiphany. Then the church would have a service and a giant bonfire and all the trees burning would light up the sky. This year my little artificial sparkling tree (on the hutch out of reach of Skye and Ember) was up early as we had a Solstice Celebration on the 20th. It will stay up another ten days. I have no plans to burn it. But I will continue to turn on the holiday lights until the 6th.

So yes…it is still the holidays for me. The mail this week will bring cards and gifts from friends who can’t seem to get their act together before the 25th and who shopped and mailed late. Midwest weather may have interfered with postal competence. Or maybe I won’t hear from them this year. It seems more and more people are cutting back on this simple gesture. A few cents postage seems a small cost for preserving friendships. The once a year greeting is so welcome and I am always glad to read the newsletters that some send. But some people are “too busy” or “overwhelmed” by the massive merchandising onslaught to keep in touch. Or I have fallen off the “A List.” In any event, I continue with my own rituals and I am still enjoying The Holidays.