I went Christmas shopping last week but I didn’t drive through a Winter Wonderland to get to the mall, no children were lined up in the mall for their turn with Santa Claus and truth be told, I can’t even recall if there were Christmas songs playing inside. If not for the winter coats and hats and some holiday decorations, you could mistake this day for any in July. The one notable exception of course, were the masks, everyone was wearing one because everyone has to wear one. Whoville had been infiltrated, this much was clear, but the threat to Christmas 2020 didn’t come from the green ghoul living in his cave on Mount Crumpit. This is something more sinister, isn’t it? Let’s be honest, if the Grinch showed up and tried to steal my presents I’d shoot the sonofabitch. But I can’t see this Grinch, nobody can. And this Grinch is more insidious than the one we grew up watching, the one who pillaged all of Whoville. This Grinch is attempting to steal from us residents of Whoville the one thing that the ugly, green fella couldn’t – our Christmas Magic!
You don’t believe in the magic of Christmas? You have waited for that Hallmark moment for years now and it’s never happened so none of the hype is real? Well, life is far from Hallmark, I think 2020 has proven that, and besides, those movies suck! No, really! Trust me, there is magic but it isn’t always obvious and sometimes it takes years to discover how fantastic the moment really was. Or maybe it isn’t one big moment but a series of brief snapshots of joy that you seem to always fondly remember.
I don’t enjoy working Christmas. Through bad luck and circumstance I managed to find myself doing just that, three years in a row. This year was to be different. This year we were going to re-discover that spirit that was lost so long ago. I booked the time off between Christmas and New Year’s to ensure a full Happy Holiday experience. This year we would attend community concerts, make those always planned for but never followed through on visits to friends, maybe do Christmas dinner theatre. I even thought it would be cool to again do a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Well, yeah, none of that is going to happen – fucking Covid! So now what?
I bet a lot of you are feeling the same thing. Well, Grumpymarty is on a mission to find Christmas and I am going to find it one way or another. If community-based events were no longer an option, then we would find other ways to celebrate the season. The first thing Max and I decided to do was a baking day. We did it old school too – cook books were combed through and a variety of cookies, squares and tarts were decided on. A day was chosen ahead and dedicated to this endeavor. It actually took more than one day but in the end we smashed out a lot of goodies and it was great fun. And what about Christmas specials on tv? As kids, we only had a few channels to choose from and it this time of the year you were inundated with holiday themed programming. Much of it was terrible but it helped with keeping the spirit up. This year, with not being allowed to go out for our entertainment, why not search out those specials? We make it a point to watch at least one Christmas themed show every day. Some are good and some not so much but who cares, it’s Christmas! Still waiting for Charlie Brown though – come on people, ol’ Chuck is the best, and Snoopy? Yeah, I watch that one every year if I can. Another thing we did was take some of that Christmas baking, fill up our Yeti’s with hot chocolate and head into town for a look at the Christmas lights. We’ve made one trip already and plan on making one more prior to the big day. Not everyone is up to Griswaldian heights but well done people – you have lit up the night! Belleview and Coleman? We loved the downtown and the efforts made to brighten an otherwise dreary year. Oh yeah, and lets not forget the tree – we spent one evening trimming and decorating the tree.
What more is to be done? On Christmas Eve if home, I enjoy a skate on the pond and will do so again this year if it is actually cold enough (the ice right now isn’t great). Marshmallows and hot dogs are also to be roasted if weather permits. The last time we did this on Christmas Eve it was -25 and there was very little roasting done. The fear this year its hurricane force winds (have I ever mentioned how much I hate the fucking wind?) that may be preventing us from enjoying a nice burn.
My point is, there is shit that can be done. Christmas this year is not normal. Nothing this year is normal. Much of this craziness is completely out of our control. But like the good citizens of Whoville, we can’t let it get to us. There is Christmas magic waiting for us but we need to keep our eyes open to discover it. I think what you will find is that it is you who is the magic maker.