As is our family tradition, we put up our Christmas tree this evening; we never do it before the weekend of Gaudete Sunday, and try to do it on that day or as soon as possible afterward. I once heard that a very orthodox Catholic priest gave as his strong opinion that Catholics shouldn't put up the tree, lights, or any other decorations until late afternoon or evening on Christmas Eve. When I heard this, I smiled, and thought that in the first place I was glad this was an opinion, not a law, and that in the second place only someone who lived in a house without children could think for a moment this was even physically possible to accomplish in the time between "late afternoon" and Midnight Mass (which probably begins at some hour other than midnight, these days) for most families.
We were all dragging a bit with our decorating until we noticed that with the seventy-degree plus temperatures here today the house was rather hot. It's insane to turn on the air conditioning for a bit to keep from overheating while decorating one's Christmas tree, isn't it? But it was either that or ransack the garage for all the girls' shorts and tee shirts which I foolishly packed away, believing that summer was finally over.
It will be tomorrow, though--forecast is for a high of 35.
Fortunately, Obama will solve global warming, and we won't have such temperature extremes anymore, right? He's got to get busy, too, according to this. If the survival of humanity really depended on how quickly consensus could be reached in Washington, though--well, let's just say I'm thinking a disaster film, with the working title "Death in Committee."
What I want to know is when the Democrats will commission a study showing the effect burning down Sarah Palin's church had on carbon emissions; in that way, if the perpetrators never end up being charged with a hate crime, we could see to it that they at least have to pay an environmental fine.
Meanwhile, in ugly political infighting it was learned today that the rumors that the Obama's eventual choice of dog breed might be influenced by unnamed Chicago politicians were sourced to Joe Biden's new German shepherd puppy, who is eager to seize "top dog" spot before the First Dog is chosen and arrives in town. The puppy had no comment, but a spokescat hinted at "training issues" and said the pooch would meet with a behavioral specialist.
And by all of the above facetiousness, I'm thinking you've already guessed that I'm signing out, and handing the wheel back over to the Crunchy Captain. As always, I've enjoyed blogging here tremendously--this is a unique place, and whether we agree or disagree there's always something interesting to think about when all is said and done.
That said, I'm done! See you back in the comboxes!
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I agree Therese. I read about people who are so overwhelmed by all the "have" to do for Christmas and it usually involves crazy things like making gift bags for every child in your child's classroom, brownie troop, sports team. etc. Or as you say, changing out curtains and dishes. (Which also involves storing said dishes and curtains...) Growing up we often put the tree up Christmas eve, but it wasn't something hidden, we all helped with the deocrating. Also, when we were overseas the tree was artificial because Christmas trees were not a tradition where we lived.
Thanks for your great work on the blog, Erin. Have a Merry Christmas.
One of the things I found most disconcerting about my time in Texas was shopping for a Christmas tree in a t-shirt. That's just wrong.
But, having said that, does there have to be one right way of doing Christmas? It is even worthwhile to ponder what that one right way would be? I used to know a very wonderful devout Catholic lady with some huge number of children. Every Christmas the little townhouse where she lived with her second husband (both widowed the first time) was filled with more tchotchkes than I could have imagined--antique Santas, reindeer, wreaths of berries, greens, and fruit, bowls of votive lights and red glass beads, old dolls with their own Christmas stockings, etc. etc. Not to mention her cherished collection of Polish china. Having this at my house would have driven me right around the bend, but she was so sweet in offering her hospitality and so proud of her fixings. I'm sure it would have crushed her spirit to read the mind of a guest and see there the judgment that she couldn't possibly "know, love and serve the Lord" and have all those tchotchkes. We don't put up a lot of outside lights, and many people in our neighborhood do. Perhaps they feel we are letting down the side and that we're not in the Christmas spirit, but if they do, I'd rather not hear about it. I enjoy and appreciate all the care they put into their lighting systems, as long as they don't expect me to join in.
Couldn't the Christmas spirit motivate all of us to enjoy to the fullest all the different ways that people celebrate? I like going to other people's houses and seeing how they do things. I don't expect anyone to do it the way I do, because they're not me, and that's probably a good thing! ; ) I do agree that no one should ever feel pressured to have more and do more at Christmas. Have a good time and be with the ones you love, and if anyone tries to tell you that isn't enough, ignore them.
In our household (three young children), we maintain a very strong wall of separation between Advent and Christmas. We usually don't even go out to buy a tree until the 23rd or 24th (which has the added advantage of getting "clearence" trees for five bucks or less), and we never put it up until the 24th. It's usually mid-afternoon when we decorate it, and then we have dinner and go to "midnight" (usually 9pm) Mass.
Even with three young homeschooled children, we have no problem getting the tree up and decorated on the afternoon of the 24th. When I was a child, we always put the tree up much earlier. But I really like this new tradition, as it helps us more fully appreciate both Advent and Christmas.
We have a fifteen year old artificial (which i realize will make some scroll on past right there), and we always set up and decorate on Dec. 6 for St. Nicholas, and take down on Jan. 6 for Epiphany, which gives us some extra traction with the little guy on the idea that the Christmas season has meaning not limited to one date and one set of events -- works for us!
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