November, but holidays on the horizon

It’s late November. Some of us are still recovering from the Thanksgiving feast, or transitioning from turkeys to reindeer on display. 

Those who don’t observe the Shop Till You’re Beyond Broke religion have other holidays during this season. I won’t even attempt to name them all as some have been observed for thousands of years and others are what I consider made up holidays although National Cookie Day on December 4 sounds interesting.

In addition to shopping for the perfect present that will be donated or tossed in the trash as soon as we leave, there are the unending charities asking for money. The problem is that we don’t check out the charities before donating. If we did we would be appalled to find out that most of our donation ends up in the pockets of the person at the top of the organization rather than to the people or animals we are hoping to save. 

On that note, I need to share that I absolutely despise the tragedy filled voice imploring me to adopt a pet or send a payment to whatever organization the commercial is promoting. 

I always feel that if they really care about the bedraggled dog or cat then they would adopt them themselves. The same goes for the poor people of wherever. 

Wouldn’t it accomplish more if the money that was spent on the making of the commercial was used to help the people in question?

Back to the holidays. In these parts, Christmas is the ultimate party. A savior is born and we must celebrate. 

Some years I don’t put up a proper tree, reasoning that I’ll have to take it back down in a week or so. Other times I go all out and every Christmas related object we own comes out of storage and is put on display. 

This year I have a few things out, including a tree. 

This is the earliest I ever put up a tree. So what if it is less than a foot tall? It’s out of the box which is more than I can say for the other decorations. I haven’t put out the nativity yet because Gracie, the cat, likes to knock the pieces onto the floor. She is the reason that the shepherd’s crook is broken.

And, no, glue won’t fix it.

We all know that clothes shrink in the closet but do you also know that Christmas decorations multiply in their totes? How else to describe the ornaments overflowing their storage space? 

There was air space in the totes once upon a time a long, long time ago. Now everything gets squashed together with hopes that nothing will break. 

Most of my Christmas cacti are in full bloom. They have been bred to bloom at Thanksgiving rather than Christmas so I probably should call them Thanksgiving cacti. We used to have a ritual in the weeks before Christmas. Mom would call all excited to say that her cactus had one or two blooms. I never told her that my plants were covered with oversized blossoms. Odd, that certain things still remind me of her. 

I received an early Christmas present last week. 

A faithful reader was going through her late father’s possessions and came upon a stack of woodcarving related magazines. She packed them up and gave them to me to keep or share. It was such a heartfelt gesture and a way to honor her dad’s memory by giving his magazines to someone who shared his interest in whittling. I often forget that my words really do make a difference and am always surprised and humbled that not only do people read this column, they act on something I said. 

Sometime in the next few weeks I will continue decorating the house while remembering those who are no longer with us. It is late November and we have a lot to do before we settle in to get through the upcoming winter, including deciding if this is going to be a tree year or not.