The Christmas Season Begins

Started off a clear, cold day at the Acme for early work. Work was dead for most of the day. It's too early for people to spend beginning-of-the-month money or start stocking up for Hanukkah later this week, and much too early to start preparing for Christmas meals and baking.

There was one incident this morning, but for once, it was fun. We had a group of kindergartners come through on a school trip. They were utterly adorable, and so well-behaved! They each got to say "Merry Christmas" on the intercom. One boy said "Feliz Navidad!" It was just precious.

After I came home, I changed into a warm pine-green turtleneck and pulled out the crate with the Christmas garlands. Mom made most of the garlands for our old house in North Cape May, but by the time I moved to Wildwood, she'd gotten fed up with putting them up on every window and gave some of them to me.

I can kind of see Mom's point. I got so fed up with trying to tack the heavy garlands into the wood-paneled walls of my apartment, I've started twist-tying most of them to unused curtain rods. (The exception is the one over the window overlooking Veteran's Park. That's where I put the tree, and I don't want the garland falling on it.)

The effect is worth it. The windows look so festive, covered with white and red fake greenery garlands. The one over the windows in the bedroom and and kitchen have gold bows and are wrapped with red beads. The one on the window overlooking the path going to my apartment has a red and green velvet book dangling from the center - it was the garland for the windows in my room when I lived with my parents. The tree window garland is wrapped in gold foil ribbons. The one over the windows in the dining area overlooking the porch is long and thick. It used to hang on the banister at North Cape May, and then was used for the downstairs windows.

Had honey-glazed carrots, spinach and cherry tomato salad, a slice of whole-wheat baguette bread, and the last of the leftover chicken fingers for dinner while watching two documentaries on holiday history. Linda Young sent me both for Christmas presents in November 2007, and I've watched them every late November since as a way to inaugurate my Christmas season by learning more about the history of its customs.

Christmas Past covers English Christmas history, especially older Pagan customs, customs that came from the Victorian and World War I holidays, and how Scotland didn't really catch onto Christmas until the 20th Century. (I had no idea about the last-named until I saw this special.) My favorite part of the special are the wonderful stories told by older ladies and gentlemen who recall their own Christmases or tales their parents and grandparents told them of holidays of old. I love the Earl who talked about Christmas for the British gentry, the woman who had been evacuated from London during World War II and spoke of how different Christmas was for her in the country, and the female Santa Claus.

The History Channel's Christmas Unwrapped moves across the pond to discuss American Christmas traditions. Alas, there's fewer genuine reminiscences than I'd like, although we do get some nice tales of the mid-20th Century American holidays from Christmas Story author Jean Sheopard. We do, however, get more details on early Christmas celebrations, including how the Puritans banned Christmas in England...and the British citizens fought to get it back.