A Pre-Christmas Quartet: Random Moments From The Dept.

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Some random moments from around the Dept. lately:

I.  My desire was unusually strong to get our Christmas tree up this year. I very much wanted the pretty lights and decorations which I especially enjoy in the quiet of the early morning. As usual, when we are hanging decorations, I get very sentimental about one in particular. It's a small, faded silver ball that was given to me my first year of teaching. One of my sophomore classes heard me fretting about not having any ornaments for our first tree as a tightly-budgeted newlywed couple, and they each brought in an ornament for me as a Christmas present. This little silver one was from a student whose family had nothing to spare; it was obviously one from their very own tree, and probably used for many, many years.  I still remember her name and her face from 45 years ago, and I always hang her ornament where I can easily see it. 

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II. Even though I have a Christmas tree up and there has been plenty of snow and cold weather (UGH), I am not ready for Christmas music. Honestly, I wonder if I ever will be this year. It seems that I can't find any that doesn't annoy me. Pianos are too plinky for me. Vocals start irritating and distracting me. Organ music makes me feel like I'm in a church or roller rink. Violins make me feel stabby. Jazz, after a while, makes me roll my eyes. And why is it that every Christmas album has some song on it that no one has ever heard of or is just awful? And, speaking of awful, can we just not with Baby, It's Cold Outside? Anyway, what Christmas music are you listening to that isn't terrible (or country) and won't get me Whammed?

III. Scene opens on living room. Nance is in the recliner; Rick is lounging on the couch. The television is on, tuned to the local news.

Weatherman:  Temperatures will remain in the upper 30s, near 40 degrees. Rain will move in, followed by a wintry mix and then more snow. Wind gusts will be strong--

Nance:  Rick! Go hook up the hose.

Rick:  (turns to look at her with fear and disbelief) Whaaat?

Nance:  Go get the hose and spray the front and back yards. I want to be able to see all grass before it snows again. Just once. Even for a minute.

Rick:  (looks at her carefully; he is gauging her level of seriousness) Nance. I--

Nance:  Rick. If I really, really needed you to do this for me, would you? Would you go out there and spray down the yard so that I could see grass if I absolutely had to?

Rick:  Yes. Of course I would. But in the back yard. I don't want the neighbours to see me and think I'm nuts.

End Scene.

IV.  My longtime readers know I have a Cow Obsession. I've loved them since I was a child, and I still dream of owning one (yes, a real one). My kitchen has a black and white Holstein cow theme, and I might be the only woman alive who isn't offended when someone says, "I saw this cow and thought of you." On Saturday, I saw Theo and we talked all about his Christmas tree, and then we talked about mine. I told him, while counting off on my fingers, "Theo, Nana has 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 cows on her Christmas tree! What do you think about that?" He looked at me, shook his head, and said admonishingly, "Nana! Too many cows, Nana." And then he just leaned back and laughed and laughed. 

Everyone's a critic, you know?

As I'm writing this, the grass we finally saw is already covered in the snow they predicted. It's flying thick and fast, propelled by those high wind gusts. No, I will never think it's pretty, and I do not care whether or not we have a white Christmas. More and more, I like the idea of the kind of Christmas my Vacation Cow ornament looks like he's celebrating. That gives me an idea:  maybe I need to look for some reggae Christmas music. That, as they used to say, just might Be My Jam.