Holiday plans. An oxymoron if I ever heard one. As if someone could actually – as experts recommend – plan the holidays.
In our family at least, they have always marched in around mid-November and started planning us. Once the holidays are in charge, we’re never sure what will show up – or won’t.
This year, Thanksgiving decided to show up late, and Hanukkah decided to show up early. Son from Arizona showed up for Thanksgiving with Christmas cookies and a cold. Daughter from Chicago (Jewish), who had pledged to make a gluten-free Thanksgivingukkah feast, showed up later than originally planned. But fortunately, her grocery list (47 items) showed up early so she could get right to work.
“Five stores, but I found it all,” I gleefully announced, just about the time in-town family members, already flirting with pneumonia and dodging our cold virus, started calling off sick. Not long after we’d finished the fab feast and lit the fifth Hanukkah candle, my Significant Other showed up with (new tradition here) an Advent Wreath featuring English gardenia tealights and we started lighting everything at once.
Apparently, holy candle-lighting is no defense against germs because within 24 hours, I was sneezing from what I swore was an allergy to English gardenias but which eventually morphed into a sinus infection.
“Please. An antibiotic,” I begged the doctor, in hopes of recovering before a weather-dependent two-day drive to Boston and back to celebrate Christmas and deliver an antique desk to my SO’s son, who now is not sure he wants it.
“We’ll go with or without the desk,” said the SO, which thankfully gave some certainty to where we would spend Christmas and only left open the question of how many clothes or gifts we would be able to transport in a Prius with a fairly large desk. If, of course, the weather cooperated.
That, my daughter pointed out, was a big question mark, as was exactly where and how she was going to celebrate Christmas since she is now unexpectedly off work in time to come home, where no one will be till the weekend after. Assuming no weather complications.
At the moment, the only certainty seems to be the names we drew in the family gift exchange, which we will be having here the weekend after Christmas if we don’t get stranded. We are taking the white (Christmas Day) advent candle with us just in case so we can light it wherever we are and participate via Skype. We’re also certain that we will not be celebrating Hanukkah during Christmas, though as it turns out, the white Advent candle is actually a Shabbat candle made in Israel. It was the only one that fit.
Given our track record, the best approach this season may be to become Buddhist. Not to avoid the other celebrations, but to enhance them. Then, we could know that everything was actually perfect in the present moment and not worry about plans that aren’t.
Ommm….
Copyright 2013 Pat Snyder
