Christmas Spirit

Starting this past weekend we catapulted ourselves into the Christmas season. It actually began a bit on Saturday night, when we got our tree.

Sunday morning I stumbled out of the bedroom to feed Tiny and saw snow on the ground outside our house. I fed Tiny (because he would not have allowed otherwise) and then ran back into the bedroom exclaiming, "It snowed! It's the first snow!" as I bounced on the bed to wake Jason up. He was not as thrilled since he was also really sleepy and sleep trumps snow any day in his world, but I was happy. It was just a light dusting, and the flurries continued off and on all day.

At church we did the Primary Christmas play, which was a lot of fun. The little kids loved the halos I made, and even the big kids giggled when I put Joseph and the shepherds in their costumes (striped dish towels with a headband around the forehead to hold the towels on their heads. They looked like Linus in "A Charlie Brown Christmas".). I only made 2 crowns for the wise men because I only wrote parts for 2 wise men. Frankly, our attendance has been down, so I was trying to make sure there were enough parts for the big kids, without overwhelming the little kids. Well, we had a bumper crop of kids in Primary on Sunday. I had one big kid and one little kid be wise men, but then the little kid's friend decided he wanted a crown too. The big kid very nicely let the other little kid wear the crown (with some prodding from his teacher).

Anyway, I think it went well, and the kids were very cute. If I'm still in Primary next year, I really want to start in early November and do an actual play with the kids that we can put on for their parents.

Immediately after church we drove up to Cambridge so Jason could get to his Evensong rehearsal. Even though it was pretty cold, I decided to go for a walk rather than just sitting around waiting for the service to start. I walked down Mt. Auburn Street for awhile and then cut up to Brattle Street. Brattle Street and the surrounding side streets make up one of my favorite areas of Cambridge. Brattle is where a lot of the old colonial and Tory homes are, and I love walking along, pausing to read the historic markers.

One house has these bronze statues of people in the yard that I have noticed in the past. As I walked by on Sunday, I realized that as part of their Christmas decorations they had put holly wreaths around the heads of the statues, which I thought was great. I moseyed up through Harvard Square and made it back to Christ Church just in time for the service. All told, I walked for a little more than an hour. I think I may do that more in the future when we go up there for Jason's rehearsals.

After Evensong, we went to a friend's house for her Christmas caroling party. I had a blast, singing Christmas songs classic and cheesey, and catching up with friends, including one who I hadn't seen since she moved back to Boston several months ago. I don't think Jason had quite as good a time as I did because he didn't know as many people, but I really enjoyed seeing everyone, and even joking around with complete strangers. It made me realize that no matter how much the singles ward drove me crazy, I do miss the fun parties and socializing that went on. I made tentative plans with a couple of people to get together after the new year, so I'm looking forward to that.

We drove back to Providence and decorated the Christmas tree. Jason and my Christmas ornaments don't exactly coordinate. I have been collecting ornaments for years, buying a few every season, and receiving some as gifts. I like classy decorations, leaning toward Victorian style, in jewel tones and gold. Jason has a talking Darth Vader ornament and several Simpsons characters strewn about the tree. It's kind of funny to see it all blended together on one tree.

Last night we went to see A Christmas Carol at the Trinity Rep in Providence. They put on a good show, and in a twist had a black man playing Scrooge and a black woman who was a narrator/spirit, and tied the play together with a couple of Gospel songs. So I am already a total sap when it comes to A Christmas Carol and cry during the end of pretty much every version I ever see*, plus during the last pages of the book when I read it. I love the message of redemption and as I get older and realize how flawed I truly am, it really speaks to me of the redemptive message that is highlighted throughout the Christmas season. But then you tack on some heartfelt Gospel music, like they did last night, and I'm just a mess. I managed to hide the tears, though. It was really lovely.

Also, the Ghost of Christmas Present was kind of a Willy Wonka-type character with a red velvet cape and a red cruiser bicycle, and minions bouncing around singing "Sleigh Ride" and basically attacking Scrooge with Christmas cheer. Hilarious.

*That includes Scrooged, the sometimes foul-mouthed version of the story starring Bill Murray. Seriously, though, that ending? Tears rolling down my face.