The holidays and thoughts of nostalgia

The holidays have once again crept up on us.  For me, it is a time of looking back at times of my life that have come and gone . . . never to return again. Happy and sad at the same time!  Sad because they are just memories and happy because the wonderful memories were lived and experienced.

It seems like the older I get, the more nostalgic I become about the holidays . . . I imagine it is a natural occurrence for everyone as our "normal" becomes nostalgia as time moves on.

Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet and we are bombarded with Christmas commercials.  Actually, if I remember correctly, the push from retailers started before Halloween this year.  In some stores, as the Halloween displays went up, so did the shelves get stocked with Christmas stuff.

There is one rush to Christmas that I have enjoyed this year . . . the Hallmark Channel on cable television has a Christmas movie marathon going on that started last week.  After being consumed with the harsh reality of politics, bad economics and bad news in general, I am thoroughly enjoying the festive movies.  Seems like for a time I can get lost in festive pleasantry.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the channels kicking in their holiday seasons.

One of the movie themes was Christmas ornaments and brought back so many memories of past Christmas seasons and the new ornaments that were a tradition until JR died.  I'll have to do a post about Christmas ornaments past and present . . . they are a special part of Christmas.

Doesn't it also seem like as time goes by, the older we get, time itself seems to move faster?  It feels like last year's holiday season just ended and it is upon us again.  

I've been so involved in my new life with a new husband (well, it has been over 2 years since we got married), Kiki the dog, Mimi Luna the cat and what's going on now that I have neglected this blog in a bad way!  

The approaching holidays have changed that.

I hope to be inspired to write more nostalgic posts and encourage The Captain to do the same.  Between us, there is a wealth of nostalgia waiting to ponder upon.

Holiday Classics

Would you believe I saw The Miracle on 34th Street

for the first time the other night?  

The holiday classics hold special nostalgic feelings for me . . . 

they capture a place in time that was so magical.  

The movie took me back to the days when we would go with my Nana to visit her sisters and brothers on Thanksgiving morning.  I remember the smells of Thanksgiving dinners being prepared and tables of pastries laid out on tables in the dining rooms.  The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was always playing in the background.  I felt so special joining the adults in a cup of cafe con leche to go with the pastries.  Great memories I will never forget!

It also made me think of how the world would react if Santa came to us as a real person as he did in the movie.  Would we be skeptical or believing?  Since I was devastated to find out he didn't really exist, it always made me think of how awesome it would be if he were real and imagine what he would be like as a person.  The movie pleasantly helped to fill in some of those gaps.

It made me sad to see Natalie Wood as a sweet little girl, knowing her life was cut short by a horrible accident.  She was so beautiful, even as a child!

Although I love the old movies, the animated holiday cartoons of my time really bring back the warm and fuzzy Christmas magic.  Rudolf and the Grinch That Stole Christmas were my favorites, although I still love them all.  The Grinch always reminded me of my dad . . .

Happy Holidays!

Christmas past and that silver Christmas tree

This is an older Christmas post!

As the Captain and I have the Christmas boxes in from the storage shed, going through my collection of Christmas stuff and anticipating decorating for Christmas, it got me to thinking back on Christmas past when I was a child.

Although I have always had a fascination of everything sparkly and flashy, I was never too keen on the silver tree with the revolving light, making the tree seem to turn colors.

In fact, I hated that tree.

How did that fad catch on anyway?

Yuck!  It was an awful looking tree!

There is something about a green tree with tinsel, flashing lights, homemade popcorn garland, and the toy ornaments that did  something for me.  That silver tree felt cold and sterile.

Something that bugged me about that silver tree is that it just didn't go with the nativity scene and the little houses that were lit up at the bottom of the tree.  And the sweet little plastic glittery deer I loved to  play with were not welcome at the foot of that silver tree.  It was a different "Christmas look."

The "normal" green Christmas tree was a tremendous fascination for me, I loved all those festive little things that were banished from the silver tree . . . I could sit on the floor by the tree  and be entertained for hours . . . but not the silver one.

We had a Christmas tradition that involved the neighbors . . . stringing popcorn garlands for everyone's Christmas trees. This was done every year . . . a total of three families got together with lots of bowls overflowing with popcorn to eat and string. It was loads of fun sitting around stringing popcorn after dinner, drinking hot chocolate and singing along with the Christmas music playing. The party was always hosted by our next door neighbors who never had one of those awful silver trees.

Funny thing about this annual party . . . we also helped decorate their tree . . . it was part of the festivities.   The next door neighbors had no children, so they kind of adopted us neighbor kids and loved to spoil us throughout the year. The funny thing . . . and looking back in the real world as an adult, not really funny, but sad . . . anyway, Tom (the next door neighbor) was a serious drinker who insisted on putting the topper on the tree AFTER it was decorated later in the evening when he was a bit lit up himself from way too much booze. The problem was that he would always fall into the tree and come out laughing . . . then everyone helped to tidy it back up.

It was also traditional for him to fall into the shrubs putting the outside lights up.  The neighborhood men always made sure to be around to help him back up when he would holler for help.  He never failed to end up there!

LOL He was quite a character!

Those Christmas memories of my childhood are rather sad since almost everyone involved have passed away or moved away, a time in place that has truly moved on.  However, I fondly think of them every Christmas and smile at the thought of Tom's big butt hanging out of the tree.

Happy Holidays!