Deck the Halls

Kris and I have been decorating our Christmas tree this afternoon. One string of lights didn't work, so we have fallen back onto a string of all red lights and decided to continue the ut theme with red ornaments. (No jokes about our red light district please.)

I've been going through other Christmas rituals this week. Movies on tap have been "The Holiday" with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, and "Love Actually" with a large cast, mostly of Brits. Next will be "A Christmas Story," the story of a small boy and his quest for a genuine Red Ryder bb gun and everyone's favorite "It's a Wonderful Life," reserved for Christmas eve.

Both of the first two movies are about love lost and found at Christmas time, with a bow to Channukah in "The Holiday." In "Love Actually" there's a school representation of the manger scene with the strangest collection of animals to witness the birth of Jesus ever contemplated -  all aquatic beasties. No donkey or lamb, but a whale, a lobster, an octopus, and for some reason, a spider.

On a slightly more intellectual level, I've read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol again, which I do every year. I was struck this year by how rich Dickens' prose is. Mostly though, I remember my father reading the story to us every year and how much  I enjoyed it, and miss him. The story can be summed up very quickly of course. Old Ebenezer Scrooge, stingy and greedy to the core, has a little too much to drink on Christmas eve, has a series of nightmares and awakens on Christmas morning a changed man. The story thereby highlights the potential we all have to reform our lives and achieve true happiness. It's timeless, really, though Dickens places it firmly in nineteenth century London. In fact, we always had ttrouble with his descriptions, hearing the story in Miami. Fog and frost were unknown to us and we couldn't fathom the importance of cold weather in the tale.

As I type this I'm watching/listening to a production of "The Nutcracker" on PBS - never a favorite part of the Christmas season to me but it does certainly fit in with this time of year.

And I promise I will read and reflect on the gospel stories in Matthew and Luke concerning the birth of Jesus before Christmas day. Once again, a merry Christmas to all friends and family. For those of you in northern climes, I hope it will be white.