I had originally planed to write this post a little nearer to Christmas but I just cannot wait to tell you about the things that make Christmas more than just another day for me.
Music, I have talked about it recently and I feel it is worth repeating that I believe Christmas music is the most heartfelt music ever written. If that music is performed by anyone with a true love for the subject, it is almost too beautiful for description. Two of my favorite Christmas albums are; Joy by Jewel, two standout songs are O Holy Night and Ave Maria, and Celine Dion's These Are Special Times, her duet with Andrea Bocelli singing The Prayer is quite simply beautiful. The truth is I have too many favorite Christmas albums to name them all and they range from the very commercial Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer soundtrack with Burl Ives to the deeply religious offerings of artists from around the world. In short, music is the cradle in which all the other symbolic imagery sleeps.
Lights; in just another week or two it will be nearly impossible to go anywhere and not see Christmas lights. Even the standard year in year out neon signs at the local diner manage to glow a little more brightly. As poor as we were, there were two things we never went without at Christmas, they were oranges and a Christmas tree. And while I can sincerely say the magic of Christmas would still be there in my heart even if I had neither of these things, I will admit that some small part of me would miss them. I have a vivid memory of laying on my mother's couch as a child and staring at the lights on the tree, completely mesmerized by the twinkling dancing lights that seemed to be emanating from somewhere in the mysterious depths of the pine branches. I would stare at those magical lights for hours on end, turning my head to different angles, and climbing onto the chair back, then lying on the floor, and squinting my eyes and staring at the reflection of the lights on the newly painted sub-flooring.
Snow; oh my, the first snow of winter, for as long as I can remember I spent every day after the first golden leaf fell in early autumn waiting for that magical mystical snow. Children do not see snow the way we do. They see fuzzy, fluffy flakes that are lighter than air; they stick out their tongues to taste the sweet icy goodness of mystery and the moment a flake touches their tongues they burst into delighted squeals of laughter. They see their very world change before their eyes as the snow begins to accumulate, where they once knew a flowerbed to be is now nothing but a vast white carpet. Children are I think, incapable of seeing snow as we do. They would never imagine that schools close for safety reasons or that their parents worry about the commute to work. And that, I think, is how the first snow continues to be magical.
Magic is in the air and the music and the snow and the light. It is in us, around us and for us. All we have to do is enjoy it.
Just in case you are curious, the reason I could not wait to tell you some of the reasons that this is my favorite time of year is that I got to do something today that I have wanted to do since I was knee-high to Rudolph. We put up our Christmas tree today (before Thanksgiving!), I can't believe it but we did.
There is always hope.
Betty
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