a merry little COVID christmas

My mom used to say, “Every day is the same unless you make it different,” to justify her need to festoon her home for every major and minor holiday. Of course, Christmas, as it is for most Christians and Martha Stewart devotees, was her extravaganza. Every indoor surface was garlanded and adorned with holy and jolly knick-knacks. Outside, every bush, door, and window was wreathed, ribboned, and lit with white twinkling lights. It was magical.

One might think she exerted that much creative energy to delight her five kids. Maybe that was her initial motivation, as well as to impress the friends and neighbors who attended the cocktail party at our house after the annual carol sing. However, she has kept up her decorating practices long after her kids left the nest and most of her neighbors moved to Florida. She’s 85 now, no one is coming home for the holiday, and yet her abode is still festively adorned.

You go, Mom!

Although my siblings and I have probably lost a sizable portion of our inheritance to Christmas chatchka, I get it and I applaud her self care. I need to paint my cave too. Especially this year since my nuclear family and I have spent so much time holed up in it. Judging by the many holiday light shows that were installed in our little neighborhood immediately after Thanksgiving, a lot of folks feel the same. I bet that they, like my mom and me, need as much light and whimsy as they can muster during this dark December at the end of an incredibly challenging year.

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I want to say something merry and uplifting at this moment, something to make spirits bright; but, honestly, I’ve exhausted my ho ho hos for this evening. I just wish for you all – everyone I love and care about, everyone I don’t yet know and hope to meet one day – I wish for you all to be healthy. Someday we will kiss under mistletoes and clink our eggnog cups together again. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll do whatever you need to take care of yourself and maybe find some joy during these very different days.

* 6 ft apart 2020 ornament courtesy of clever friend, Jess Wahlstrom.