Santa Hats and Cookies

 Merry Christmas - and for those who don't celebrate, Happy Day!

It has been a strange year, so why not make it a slightly strange holiday? I was missing singing at mass last night, something I look forward to every year. The choir would have been working on songs starting at the end of September, and a merry time we would have had!  Last year we were in Williamsburg for Christmas, which was a wonderful time. I didn't sing with the choir last Christmas, and though I sort of missed it, I didn't expect at the time there would barely be any singing for 2020. So, when I tuned in to a live stream of mass last night, seeing all the red poinsettia plants amidst the lit trees, there was a tiny, bittersweet pang of "I wish" in my heart. 

We did put up the tree, and because everything is in storage, we only brought two boxes of ornaments with the tree back to the house. I don't believe I've unveiled DH's plan for 2021 - more on that in the new year. For now, know that many holiday items are in a storage unit, and much of our household will be traveling there to join it all in the coming months.

One box is filled with an assortment of red, burgundy, and gold balls - plus a few other spheres that hold special meaning, like the one with Snoopy that commemorated the year I graduated high school, and one for our first Christmas as a married couple. The other box is labeled "Santa Ornaments", which contains Santa ornaments (no kidding!), plus angels, Hallmarks' Frosty Friends (which we eventually stopped buying) and another series with penguins, which Moink usually got in his stocking. We have collected several series of ornaments depicting Santa from around the world. There is Pere Noel, one is Father Christmas, Santa Lucia, Saint Nicholas, and so on. There are egg0 shaped wooden Santas, and some are Santa icicles that have lovely textured and painted details. Then, there are the angels. DH made a dozen of ceramic angels in white and gold. There is a Jim Shore angel. A new one given to me by BFF - two angels with arms linked, with the word 'friends' written on it. And, one elf - an ornament made from a nylon stocking that was stuffed with fluff, and sewn into an elf form - wearing a Santa hat, and nothing else! It was given to me by a 7th grader - Billie Jo - from my very first teaching assignment, oh so many years ago. It must go on the tree every year, no matter what. Not DH's style for certain, but he's been very understanding, for 36 years now!

Speaking of DH, he's been pretty busy, too! Completely retired now, he's been out a lot in the past week, and every time he comes home, he brings another goodie. Working full-time doesn't afford the spare minutes to bake cookies. One thing that has always been a big part of his Christmas is the baking. and he wand to make up a nice cookie tray, so he's been buying them. There are thumbprints and cheesecake cookies, and little truffle/mint delights; there is apricot kolochki, and amoretto cookies, and don't forget the lady fingers...and the list just goes on. There are also Italian meat and cheese appetizers to put out today to munch on while we wait for the roast beast to cook. Cookies and snacks galore. Not complaining! 

Of course, there is a story to go with the Santa hat reference. Years ago, I worked for a while at a store called  Children's Palace, a massive toy store. (boy, now there's a treasure trove of stories!) I was walking through the store at the end of a shift doing a clean-up. People would decide not to get something and set it down where it didn't belong (can you imagine?). There would also be the awful chore of finding packaging from things that had been stolen, and of course, that all had to be written up and reported as losses. Not a good thing for any retail store! During one of those clean-up runs, I found this Santa hat. It didn't look like any of the others (it is a really nice quality!), and there was no tag. So, I brought it up to the front desk. My friend Dorothy said, "I've never seen one like that here before. Do you want it? It isn't like the others, but we can ring it up using one of those tags."

So I bought it. 

Did Santa lose his hat? Where did it come from? I'll never know for certain, but I've kept it safe all these years, just in case he comes looking for it. So, one Christmas, I don't know what was going on, but we must have been decorating for the holiday.  I must have been verbally disapproving of something when the hat was unpacked. Apparently, I stopped mid-chastisement to exclaim, "Ooh, Santa hat!" This became a favorite of the children and DH, who would point and yell, "Look, Santa hat!" if they were about to get an earful from their loving mother. And, it hasn't died down. While I no longer need to chastise my adult children, they are quite quick to point out Santa hats. Ha, ha ha. I mean, ho, ho ho!

So, in this weirdness of 2020, we are still looking for the things that make us happy - obviously, cookies, and of course, Santa hats. I hope you are enjoying the things that make you happy with the loved ones you are able to safely gather around you. Here at the pool, we'll be dipping our toes into the warm memories that make this time of year so special. Let's learn from this past year, taking those lessons into the new, and know that together, we'll make a difference for each other. Hugs.