Well, thanksgiving came and went here and I have to admit, it almost seems like it didn't happen. We were invited to a big group dinner (I brought rolls) and had a really great time with friends and meeting new people. Because we weren't directly involved with the preparing we didn't have the usual bounty of leftovers. The hosts provided to-go boxes for everyone and we were able to bring home enough for a meal or two but not having the days and days worth of leftovers made Thanksgiving feel shorter than normal.
As with the mainland, people here are beginning to decorate for Christmas and the radio stations have begun playing Christmas music. It all seems so out of place. There is a Christmas tree vendor that we pass on the way to the beach and the smell of Christmas trees mixing with the salt air is so weird. I was saying to Mark the other night that I don’t think it will every really feel like Christmas. I suppose I will eventually get use to it. I think part of it is the weather.
Our Christmas this year will be very low key. We're still recovering from the expense of moving as well as getting use to a lower income than we had in New York. We won’t have a tree and we really don’t have any decorations. That's probably another reason why it doesn't feel like Christmas time. I've got the time off but chances are pretty high that Mark will have to work. In all honesty we’ll do what Mark has been bragging about since before we moved here: spend some of the day at the beach. I’m sure it sounds unbelievably wonderful and on some level it is but I am going to miss “normal” Christmas.
I'm sorry. When it's 60 degrees here I get annoyed because it doesn't feel right. I can only imagine what it is like for you.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a biggish window? Crayola has a set of window markers you could use to draw a tree and ornaments. Just a thought.
It might be fun to make old style decor (construction paper like in school) together. I enjoy doing it with the kids, and Mark in kinda like a big kid ;).
But I hope you can find the spirit of Christmas somewhere in that warm, sandy place.
You should have a tree of some kind. Bring in a palm frond and put popcorn strings and construction paper strings (like Hayley suggested) on it.
ReplyDeleteSorry you're missing the appropriate Christmas weather--biting wind, pouring rain, wet feet that never get dry, chilly damp and so on.
During my first Christmastime in Flagstaff, I realized, "Oh, so that's what all these carols mean!"
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