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11.01.04
Happy Samhain! Happy New Year!
I didn't see one trick-or-treater out in the neighbourhood last evening. I didn't hear one trick-or-treater out in the neighbourhood last evening. Nary a toilet paper roll, firecracker, nor an outhouse tipped. Okay, there aren't any outhouses here, but if there were, they would not have been tipped.
What a disappointment.
The only indication of Hallowe'en is that the craft-mad neighbours put up decorations. Jolly skeletons, squished witches against garage doors, jack o'lantern lawn lights, green and purple spider webs, etc. To me, ranch-style homes don't foster an aura of supernatural menace. They're menacing enough on their own. Those cookie-cutter bushes, those perfectly-trimmed front lawns, oooooo...scary.
I filled in and deposited my ballot last week at the Beaverton library. It's worked, I haven't gotten a call from anyone urging me to vote.
The ads seem to have calmed down a wee bit. Or I'm watching the Independent Film Channel a lot. Probably a combination of the two.
Talk about watching too much television. With horror and loathing I watched my first 32 Hallmark buy-our-holiday-tcotchkes advertisements today. Yep. No one's life is complete until they own a little plastic and fabric snowman and dog that sing "Jingle Bells" and ring bells ad nauseum. Of course buying this thing will make the Scrooge-ish character across the street warm to your friendly advances. Yeah, and buying a certain brand of beer will get blonde twins into your bed. (I don't even want to think about the incest issues going on there.)
And, oh, let me think. When is Christmas? December 25th, right? Has this changed at all? Is it an event whose date changes and that we need to be reminded of? Every year?
GAH! I hate the consumerism of Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa/etc. So, once again, I am proposing that we have a new holiday. It's called Chriskwasolyulkah, and it runs from December 1st until Elvis' birthday (January 8th).
But Xat, you say, how is it celebrated? Any damn way you want. You want to dance naked by firelight on the solstice? Go ahead, just have a blanket ready. You want a turkey dinner with all the trimmings? Knock yourself out. Light red, black, and green candles on a kinara? Light candles on a menorah? Please, enjoy.
Here's the catch. You are neither obligated nor expected to exchange gifts. You can, there's nothing stopping you, but that's not the point of the holiday. It's time to remember and be with people. The bigger gifts of time, care, and concern are the real presents. Spend time with people you love and care about. Cook dinner together. Hang out. Talk.
Oh sure, I'm a big, damn, Pollyanna dork. I had years of my insane in-laws going bug-fuck over presents. The horror. The horror. I worked retail for many holiday seasons. To this day I cannot hear "Little Drummer Boy" without getting twitchy and intolerant.
No one, on their deathbed, wishes that they'd bought the double-deluxe, extra holiday thingy with the light-up bells. Okay, maybe. Still, it's people that are truly important in our lives.
Phew. Where did that come from?
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