The menorah was lit and safely atop our enameled top dining table, to keep it safe from our Pyro Kitty,
We then proceeded to unpack our new to us artificial tree. It really is quite a nice tree and was very easy to put together. Though we had said we would exchange gifts on christmas day this year, I just had to give TGF one thing that night, in honour of our tree. I had found a C*ke Cola ornament that appears to be slightly vintage so despite her protests she received the gift. Last year we did small gifts for each other every night, and considered a "house" gift our christmas gift to each other but that didn't work very well for her as she felt a bit hollow not having a distinct celebratory act on the that day.
We are trying something different this year as we continue to sift through different ways to celebrate holidays together. We then dug though our "holiday" bin to find our ornaments only to realize that we had no hooks! Of course we only have about 7 ornaments total in the bin. A friend saw mention of the pitiful state of our decorations and offered her spares which I picked up today so our tree will not remain quite so bare.
Right now I am feeling very blessed and happy in our mingled confused path to forging traditions. Thursday will be our second annual Lighting Party, as I write that I realize that I wrote about that event a year ago on this blog. A year has past, the same members of our family of choice will be attending and that feels just so sweet. Also it feels so different from anything I have ever done, having a tradition. Not just a thought of forging one, but the actual repetition of an annual gathering. Yes we had a harvest blessing this year and last, but all hallows eve does not carry the same weight of meaning, commercials and movies demanding you pay attention to the holiday, the implications of family gatherings. It feels fragile still, appropriately so, given the newness but so lovely.
6 comments:
Okay I'm hearing "Traditions" belted out in Fiddler on the Roof style. I like the way our traditions are becoming set. I love our tree and the ornaments. I love that we get spend time with our family of choice, but most of all, I love that I get another year of traditions with you.
It all sounds beyond lovely, I, (in a past life;)would spend Winter Solstice with beloved friends and all our children, now? I have 2 grandchildren and we gather on the 24th..and although I love our gathering, I miss the MidWinter.
Thanks for sharing, may your traditions carry on through many many years...I love Fiddler on the Roof, after first seeing it when I was 18,(I'm 53 now, you do the math) I promised myself if ever I had a daughter I would name her Chava..in '77 she came to me, we spell her name Havala...
Thanks for stopping by, it's always a treat to see your name in the comments.
Wishing you all the very best for the holidays and for the upcoming 2007.
sounds like a great evening! and i love that picture of atticus (yes?).
sounds like you're on a great start to your tradition-setting!
how nice. :)
i forgot to bring my menorah up to t's on friday so there's not really been much hanukkah--yet. (although she did give me a gift, which was sweet. it was unclear if it was an early christmas present or a proper hanukkah present but i'm not complaining.
we got a new artificial tree as well. it's tall and skinny (like me). the lights are stuck on there and we didn't do much in the way of decorating yet, although we stuck a few baubles on it last night before bed.
t. uses paper clips (opened up) to hang her ornaments. i made her buy a 79 cent pack of hangers earlier this season, but she's so unused to having them that she thinks she tossed them out with bag they came in!
Pyro Kitty cracks me up. I love that face!
The act of discovering new traditions and refining old ones is one of the great joys in life. Rituals are important markers and sometimes I think society as a whole has lost touch with just how important they are.
Keep enjoying the experience. :)
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