From Scout and I to you, Merry Christmas!
My favorite Christmas songs all have a note of bittersweetness about them. Judy Garland almost tearfully sang her rendition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Bing Crosby is dreaming of a white Christmas like the ones he used to know “where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.” He goes on to sing “may your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmases be white.”
Global warming has changed our winters here in southern Ohio from a climate where we would have snow on the ground all winter to one where snow is a rarity even in the depths of winter. A white Christmas is a rare treat.
And are your holidays merry and bright?
For some, the holidays are merry and bright. For others, Christmas is a reminder of what they don’t have anymore. The loss of family members is a hard one to move past during Christmas. Financial difficulties and all around life instability make it hard to celebrate. No matter how much you try to count your blessings, it’s possible that you are living in circumstances that are just tough on any given day without facing the expectation you be happy because society says so.
Here’s to those who have empty seats at the table this year. It’s ok to be sad as you remember the good times and struggle to think of the holidays ahead and how you can make them merry and bright again. You don’t have to.
Here’s to those who face illness and just don’t have the energy to meet the expectation that you still keep up with traditions of old when you’re barely keeping yourself alive. You don’t have to.
Here’s to those who have lost income and simply can’t afford to keep up with the Jones’ this year. You don’t have to.
Here’s to those who have lost family because they don’t approve of your politics, your lifestyle or simply put, your true self. You may be tempted to try to adapt and compromise your standards for the sake of keeping peace. You don’t have to.
And here’s to those who are suffering in silence for unspoken reasons or for something you can’t begin to understand or explain even when people ask. You don’t have to.
There is something we can all do. Regardless of your circumstances or difficulties or maybe everything is ok and you have no good reason to struggle this holiday season, remember this: give yourself a little grace.
It is a season of giving and we do tend to feel better when we are kind to others. Sometimes, though, we need to be kind to ourselves too. Take a nap, drink lots of water, go for a walk, breathe fresh air, take a long shower, eat a cookie, have a good cry, say no to the people who are stressing you out. Choose one or five of these things and do for yourself. Just be kind to yourself. One deep breath and one step in front of the other will work wonders toward healing your own wellbeing.
I tell you to make the journey fun. That’s the title of this blog and it’s a sort of life mission. Even on a normal day, I like to look for ways big and small to brighten my day. It’s a good way to live, really, and I’m glad I can do that. But it’s not possible every day. In fact, some days are just hard. In a world where people on the internet are so determined to make their lives look perfect, I’ll be the first to tell you mine isn’t perfect and that trying to keep up with the perfection or the merry and bright myth can be a recipe for disaster.
You don’t have to be happy. You don’t have to be merry and bright, no matter what the songs say. But you do have to keep going because you deserve to be here.
One step, one breath. One step, one breath. One step, one breath.
You’ve got this.
Many households have a holiday tradition that involves displaying some kind of nativity portraying the birth of Jesus Christ. They come in all shapes and sizes from paintings or wall carvings to tabletop displays of ceramic, wood or plastic. In America they often show just Joseph and Mary with the newborn Jesus.
I own a beautiful porcelain set that depicts the wise men, angels, innkeeper, a shepherd, and numerous animals. Mine is lovely but it pales in comparison to something I saw at the Carnegie Art Museum in Pittsburgh this last trip.
Since 1957, the Carnegie has displayed a Neapolitan Presepio which is essentially an elaborate nativity surrounded by scenes of everyday life in 18th century Naples.
A presepio is comprised of handmade painted wood and terracotta pieces likely created by talented artists between 1700 and 1830. They were made for aristocratic households and assembling all of the pieces may have taken a lifetime. This particular presepio comes from Neapolitan collector Eugenio Catello (1898-1958) and has been displayed in Pittsburgh during the holidays each year since 1957.
There are dozens of pieces including small items of produce sold by vendors, animals and angels that hang from the ceiling. Many of the figures are identifiable people and the museum points out that there is much significance in the placement of the people and of the dozing shepherd who represents the slumber of humankind as Christ came into the world.
Each figure has an expressive, detailed face and there is a sense of motion about them all. You can almost hear the din of voices and the cluck of chickens at the market. There’s a sense that if you come back after hours, when the museum is dark and guests have gone home, you might catch the flutter of angel wings or the movement of livestock through the village streets.
When it comes to the nativity scene, the tendency is to think of a more pastoral scene. I like that the story is depicted here as part of a busy village where life went on while this important birth took place high on a hill. For the folks working and trading it’s an ordinary day.
Context is important in any story and I truly enjoyed the context, perspective and detail depicted here.
The Neapolitan Presepio will be on display through January 12, 2025 before it’s put away for next year. While the collection is delicate, know that the museum did replace the clothing in 2007 as part of the presepio’s fiftieth anniversary at the museum. Much of the clothing had been lost to time and the results are extraordinary. Don’t miss out. Go see it if you can!
A model train exhibit all dolled up for the holidays is the quickest way to melt me right into a six year old girl. I don’t know what it is about trains and miniature villages that capture the adult imagination but I’m so grateful that they exist. I’m also grateful for the creative people who devote so much time to making those things possible in public places.
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum hosts one such display each year that’s put on by a local couple and it’s pure magic.
Honestly, the entire museum is enough to turn grown adults in kids and kids into masses of pure excitement. When we were there this month, the museum was decked out for the holidays and there was something fascinating and festive to be found at every turn if you’re paying attention.
I’ll tell you more about the museum another day but for now – the trains!!
First of all, this display is massive in space and built in multiple levels. It actually takes the place of an entire trolley car!
Look how fun!
From the North Pole to farms and city and scenes, there’s something for everyone! There’s even a UFO and a carnival!
Stop by the Make The Journey Fun Facebook page for more photos and a quick video clip.
It’s the Winter Solstice but it doesn’t feel like it. The sun is shining and the sky is blue. At about 30 degrees, it’s cool enough for a coat but I left my gloves behind when I fed the birds and took trash.
It’s the shortest day of the year but it barely feels like winter.
Don’t mind me. I’m in a snit because I planned to hike today but am stuck inside after an emergency tooth extraction this week. After years and thousands of dollars trying to salvage this molar, it developed some issues last week and before you could say the tooth fairy doesn’t care about adult teeth, I was being prepped for extraction.
So, today I’m home tidying the house, working on a puzzle and making some Christmas goodies. It all works out and it has been a nice day but I would much rather be on the trail right now. We were even going to a bookstore after!
A dear friend gave me the above pictured Christmas ornament yesterday. She’s had a rough couple of years due to illness but she has endured and recovered with such grace that I feel guilty complaining about my own problems.
This gift of hope she gave me will hang on my travel tree as a reminder that some journeys are through uncharted, challenging waters and sometimes through time rather than space.
I‘m proud of her bravery and am so fortunate to receive from her this gift of hope.
So I’m going to stop complaining, turn up the Christmas tunes and make some yummy goodies. Remember there’s always hope for brighter days.
I had low expectations for the movie Red One when I sat down with my big drink and popcorn. My favorite southern Ohio movie theater is closing, much to my dismay so we stopped by for festive fun and alongside the best popcorn in the area.
Red One is an action adventure Christmas movie – words that I never thought I would find myself typing. Yet, when we saw the trailer in the theater this summer, it looked intriguing enough that it seemed worth a try.
To be clear, I look forward to seeing the Christmas classics every year. The Bishop’s Wife, One Magic Christmas, and the original Miracle On 34th Street are among my favorites. I especially like the older films and find too many contemporary Christmas movies poorly made. There’s still nothing better than Jimmy Stewart and his angel friend Clarence in the classic It’s A Wonderful Life.
Red One is a departure from all of those movies I like so well and yet, I enjoyed every minute of it. The premise is that Santa (played by JK Simmons) is a hip, fit, modern man who embraces technology in every aspect of his work to bring joy to all the children of the world. He is kidnapped and his head of security (played by Duane Johnson) is charged with bringing him back home.
The North Pole is not a quaint workshop with tiny elves in this imagining. Instead it’s a beautiful modern city. I don’t want to say too much but the creators did a truly wonderful job imagining Santa’s world, the helpers around him and how they all function in their world as well as ours.
I laughed more than expected and found myself thinking some serious thoughts too. There are some wonderful lessons and true values in this movie that are thought provoking. Also, in a world of sameness, it was loads of fun to realize that the people who dreamed up this story had a fantastic time doing so. I give them a 10/10 for creativity.
This movie was a delightful and perhaps timely reminder that Christmas should be fun and that sometimes we need to sit in a darkened theater and suspend disbelief so we can just be happy for a couple of hours. If any of this sounds remotely interesting to you, I suggest you go see it!