Every year we need a reminder that even the midst of the snowy cold of winter – or as this year seems to be predicting, the cold harsh climate that is cold without snow – we can find things to rejoice and be happy about.
For me, winter has always been one of my favorite season, filled with laughter, family, and of course, presents. It isn’t always about receiving presents – though as a kid, that was definitely what I would focus on. It has recently been about shopping for presents for others. And in my family, every present comes with a story. “Now, before you open this, I have to tell you…” And of course, those stories always lead to more laughter.
There were also the pranks. Someone would ask for something a bit over the modest line. Maybe it was way over the modest line, but still reasonable enough in price that someone else in the family would decide to get it for them… But you always knew it was coming because if it was just expensive enough, or ridiculous enough, the individual person would be pranked. Whether it was a hilarious rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas or a treasure hunt with clues, someone always got the short end of the stick. (Though having been more rarely pranked than some of my other family members, I don’t think of it as the short end.)
Of course, I spend most of the month of December reveling in the joys of Christmas and not bogged down in the details. I was born at the beginning of the month, so anything that happens between then and Christmas just feels like an extended birthday to me. And since I really only receive gifts for two of those days (2 out of 25 days!), it has always felt like the holiday was more about the festive spirit and spending time with family than it was about the gifts.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is of my family all standing in the kitchen with ridiculous paper hats and whistles. One of my aunts (the same one that likes to plan all the pranks) decided to get musical crackers instead of the same-old-same-old ones. In each cracker was a whistle of a different note and a paper hat indicating which note you had gotten. And then, there was my cousin and I with a baton and a music book, forcing the family through the most ridiculous and off rhythm round of Christmas carols ever heard. We laughed and laughed, and giggled when people made mistakes. All in the kitchen and whistling away.
“And everywhere down the centuries
Of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing
To drive the dark away.”~Susan Cooper, “The Shortest Day”
That is what winter, and Christmas, is all about. Finding the joy to chase those shadows away.
That is what winter is for me.