Happy Friday, my dears, and welcome to the Open Mic! If you’re new or haven’t visited in a while, on weeks when we don’t have a guest artist, I pose a question and we chat in the comments. Ready?
Spotted in Sausalito last night. Get it? (Mouse over if you don't!)
I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, but as the ancients knew, midwinter is a magical time of year no matter what your customs. Tell me: what are your favorite winter traditions, large or small? What do you look forward to every year (or what did you enjoy once upon a time that you’d love to resurrect someday)?
Happy celebrations this weekend, to all who are celebrating, and let’s toast with virtual mulled cider (or wine, or hot cocoa) in the comments! See you there!
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 
Oddly enough, I have a private tradition that’s kind of like combining Thanksgiving and New Years. I like to go outside on the solstice and take a page where I have written down all of the things I’m thankful for, and bury it at the foot of an old Yew tree. The nights are very dark where I live, being in the woods and in the mountains, and it just seems symbolic for me to write down those things and then let them decompose throughout the year. Probably sounds strange, and not sure how I started doing this, but there you go!
Lisa, that sounds like a beautiful private ritual for the solstice! I love it particularly for its strangeness — because I’ve never heard of anything like it, and it seems very individual and personal. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I just like the idea of baking when the weather’s cold and making for myself a lot of the things I like to eat. I like that in theory, but I just made a big pot of soup, so I wouldn’t have to cook for a while, then some cornbread to go with the soup and start off the stuffing for the holiday meal, and then cranberry sauce — and I’m so tuckered out I can barely see straight. Hmmn… maybe it’s the twelve other things I had to do at the same time. 🙂 If I can get the hustle and bustle out of the tradition, I’ll really have something to hold on to. I’ll work on that.
I only wish I had a tradition as symbolic and cool as Lisa Stowe’s.
Same here on baking and cooking. I like to give away baked goods, and cook things like stews and baked beans (in spite of the weather here being way milder than almost anywhere!). But yes, the kitchen time (and grocery shopping) can really get out of hand sometimes — my Christmases have so often been accompanied by insane countertop and kitchen-sink mess, and more than a little stress. ;b
Traditions ? Not really. I do like Lisa’s tradition though.It just seems so holistic with the universe. The tree goes up and the gifts around it. I just try hard not to wish winter away yearning for the sun again. We did have one tradition actually, now I recall. Every year we would decorate our tree with decorations bought on our travels around the world. It became a reminder not only of our journeys and the places we have been but also of how lucky we are to be able to do it. We lost these items in the process of moving house twice in one year a couple of years ago and we were a little upset. Then we had to slap ourselves around the head as we realised we were mourning the loss of a box of shiney baubles.
Oh man, Alan, you’ll never catch me criticizing “mourning the loss of shiny baubles” — I inexplicably lost my wedding ring four years ago and can’t help but feel miserable whenever I think of it. Shiny baubles indeed. Strange isn’t it? Things are just things, and we keep our memories regardless, but… !!!
I’m glad you had those years of tree-decorating with such wonderful ornaments, though! Did you get photos?
Unfortunately, no. We had things like a guitar playing snowman from a some tiny town east of San Diego – a pewter jaybird from Novia Scotia – numerous bits from around Europe – a lizard from Tijuana – and so on. Oh well.
Lisa, I remember reading that journal entry about the lost ring. So you never found it? It may have been a “bauble”, still it had symbolic and sentimental meaning to you. I hope you replaced it somewhere along the line.
No, never found it. 😦 I can’t look at estate jewelry anymore — the rings aren’t as pretty as mine was, and it makes me feel sad to think of it! I do want to get a new ring someday but I realized after I lost this one that I’ve actually lost every ring I’ve ever owned (at least, every ring I’ve worn regularly). So I want to get an inexpensive ring to “train” myself not to lose them, before I ever invest in another good one!
Luckily I did take pictures of the ring, so I have those for posterity!
What a great question! I loved reading everyone’s responses. When I was growing up, my mom was HUGE on holidays, and I’ve definitely carried that into my adult life with a Christmas tree loaded with ornaments, lots of baking and cooking, and Christmas Eve spent watching the obligatory “Charlie Brown Christmas” special. *happy sigh*
You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the Charlie Brown special!! (I used to watch the Halloween one all the time though. The Great Pumpkin!) I guess it’s no surprise, given I’d never seen It’s a Wonderful Life until just a few years ago… and that was thanks to our friend Jason.