HOLIDAY SEASON 2021

It’s here! The Holiday season is upon us. This year, just as we were gearing up to a less stressful Covid-challenged December thanks to the vaccine and the booster (bless you, science), Omicron, a new variant from South Africa with 30 more of those nasty little spike proteins has been detected. Double the spike proteins of The Delta. This new variant was creep-mousy, little bits in the news, then, Black Friday turned pretty dark when it was clear that this was a variant not to take lightly. And, then, it got a name. That’s when you know …

At this point, we’re still learning about this strain, but it’s out there. My hope is that it is “mild” as some suggest.

Like the rest of the world, I’m so over this thing, but it’s our new normal. The Covid-19 Pandemic was a watershed moment in the history of our world. Masks on. Masks off.

“Adjust,” my mother would say.

I’m trying to. It’s just that cloud that looms above my head. Ugh, another variant…Like living in a Creighton novel.

This year is going to be different and already things are looking up. We are not in lock-down and we are not eating our holiday meal freezing outdoors on the deck under heaters like last year. The year before that, Hank had pneumonia, and nothing was the same. Hopefully, this year we can all help those incredible healthcare workers by doing whatever we can to stay healthy.

Stores are open this season, not an overabundance of stock, but, hey, they’re open and people are out. And, by the way, a note to those thieves — Knock it off with the smashing glass and breaking into stores to steal what does not belong to you and putting innocent shoppers and salespeople at risk! You may be able to slip by the police, but doubtful you can escape the bad Karma. What goes down, comes down. And, it will come down.

Putting the bad news aside for a moment, I’m happy we can greet people this holiday with a hug. See a vaccinated smile. The eyes have it, but touch, well, there’s nothing like touch.

Hank and I put up the Christmas lights in November and I noticed many of our other neighbors had as well. Christmas trees. Wreaths. Why wait? Let’s get this party started.

We all need cheer. Even if it’s fake garland or an artificial tree and you can’t smell the pine. Get a scented candle. Pretend and enjoy. Even the airport’s a little cheerier. Little wreaths here and there. Muted carols. I’m trying to focus on that. Not the lines. The disgruntled passengers. We are fortunate to be going somewhere! Or, coming home…

I love a lit-up house, or block of lit trees. Like a child, I’m mesmerized. Something about turning up my street to see the house and garden lit up. No matter what, it lights me up inside.

My mother hated Christmas. “F**k, it’s Christmas,” was her mantra. She viewed the holidays as a chore, as something to get over with and overcome, even though she made us all commit to being at her house Christmas night back in September.

Yet, if she was alive today, I doubt she’d say that. It’d be something more like: “Jesus Christ, last year was a bitch. As much as I hate the holidays, that was no way to spend Christmas.”

Or, maybe she’d say “Screw the Omni-thing. One can’t live in fear.”

Oh, how I miss her spot-on lines. I wish I’d inherited her gift of humor and the truth in one whip- smart line that spoke volumes.

So, this Holiday Season, I plan to choose happy. I won’t try to “get it all done” in record time and won’t put pressure on what the holidays “should” be. Instead, I’ll appreciate what is.

This year, I’m going to look for those things that make me happy, the twinkly lights, the fake tree, the old ornaments with meaning. Greeting cards from friends. Yes, and even a lopsided wreath on a lamppost in town. I won’t eschew them like I’ve done in the past, barreling through the holidays to get to the finish-line that is Christmas. Everybody happy now? No, I’ll try to find happy every stop along the way.

And I will think about my late mother and what she would say to me when I get worked up about trying to make the day flawless: “Screw the perfect holiday. How bor-ring…. Let’s have fun.”