This is always a weird weekend. Thanksgiving Day is behind us, and Christmas is just around the corner. Depending who you are, you have now taken the pumpkins off your front porch and the Fall wreath is off the door.
Or, maybe you really jumped the gun, so to speak, and decided to start decorating early and already have the Christmas tree up and the outside lights draped over bushes and on the eaves. Your home is “Christmas Central” with Thanksgiving hardly a thought anymore.
Or, maybe you are like me, wanting, no needing, a bit of separation between the two. It’s Sunday of “Thanksgiving weekend for goodness sake, and my stomach is still full from Thursday, and I have been focused on lots of college football games over the past couple of days.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. There are 4 Sundays before Christmas arrives. There is still plenty of time to decorate, and, really, you know, the whole idea of Advent is to SLOWLY prepare for the celebration of the Baby Jesus who came in to our world. Christmas starts on December 25th and goes for ten days after.
I know people who put their Christmas trees up already, and that’s fine… but don’t be in a big hurry to take them down, and undecorate the place on December 26th. It used to be if you put up a living tree, freshly cut, that it was smart to wait and don’t put it indoors, in a warm environment with dry heat, with little water, until a week or so before Christmas. It would be a fire hazard to put it up any earlier, and half the needles would fall off and get stuck in your carpet by New Year’s Day.
Why are we in such a rush?
It takes me time to get into the Christmas spirit. I admit it. I can’t just turn on a switch, and ta-da – I’m all jolly, and ready to wrap presents, and bake cookies. Isn’t there something magical waiting, and about being in a dark room only lit by the glow of all the lights on the Christmas tree? It’s the best look there is on Christmas Eve. Such a special moment – to sit, and admire the tree lit up, with Christmas music playing. But, I don’t want to do it tomorrow.
I still need to put my Autumn decorations away.
One holiday at a time please!
If you are one of those with the pumpkins on your door step, and the Christmas lights on and lit outside…please slow it down. Use Advent to prepare. At least toss the pumpkins.
I mean – This time of year is hectic because we make it that wait. Relax. Stop rushing to get decorated. At least through this weekend. At least until the calendar turns to December. At least until everyone gets safely home from their Thanksgiving gatherings.
Is that too much to ask?
Marla’s Musings 