We are being whipped into the Christmas frenzy by a combination of capitalist marketing devices and our profound cultural traditions. And part of the tradition is that we gather -- "I'll be HOME for Christmas" is not apocryphal.
Of course, this Coronavirus Christmas we are being urged in the strongest possible terms to stay home, or as Samuel L. Jackson put it, "Stay the F**K at home."
These two HOME messages are actually contradictory so all of the people who observe Christmas are in a bind.
Happily, Netflix has a must-see holiday movie which helps us with this: the film explains that "old traditions are great, but it's fun to make new ones."
I took this to heart today when I was at the garden store where I get my Christmas tree every year. It helped me have new ideas about what to do. Specifically, it helped me think about an outdoor Christmas -- they had wood for my fire pit, and trees that seem perfectly happy to be outside. I remembered, back in the old days, when my mother and I would string cranberries and popcorn, which perhaps the birds would like. (I don't know if this is actually OK, but I'm going to check with the Audubon society).
It will be a new tradition -- gathering outside and enjoying our "outside" tree. Thanks, Operation Christmas Drop, for the inspiration! And wait -- it's a true story! or at least "based on a true thing that has gone on every year since 1952."
