I’ve noticed a trend. My childhood Christmases were raucus events, with my big extended family all cramming into our little houses, and we had two of them, one for each set of grandparents.
My adult Christmases were smaller but just as nice — me, my wife, the kids, and that was it. No grandparents because we’d moved a thousand miles away.
Now in my geezerhood, the parents and grandparents are all dead, my kids are scattered in a broad swathe from Tacoma to Kuwait, and my wife is pulling an early & long shift at work, so I’m home alone, no presents, no Xmas feast, no party of any kind.
I know! I’ll go to the lab and spend Christmas with the spiders!
And the mealworms were hung by the bottles with care, in hopes that egg sacs would soon be there….
My family’s spread all over the suburbs and we’re all meeting later this week. So today I’m comfy at home with a book. It snowed a few days ago (I’m on Montreal), the view outside is nice but I’ve got hot chocolate and a nice warm bathrobe and I’ll read more Terry Pratchett. My current book is Going Postal, it’s pretty good. Basically all I’m saying is, I’m resting and happy to do so.
“my wife is pulling an early & long shift at work…” My sympathies to you and her, not necessarily in that order. Never mind a white Christmas, what about a “wife” Chrismas? And so-called “conservatives” accuse liberals of waging a “War on Christmas!”
My experiences pretty much mirror your own. My wife is spending the day at her family’s MAGA farm for an early & long shift (out of “obligation”). I’ve avoided these things for years now so I’m spending the day at home hanging USB-powered fairy-light strings around my office/den/hideout in an “outer space” motif.
Christmas with the spiders sound great to me. I am roasting brussel sprouts with chanterelles and hazelnuts. Also set up a yule display in my front yard to combat the deluge of Santas, Rudolphs and Minions in Santa hats. Features Krampus, Grylla, the Yule Lads, the Mari Lwyd, Frau Holle, and the Jólakötturinn briniging back the spookiness of the darkest time of the year with traditions from other lands. First day, had just put up Krampus (i made these 7 ft standup figures) a woman actually pulled over got out of her car and screamed about a demon eating a baby – :”It’s a DEMON EATING A BABY!’ I said “NO! it’s Krampus! ” My Krampus was actually NOT eating a baby but holding up a very bad boy by his ears. She then went to her car got what i presume was holy water – but who carries holy water with them? In any case she threw water on the Krampus cut-out and drove away. The rest of the neighborhood seems to love them. I put up explanation signs as well giving info about yule creatures from other countries. BTW those of you who like animation MUST watch HILDA amazing childrens cartoon about an adventurous young girl (voiced by Bella Ramsey) living in Iceland(?) the land of trolls, Grylla, and the yule lads! Moving, deep, brave, kind and thoughtful as well as magical – has made me cry more than once. Oh one Christmas tradition i don’t miss is out family’s traditional Christmas Eve lutefisk. Yeeech – i grew up in Seattle where Norwegian traditions die hard. BLEECH. The lefse was good though.
Have a pleasant day, PZ. At least your spiders won’t spin a ‘web of lies’ like the rtwingnut xtian terrorists. I hope it is comforting for you to know how many of us commenters here appreciate you.
@1 bcw bcw’s comment was very clever.
Spending Christmas with spiders sounds better than this year’s Christmas. First I get T-Boned in the grocery store parking lot yesterday. The accident wasn’t my fault and the cat is drivable, but it had me shook-up since.
That evening I had dinner and gift exchange with my sister and her family. I got my youngest nephew a card from a downloadable Switch game. We tried to download the game, but it required a code on the receipt… which I had thrown out weeks before. Fortunately, the game was on special from Nintendo’s online store, but it was an extra expense we didn’t have to pay.
Then, I discovered the gift card I got had already been redeemed somehow. I had to wrestle with customer service to try to get this straightened out.
Now I just finished a very early Christmas dinner, and all I want to do is crawl into bed and watch X-Mas related MST3K/Rifftrax movies the rest of the day.
I actively sought out solitude by opting out a christmas with my sister’s family. Peace and quiet is great.
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Krampus is well known in catholic parts of Germany and elsewhere. Holland has Black Peter to do the same job. We need him to come to DC. And that reminds me of the glorious graphic novel “Mr Wormwood Goes To Washington”. Good demon vs evil fungal demon.
Lutefisk is… tolerable, provided you have plenty of the sauce.
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Pierre Le Fou @ 2
Try “All Systems Red” and the other books in the series. Dark humor, very good SF.
Twas the night before xmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except 200 spiders.
Bah hum-arachnid!
That’s surprising. Herding cats is famously difficult. You should celebrate.
My son is cooking, effectively driving “Mom” from the house. I’m fumbling around to keep out of the way, help move things along, and be ready to defuse stress. There’s always a lot of stress, even if it is just the three of us. I got a holiday text message from my last remaining aunt the other day. Her message actually said “Happy Holidays” which is only a tad surprising since I know she’s a Christian. And I chatted with my cousin about a week ago or so. That’s it. My brother will not call. I was encouraged to call him, but I’ve done all the calling. If he wants to talk to me, he has my number. I’m confident he’s busy with his Masonic brothers helping to make America great again. Perhaps their celebrating the imminent US annexation of Greenland.
The video below is serious stuff, don’t watch it if you just want fluff.
I really like his values system.
R D Wolff responds xmas, inequality and muskrat
https://youtu.be/dWMYlLa6Tyk
Xmas pressie for cartomancer:
birgerjohansson @ 2 I looked it up just now, “All Systems Red”. Seems definitely like something for me! Thanks!
Normally for Christmas I get to my parents early with gifts, and we all have brunch, followed by a trip to my sister’s family for Christmas dinner. This year my Mom fell just 11 days short of Christmas, broke her humerus, fractured her shoulder, is less mobile from suddenly worsening depression over the past few months, and is likely to not be back home for another six weeks. Meanwhile, my sister is recuperating from recent knee replacement surgery. Hopefully next Christmas will be more normal.
What remains of my family lives in the next door apartment.
We communicate as needed.