Bah Humbug!

Christmas this year was almost non-existent. I was sick for much of the four weeks before and even though I thought I was excited it never really happened.

I did get to see my son’s kids a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving for a while – his ex-wife is a real pain. It had been several months.

Christmas Eve and Day was the same as always. Since 1980 I have spent Christmas Day alone except for a four or five year period during my second marriage.

For several years I spent the day rebuilding my main server. A yearly project that started Christmas Eve at noon and continued until two days after Christmas. It kept me busy and I didn’t miss Christmas.

I usually spent Christmas Eve at my father’s with my kids and whatever relatives came home.

For the last four or five years that tradition stopped because my father was getting too old to entertain a house full of people.

So for the last four or five years I celebrated Christmas Eve and Day alone. I was fine with it. My kid’s in-laws always had dinners and their mother had Christmas dinner.

I always make a ham and a cheesecake. For some reason this year I forgot to buy a ham but didn’t think of it until a couple of says before. Since I can’t drive and my kids live out of town I blew it off.

I made chicken instead and really liked it. I made the cheesecake Christmas Day afternoon. That night I never got hungry for it – a first for me.

The next day I remembered I had not done any of my traditions. ‘Christmas Vacation’ movie in the afternoon and ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ at night. I usually threw ‘Star Wars’ in there just for good measure.

I spent the day surfing the net. It seemed like it was in the Bah Humbug mood too.

The next day my eyes were acting up and I couldn’t do much of anything but listen to the radio. I did finally eat half the cheesecake.

Yesterday my kids and grandkids visited my father. He is not long for the world and his mind is starting to go. We kept the visit short since he tires so easily.

And today the Bah Humbug feeling is just as strong.

So if I seemed distracted this year, just attribute it to growing old and wishing things did not have to change.

As least I am not in a nursing home.

Christmas Trees – They Suck

I remember the first Christmas tree I helped bring home. We went to the local A&P store parking lot and walked up and down the rows of trees looking for something. We had bay windows in the living room and the tree had to be just right.

Dad found the tree he wanted and we put it in the trunk of a ’57 Chevrolet – it was a four door. I remember he tied the trunk lid down with some twine the guy at the tree lot gave him.

When we got home he stood in the yard and shook it up and down and slammed the trunk into the ground several times trying to dislodge loose needles.

Then the tree stood on the porch until the next evening. I think we wanted the branches to fall? I do not remember for sure.

The next evening Dad sawed the end of the trunk off and I got to crawl around under the tree in all the needles screwing the tree stand on. I remember it took us several tries to get it straight and not have it fall over as soon as he let go.

Then we put it in the bay windows and the whole family decorated it.

The lights were as big as fifteen watt bulbs of today with heavy cord twisted between them. They were very heavy. If a bulb burned out it did not matter. The others still worked. After the lights we started on the ornaments. I think we all had our favorites.

There is one thing that to this day still irritates me. Why do people remove the hooks from the ornaments? Why can’t the hooks just be left attached? I never understood that.

Then the icicles – I hated those things. I could never pull just one from the pack.

For the next two or three weeks I was responsible for watering the tree.

My least favorite thing was taking the tree out. Actually it was picking up the needles by hand to prevent the vacuum from getting screwed up.

In 1972 I left home – I did not have another tree until 1975 when I was married. In 1981 I was divorced and did not have a tree until 1995 or 1996 when my daughter insisted.

I have not had a tree in the last four years. The artificial tree I bought in 1999 left when I was divorced.

Each time I think about getting one I remember being on my hands and knees picking up all those damn needles. It is just not appealing.

That’s why I think Christmas Trees suck.

I Know, I Know

I know, I know - I have been lax - but actually I have been sick, very sick and I would guess too blind to work for 75% of the time lately.

I have quit taking all my medicine and in a few weeks I will go to the doctor and have them tell me what I need. I feel so much better and my vision seems to be improving daily although I do not think it will ever get to the point I can read normal sized text without surgery.

I have several posts in mind and hope to start some soon.