I love the lights and the colors and the friendly greetings during the Christmas season. I love it when people have ornaments and lights that they’ve had in the family for decades, some since they were little children. I love the joy people feel, whether they still have boxes of those old Christmas decorations or not. I go to the store and people wave me ahead of them, or wait an extra bit before they back out of their parking spot just to let someone else go by, and I do the same. I was in the vegetable aisle the other day when another woman and I approached the same bin of red and green peppers at the exact same moment. We both said, oh no you first, no you first, oh no you go. But after just a couple of those gracious offers by each of us, she said ok and jumped in and grabbed a huge bag of a mix of small peppers … I grinned and said “hey shopping never ends!” … and she smiled a big smile too and said, “ha! especially when you just bought two hamsters and all they want are these peppers!” I laughed with her, and then I continued on buying my own vegetables with a smile on my face. Around another corner in the produce section, a fellow turned towards me after choosing some sweet potatoes, took one look at me, and he grinned and said “thank you for the smile!” So, yes maybe these sorts of things can happen any time of year, but seems to me they happen more often during this season of Christmas, Hanukkah, Bodhi Day, Kwanzaa, Zarathosht Diso, etc.
I love Christmas. 🙂
The back side of my home (below) faces across a grass/lawn area towards five or six back sides of other homes in the community where I live. There are no roads or sidewalks back there, just trees and lawn in between our homes. Most people decorate just the front of their homes, but a few of us do some decorating in the back too, for each other to see from our back windows or patios. Every year I put a Santa in one of my back windows and string colored lights around the window so it shows up at night.
Santa is made from a half sheet of plywood. Maybe one evening this year, I’ll go outside after dark and see if I can get a photo that shows off the lights. A number of my neighbors say they love having this Santa watching and smiling at them. 🙂
In my front living room window, I hang this lighted Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer as he flies up to the roof.
When the afternoon sun is just right, here’s Rudolf’s shadow on the wall inside my house.
And at night, here’s a photo taken from outside my house of that window with Rudolf making his way to the roof so Santa can come down the chimney. Yes, that’s the big white truck on the right, enjoying the Christmas lights too. 🙂
I was house-sitting for part of this 2023 Christmas season while the owners, friends of mine, were away. I wanted just a touch of Christmas while I was in their house, so I purchased these four Poinsettias in small red ceramic pots to decorate the counter that’s between the living/dining area and the kitchen. It was perfect.
And of course, Christmas isn’t Christmas without the small model of my big white truck and the trailer that sort of looks like Towhee the Trailer. Vroom, vroom.
And then of course there’s music! One fun Christmas tune is “We Need a Little Christmas”. Turn your sound on, then click on this link, to listen to the song. Feel free to sing along or just dance in your chair. 🙂
And, for just a little bit more Christmas cheer, check out this link to some Christmas music by a few members of the US Navy Band … just vocal, no instrumental. Be prepared to smile, although I had several good chuckles during the video. 🙂
All of you have internet, I know that. Go online and find those Christmas songs you love from your childhood and/or from your religious beliefs. I often use YouTube to find music, although there are many other resources as well. Here’s a link to 5 well-loved, softly played, Christmas melodies from my childhood. The five melodies repeat in this video, but I’ve been playing this video every evening this past week while I’m doing other things and I don’t notice that it repeats … it’s such nice, comfortable, relaxing music.
Whatever brings you joy and peace, may you have that in abundance. And may we all have smiles on our faces, and kindness in our hearts, for everyone we meet, everyone on the road, everyone at a business meeting, everyone on the phone, or when we’re shopping, or walking, and especially for everyone in the vegetable aisle at the grocery store. 🙂 Smile.
Ooops, oh no! I hear clomping on my roof!! Gosh, it might be Rudolf and Santa … I better get to sleep fast! 🙂