Holiday Magick!

Obligatory disclaimer: I couldn't get blogger to upload any pics this time. Sorry. I'll get some extras for next week. Might even have my tree up by then!

I was feeling a bit slow about getting into the holiday spirit, but I think it's starting to creep up on me. I've purchased just a handful of gifts online, and plan to put in some quality time with actual physical shopping this afternoon. I've had the soundtrack from the film ELF in my CD player in the car since Thanksgiving, along with the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas CD. I've woken up to snow several mornings in a row now, and while it's green outside now (thank goodness, and I'll tell you why in a second!) we're supposed to get walloped later in the week. Snow always puts me in the spirit, even if I'm bundled up out in the driveway with a shovel!

But what really makes me feel good is doing something for other people. People less fortunate. And while I give to several charitable organizations, I really enjoy it more when I can do something for someone close to home. So my eyes are open awaiting an opportunity and the kernel of an idea has begun to germinate in my mind.

But I have to go back a bit to get to that. First, yesterday I spent the entire day babysitting for my grandson Sean. His mom got stuck for a sitter, and since she has the sort of job where she has to show up every day (she's a teacher) I stepped up to the plate as designated sitter. (Wow, that was pretty clever, wasn't it?) Sean and I had a great day, but spending it alone with him made me re-think my earlier certainty that I could still have another baby and raise it all by myself. Not gonna happen. I'll need a full time partner or a live in nanny. Or both. Heh heh. Don't get me wrong, he's a GREAT child. Smart as a whip too. But at 20 months old, he's a handful. I was wiped out by day's end. But we had a great time together.

Anyway, all that aside, I'm so glad that I have a job that allows me to be available to the girls when they need me. I'm so glad they turn to me when they need emergency help and that they can feel confident I'll always jump in. I'm so glad for all the baby hugs and kisses I received yesterday. It was all great.

Then I came home, and the house felt chilly, so I cranked up the thermostat, and sat down with the laptop to play catch up. Time passed, and I still felt chilly, so I cranked it up a few more degrees, and went back to work. And after awhile, I realized I still felt chilly, and I paused in my work, to listen, and oddly, didn't hear the furnace running. So I went to the thermostat and actually looked at it this time. The room temperature was 65. The thermostat was set at 72. And I got that sinking feeling. Uh-oh. I was out of fuel.

Now, I'm rapidly speeding toward a deadline, and still a bit behind, and totally distracted from everything else. Last Sunday I realized it had been quite some time since I'd paid any bills, so I took time off from writing and grabbed a big stack of them and started writing checks and punching the buttons on my calculator. Several of them were past due, including the one from the company that delivers my fuel. Uh-oh. I put the checks all into the mail Monday morning, having no idea how dangerously low my fuel tank was. Now here I was, after hours on a Wednesday night with no fuel.

How lucky am I, I thought, that this happened on a night when it didn't get much below 35 degrees all night. The wind was making it feel a lot colder, but temperature-wise, last night was the warmest night we've had in quite a while. And how lucky am I, I thought, that I have a fireplace sitting here in my living room, and laundry that needs to be done too? So I cranked up the washer, and then the dryer, which heated up part of the house, and I started the fire in my fireplace, which warmed up the living room. I slept on the couch, the dogs in front of the fireplace, the cat curled up underneath my covers, and I stayed quite comfortable all night. How lucky am I?

First thing this morning, after bringing in firewood, (there's still some left from the previous owner, stacked conveniently beside the front door--how lucky am I?) and stoking the fire, I phoned the fuel company. They got my check yesterday, and promised to bring more fuel today, and this time I'll pay for it immediately, which gives me a discount anyway, and not have to worry about forgetting to mail a check. And how lucky am I that I can do that? I have money in the bank to pay for fuel.

With the prices the way they are, there must be a lot of people facing a similar situation with a far different outcome. Maybe they don't have the ability to pay the bill right away. Maybe they don't have a fireplace and a ready supply of wood sitting there waiting for them. Maybe they ran out of fuel, and instead of laughing at their own forgetfulness, shaking their head, and dealing with it the next day, as I did, they see it as a major crisis, and maybe for them it really is one.

So I think that's how I'm going to help a local family this year. I think I'm going to pay their outstanding fuel bill, or part of it anyway. I'm not sure how to make it work, unless I just go down to the company, and give them a check and ask them to apply it to the customer they feel needs it the most. (It's a smalltown, local company and they're really sweet and kind and never got nasty at all over my payment being late, so I have no doubt they'll know where the money could be best used.) I don't need to know a name. I don't need them to know mine. I'll feel good to know someone's holidays are a bit brighter. I do okay for myself and giving back keeps the energy flowing. So that's my plan for today. And I'm also planning to go buy some Dunkin' Donut gift cards for my mailman and a couple extras for the UPS and FED-Ex guys, to have on hand to give them the next time they stop by with a delivery. I'm going to buy holiday cards, made on recycled paper, today, and start sending them out. I'm going to set aside a cash gift for my garbage hauler, who's gone above and beyond on a regular basis. And I'm going to buy a toy for the Toys for Tots drive, too.

Yep, the holiday spirit caught up to me. Maybe that flickering fire in the hearth last night had something to do with it. Maybe it's the promise of snow later in the week. Maybe it's just that I'm so incredibly happy right now that I want to spread that feeling around. Maybe it's that I've been giving thanks daily by making a list of things I'm grateful for and burning a candle, and it seems like this is a bigger, even more active way to show my gratitude.

I think I'll get my tree this weekend, too.

Enjoy the spirit of the season, which is the same, really, no matter what you celebrate. Want to know why?
Because the celebration that takes place at this time of year goes back way further than religion. It was the earliest people who realized the sun, on which they depended for their very lives, had a cycle, and that on the Winter Solstice, the sun was at its weakest, that being the shortest day of the year. The very next day, the days begin getting longer again. They created stories to explain this, most of which surrounded the idea of the sun dying and being reborn, a symbol of their belief that life always wins out, and death is only illusion, and a temporary one at that. The shortest day/longest night of the year was a reminder of the promise of the sun's return, of life returning, time after time, no matter what. The promise that no matter how dark it gets, the sun will always come back into your life. Really, this season is a celebration of the certainty of life, in the midst of a time when the world seems to be hibernating.

Okay, I have a holiday question for you so when you comment, you'll have a topic. What's your favorite holiday song?
Mine is Santa, Baby. The Ertha Kitt version. No contest. I sing it all the time. I make up new verses, to suit my needs at the time or just because they sound good. It's on the ELF soundtrack, which is why it's my favorite. So tell me your favorite song, or your made up verses to an existing song, or what you do to give back or how the holiday spirit is manifesting (or not) in your lives. And enjoy the season!

Lots of love,
Maggie