Post Christmas thoughts

So, for all intents and purposes, Christmas is over.  The tree still stands in the cornet of my living room, but I don't dare turn the lights on. It was a nice tree.  I always get a "real" tree", the smell is nice, but I find the needles wedged under the couch in July.  Seriously, I sweep the living room clean but those things seem to appear as if they have been hiding for a while and decide to appear at odd times.  Just a little Christmas all year long, I suppose.

It was a weird Christmas.  Sometimes I long for the magical Christmases I seem to remember as a child, but then I remember it's MY job to provide the magic.   My grandson is ALMOST old enough to understand and anticipate Christmas, next year should be a hoot.  NEXT year, he will either run to or from Santa.  Somewhere, I believe my ex-husband has the video of Kate running through the mall to get away from Santa.   Silly and bittersweet.   She squeezed through the little faux picket fence that surrounded his chair and ran like hell.  I'm laughing and chasing her, along with one of the elves, who said it happens all the time. I suppose I should remind her of that at some point, so she and my son-in-law are ready if Bobby takes a powder as well.

I read an article, complaining about how"politically incorrect" Christmas songs were.  I can't remember all of them, but they singled out "Jingle Bells" for the sledding accident,"Gramma got run over by a reindeer" because seeing Gramma with hoof-marks would traumatize any child ( it's a SPOOF for goodness sakes- I wonder what they would say about a childhood favorite of mine "Camp Granada")   They talked about "Baby it's cold outside" being about... date rape.  Sheesh, listen carefully.  She's not trying to get away, she's trying to keep her 1950's reputation where "good girls" didn't spend the night with a man.   You need to look at things in context, she keeps saying, "well. maybe I can stay for a few minutes more" not  LET GO OF ME AND DID YOU JUST DRUG ME.   The line "what's in this drink" is a toss off to when people blamed their behavior on having had too much to drink, not that he slipped her a mickey.  The article also complained about the extreme consumerism of "Santa Baby"  c'mon.  the character is a classic"gold digger" and while it's not a flattering portrait of anyone you need to take it in the spirit intended, an adult version of a greedy child;  it's NOT serious.  I spent a lot of time singing more "devotional" Christmas songs this year, although I did listen to Jette Betrue sing "Santa's on vacation" more than once.  She made me smile.  Mostly I listened to Corrine May's "the Gift"  in my car and a Pandora mix of Nat King Cole holiday tunes at home, which heavily featured him and Bing Crosby.   Those were what my parents listened to as they prepared for the holidays.  I did a LOT of baking- more than I really needed to - but a bit of the holiday spirit still eluded me.  Christmas was here and gone before I knew it.  Things in Casa Myers got a bit frantic.   Chris and I are planning on doing NOTHING  and I mean NOTHING   for New Year's eve.  I plan on watching Netflix and having some snacks and a glass of champagne at midnight.   No parties.  No going out.  A quiet few days at home together.  He was gone for a month and I just need to hang out with him.

If you are wondering about the state of my car after last Friday's accident  GOOD NEWS.  There was NO damage, except a few scrapes on the bumper.  I need a new bulb for my headlight, but it looks like it just burned out not that i's damaged.   I would be willing to bet the guy I hit will get a mew bumper from the incident but that's how it goes.   I have good insurance and AAA treated me kindly NOT like I had committed some kind of crime and was trying to rip them off ( I'm talking to YOU Mercury Insurance!)  Don't get me started on how they treated me when I got hit by a truck and the truck ran. They refused to cover me, because I could not identify the vehicle, even though the CHP verified it.  It was a long time ago.

Saturday night in Tujunga.

I went to a memorial service for a friend this morning. While I knew Michelle from our work on the Board of McGroarty Arts Center, it seems there was so much I did not know about her. I did not know, for instance, that she had a son who did not live, She touched so many lives in her therapy practice and her other community work. The room was packed. My take-away was something someone said.. I have forgotten the exact words but it was something to the effect of "That stuff doesn't matter. Go and live your life" Ok. I will try to do that. There are things I have been fighting to change, but realized that I have to let go and let the Universe, of God do whatever it is supposed to be. Everything in its' time.

Living up here in the Foothills is a mix of peaceful and crazy. I swear "Tujunga " is the Tongvan word for "bad driver" Driving down Foothill, sometimes you take your life in your hands. People either tailgate you or swerve around you, even if you are going above the speed limit. There are so many accidents,one of the local papers has a "Wreck of the week" column. This is the same paper who prints local recipes and I kid you not, once had a recipe for Squirrel stew. I believe it was NOT a satirical piece.

This week, for personal reasons, I resigned from all volunteer duties at my beloved McGroarty Arts Center. I had dedicated close to twelve years of working to keep the Center healthy. Now it's time to step away and focus on me. Selfish of me, but I need more time to focus on what my goals are. I wish the Center well. It is an important place in our Community, the goal I strove for was "affordable arts education for all" I hope this will remain the purpose, as so many people in this community do not have access to art classes. Creativity is so important to healthy people. We focus so much on Math and Science, we forget that art give balance to a scientific mind. We devalue artists as being a drain on society, when we need beauty around us. Good art, of any sort, whether painting or drawing or theater or poetry, heals the soul and opens the mind. We pay sports figures an astronomical amount to "entertain" us with their feats, but someone who paints is just "dabbling" and the cost of a painting is unrealistic. When you buy a piece of art, you are buying someone's hard work as well ( except for Jackson Pollock, that looks like a drop cloth to me- ah well to each his own)

I'm going to try to bake this weekend. So much has been happening, I am not sure I want to have Christmas at all. I will try to get into the spirit by baking and listening to Nat King Cole. It's not Christmas till he sings.