December's Quiet Pleasures

 

December is such a festive month, that it hardly seems as though one would need to plan to enjoy it.  But it's because it is such a festive month with so much to do, that I find I must be especially mindful to make the time to get to the quiet splendor of the month.

In a month marked by busyness, I want to appreciate this month.  I'm no less busy than anyone else, but I'm trying to be very mindful this year of the need to stop and breathe, to not run on adrenaline and overwhelm and to recognize the full significance of all that happens this month.

This is the month that I love to celebrate two holidays, quickly followed by one grand finale of a celebration on the last day.  This month bridges seasons, going from Fall into Winter.  I think quite often that Winter Solstice probably receives less notice than other equinoctial changes.

I began my month by checking my lists.  Tree up and lighted.  Check. Not yet decorated. I need to make up my mind how I shall do that.  I've plenty of choices but I haven't narrowed it down to any one thing I want at present.  

I made fruitcake before we left for vacation and its now ripening.  Check.  Gifts bought...not quite, but I'm working on it.  Christmas cards written and mailed.  Check. My calendar is starting to fill.  

I plan to start each day this month with quiet (except for the one morning we must be up and off extra early).  I'll take my coffee sitting in the dark, with the soft lights of the tree glowing.  I find it to be one of the loveliest rituals of December and wonderful for meditating about life, the year behind, the year ahead, the birth of Christ, this season of life, and the seasons I've passed through already. 

For Advent this year, I am using a book I bought several years ago written by Malcolm Guite, Waiting on The Word.   I've read repeatedly this year that some books come to live on your shelf until you are ready for them.  I knew in November that I am ready for the message I will find in this book which I've held onto for years but have yet to read.  

I've also created a whole playlist of beautiful songs that move me and make me reflect on the real reason for the season.  Some are modern pieces, some classics, some ancient songs but all reflect on the depth and glory and beauty of why Christ and his birth.

In November, I made my own Gingerbread spice blend to add to my coffee. It was really good!  I enjoyed it a lot.  So much that I went looking for a Christmas flavoring blend.  I've read through several, but thought this one sounded good:

Simple Christmas Coffee

1 T brown sugar

a pinch of cinnamon

a pinch of nutmeg

1 T orange zest

6 ounces Dark Coffee

Whipped Cream

Combine the spices and sugar in the cup, brew coffee directly into cup then top with whipped cream and sprinkle with orange zest.

I'll have 12 ounces of coffee and use frothed half and half instead of the whipped cream, but I think this blend sounds lovely.  

Instead of waiting until the last minute, I plan to wrap gifts as they come in.  (I've already got a pretty little pile of gifts ready to go under my tree.)   I've always waited until late in the month and put undue pressure on myself to get my gifts wrapped at the last moment.  I'm going to make it something I enjoy, making a little ritual of it.  I'll set up a wrapping station and set aside a time for wrapping each day.  I'm going to make myself a lovely cup of coffee and wrap each day that a gift comes into the house. I want to take my time and enjoy the process of wrapping.  

And this year, I want to take extra especial care to wrap things prettily.  The gifting is somehow enhanced I think if it's wrapped in nice paper with a flourish of ribbons and an embellishment or two tucked into the ribbon.  A sprig of cedar, a lovely pinecone, a pretty ornament...They go such a long way to enticing one to wonder what could be within.  Anticipation is everything with a gift, isn't it?

There's a Christmas tree festival at a nearby garden site out in the country.  I haven't been in years, not since Katie was a girl.  I hope to make it part of a day out with the kids across the way.  They might well want to explore the gardens too, while we're there.  And afterwards we will go for a Peppermint Frosty at Wendy's.

Something else I've been thinking of this year are the old-fashioned paper chains we used to make as children and drape around.  I've seen some lovely grown-up sort of versions made of fabrics or ribbons.  I don't have ribbons just now, but I've plenty of pretty papers I might use so I'm going to make a paper chain.  I don't know just yet if I'll drape it about my tree as garland or hang it from the bookcases or mantel, but I'm very much looking forward to making a paper chain!  As I work on this activity, I want to be mindful of the good Christmas memories from the past.

I want to go out and gather cedar and pine and pinecones to bring indoors to decorate for our holiday.  They smell so good and definitely add something to the decor but more importantly, because they need to be refreshed it gets me outdoors and outdoors, I am breathing in fresh air, touching nature and distracted from the hurry up and get it done mindset I so frequently tend to carry this time of year.

One way I love to slow down at Christmas is to follow our practice of trying to watch at least one Christmas movie each day.  I confess we've found it not quite as easy as we did in the days when we had cable tv, but there are still plenty of movies we can watch for on Amazon Prime or on YouTube. Each year we discover a new to us film that captures our fancy and we add it to our lineup of movies we will watch each year thereafter.  

We started on Thanksgiving evening with the 1934 version of Miracle on 34th Street.  I put up my tree immediately after we watched it.  It made for a very pleasant end to a lovely day...and ushered in the next holiday season rather firmly but gently.

There are so many lovely movies.  And books as well that have beautifully and lovingly written Christmas scenes.  The book Little Women for instance opens with a wonderful tableau of a rather remarkable Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I look forward to reading that chapter each year!  And no Christmas season is complete without reading Dickens' A Christmas Carol and watching any one of six or eight variations of movies made over the past 80 years.

In the midst of all the tree decorating, baking, movies, Channukah comes on December 14.  John and I still love to light the candles each night and take a moment to appreciate the miracles that fills this time of year.  We'll commemorate with eight little gifts of chocolates and have latkes and applesauce with supper one night that week.

Now I could go on and on listing things I'd love to do but the truth is, I've plenty to do this month.  These few things are enough to make me slow down and pay attention to the moment I'm in, why I'm involved in so much, and at the same time does not get too caught up in the busy activities.