“Have yourself a Merry little Christmas”
–Judy Garland, 1944
‘Tis the season for the onslaught of holiday catalogs. Some days I open the mailbox optimistically hoping I find a catalog or two. Perusing catalogs is a mindless activity that can transport one to another world, something akin to a “Take me away, Calgon” moment or an hour spent on Pinterest.
I take a mini-vacation into a snow-covered village through an opened paint-peeling window where I settle into an “essential dream quilt in luxe cotton velvet.” The American-grown, extra-long-staple cotton sheets are brushed for softness. And, of course, I’d be wearing my nightgown with a “smocked bodice bringing old-fashioned romance … in soft, eco-friendly Green Cotton knit, along with pure boiled wool Charisma flower slippers.”
In the catalog photograph, resting beside this luxuriously-described setting is a sweater-knit hot water bottle available in snowflake or cream cable for $48. I would guess the last time I saw a hot water bottle would have been about 1960 or so. I remember a red rubber hot water bottle that wore no cable knit sweater. I’m not sure what it was used for, and I wonder if people use hot water bottles anymore. With so many things electronic and high-tech, how quaint and maybe wonderful an old-fashioned hot water bottle sounds. Especially one with its very own cable knit sweater. Maybe nostalgia is the attraction or cuddly warmth. Anyway, I won’t be getting one.
And so, I put the catalog away remembering that, for the most part, we won’t be purchasing Christmas gifts this year, though the Christmas spirit will abound. I find myself almost giddy and looking forward to selecting our Marvin’s Christmas tree and decorating it with the same old-fashioned, big-bulb Christmas lights we’ve used for a few years now (our tubs of Christmas decorations went to the Palmer Home Thrift Store), the glittering red and green Christmas balls and the strings of plastic candy canes that light up. Hardly elegant but all together, mesmerizing.
In talking with family members and considering everyone is downsizing or decluttering for one reason or another, we’ve reconsidered gifting. Two members are moving into smaller residences. They’ve each spent months trying to rid themselves of excess so they beg not to receive any more things they do not need. Perhaps books to read would be good … maybe.
Recently I discovered Jennifer Scott’s book “Lessons from Madame Chic;” I listened to Jennifer’s TED talk. Jennifer describes lessons learned on lack of excess while living with a French family in Paris. Her talk launched me into another season of tidying, or decluttering, or ridding myself of more excess — which happens to be one of my favorite things to do, as much or more so than catalog dreaming.
And so, without the stress of shopping and wrapping, spending and delivering, Sam suggested we give the gift of “presence” instead of “presents.” We’ll celebrate with hot chocolate, Christmas parades, drive-arounds looking at lights, viewing old movies, enjoying Christmas cantatas, and along Old West Point Road, the Crawford’s ever-expanding nativity scene.
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