By Linda Shaffer
I have a hunch that there are a lot of us who won’t go far this year. If you are lucky enough to live near family, you’ll probably get to continue Christmas traditions and other holiday celebrations close to home. If a visit requires travel that might be a problem. To get next door to my daughter’s house. I need a walker and/or cane, portable oxygen and all the energy I can muster. I can’t imagine what it would take for me to spend a night at a house other than my own. It’s official. I’m a pain in the butt to take anywhere and it keeps me happily home safe and sound.
I have memories of Christmas when my daughters were babies and toddlers. They were so cute that every grandma on the planet wanted to see them. They were a pain in the butt to take anywhere but they went anyway. They didn’t have a choice. Packing up to go to grandmother’s house was a big deal. Remember those days? I thought we had it bad with playpens and highchairs. We didn’t even have car seats. We were simpletons compared to what happened next. When I look at what it took for my grandkids to survive and even worse, what it takes for my great grands, I wonder how my kids lived to adulthood. By today’s standards, they didn’t have enough important stuff to keep them alive and happy but somehow, they made it through.
It took years for me to figure out that all my holiday traditions were connected to extended family. The first Christmas with my very own tradition wasn’t until 1979 and my first holiday season with Mr. S. It happens that his birthday was on Christmas Day, something that put a whole new spin on things from then until last Christmas. During all those years we celebrated with everything from pinatas to prime rib. It was his day, shared with friends and family. As a man who turned celebrating into an art form, this day was never wasted and always fit one of his many life lessons, “You can’t have too much fun.”
Like each of you, I have a long history of holidays stashed in my memory bank. Old movies, songs, photos and visits with friends and family bring them back. Some days they just magically surface. Some of them are so much fun that I wonder where they’ve been. I sometimes laugh out loud. Then I remember that they are lost in a crowd that grows with each year I am alive. Holy cow. No wonder I sometimes have trouble remembering how to post on Facebook. There’s a lot of information in my head. Too bad it can’t be edited. There is some really funny stuff in there though.
This week my thoughts have been crowded with whales. Yes, it’s a holiday thing. Several years ago, I talked my husband into going with me to Newport so I could learn to be a whale watching volunteer. He resisted but he went along for a motel stay, pizza and red wine. He was bored. I was in class and got a diploma of which I am very proud. I’m pretty sure Oregon State Parks would like it if I’d made a different decision. I know Mr. S felt the same. He could not understand how any right-thinking human would volunteer to stand in the wind and rain in a parking lot on a cliff in December to talk to visitors about whale migration along the Oregon Coast.
Unfortunately, I must now admit to you that every year around this time, my beloved would remind me of the folly of that whole whale watching fiasco. This was our special Christmas tradition. When he found a weak spot, he never forgot it. Since this event is held December 27-31 or thereabouts each year, it’s kind of hard to ignore. I couldn’t pretend that I spent $200 on a coat I only got to wear for 3 days or forget the other necessary expenditures. I couldn’t really defend anything about it except that my heart was in the right place and I met a lot of great people. We had a lot of giggles over this and a real Abott and Costello exchange every time the subject came up. All he had to do was stop bringing the subject up. All I needed to do was tell him it was a dumb idea. Where’s the fun in that?
If you need a new Christmas tradition you can go to Neahkahnie Mountain and watch for whales. Bring your binoculars. There are hearty volunteers from 10am-1pm from Dec. 27-31. They speak whale and are worth your time. There are 16 other sites along the Oregon Coast for whale watching, manned by a network of more than 300 volunteers during both winter and spring migration. See how I am? No wonder I made him crazy.
I can feel him laughing now. Raise your glass to Mr. S on December 25 and have a wonderful week my friends.
