A little snow would make it all perfect!

Well, I decided to seize the moment and write a blog about our holiday activities here off the Highway 49 at our new little ramshackle trailerhome of goodness and cheer. This week we have put up Christmas lights, made mulled wine, made wreaths, gone through old childhood ornaments with Mom, listened to much Christmas music from the 40's as well as a little George Noory and Coast to Coast, and pretty much cheered our little hearts out for the holidays. I am really going all for it this year.
It seems that even though I can feel that the economy is down and out as we all have very little money, and I will probably have hardly any fundage to go towards the actual gift-giving day (homemade is from the heart!), the Spirit of Christmas is even more in the air when you can feel that people are already focusing more on each passing moment of love and togetherness and excitement than on the catalogs and department store ads and Target aisles this year. Honestly, I think the contraction of over-consumerism in our country can only restore the true health of Christmas! Things have been out of control in past Christmases and throughout the year in general, and it's refreshing to see people cutting back on the endless, non-fulfilling hunger for "stuff". Christmas in the past few years has been so shoppy! It practically has reminded me of that scene from Miyazaki's Spirited Away where Noface starts giving gold and more and more people want to give him anything for it and then he turns to a monster as he in return gives them back the greed they gave him. Our society has been out of contol with economic greed, and I just watched this documentary called the 11th Hour in which many scientists and leaders of environmental groups describe this kind of unhealthy, overconsuming, material world that we have become. How we have exchanged our beautiful earth for a corporate and capitalist based economy. We have placed profit and power over nature and spirit time and again. It's a film produced by Leonardo DiCaprio (go ahead, sneer at him if you must be snobby, but I am endeared!) and the people interviewed describe how our society has lost the real meaningfulness of life and nature and the abundance of gifts in the natural world around us. We have turned into that greed machine. So, this economic downturn shall also be an awakening. It makes us understand what we should truly be valuing in our everyday lives.

Anyhoo............a little off topic, but it has been so very much on my mind lately. I think back to the 70's as a teeny weeny kid and I remember a far more humbler and glowy feeling of Christmas. The 2000's have been so different than that. Not so much in our family, cause we were born to fight materialism for the most part -it is in our blood to do so (and because the Beatty's are damn near PERFECT), but just out there in parking lots, in restaurants, in stores, on the streets. Everyone in such a huge, hurried, gift-wrapping rush of insanity, and no one stops to smile at each other!Maybe this year more people shall focus on the sweet small things like cookie baskets for neighbors, gifts for poor children, handmade gifts for each other, and singing carols and celebrating the moment.
So here's a little taste of our December days! And by the way I am totally in love with living here close to my Marma and Pops and my sister Heather, and brother and sister Joey and Emily AND getting to see more of Mikie and Candice whilst I am at it. I miss Matt and Amy and childs terribly but hope to see them this Christmas Eve. But I know deep inside my beatin' heart, it was such a good decision to move closer to y'all special ones. This one's actually from Thanksgiving. The starting point of Christmas cheer. Me starting up the decorating. Art put lights up all around our house!