I spent a good chunk of time looking at Etsy holiday place mats this morning. I know, I know -- what a time suck! Don't I have have better things to do in this extremely busy month? But the fact is, I loved it. I didn't buy anything yet -- they're all too expensive for my Christmas crowd of people at the table, and they have such a limited use: one, maybe two, at most three days and poof! Put away for another year. Besides, there was no perfect one: simple, not cluttered, not tacky, a feast for the eyes, but emphasizing something other than gift giving. Maybe nature, with a holiday twist? A gingerbread house? At least that's what made it into my "heart" pile. To be reviewed and reconsidered later.
What stood out for me is how much of what's there in the Etsy holiday stash bears the label "vintage," and how much of that stuff actually belongs to an era that matches up with my childhood. As I said in previous posts, my family didn't give Christmas much attention, but I showed my rebellion! I was completely enthralled by it -- wide-eyed and mesmerized with all the Christmas stuff in my local five-and-ten store (the equivalent of Target on a tiny scale), and in the magazines, in comic books (the Dennis the Menace Christmas Special was my hands-down favorite), and on television. I loved all the Christmas shows (Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, the Christmas episodes of all sit-coms), the Christmas commercials ("rolling heads, rolling heads, rolling all the way, Norelco is the Christmas gift to give on Christmas Day!" "Have a nice holiday, with C-A-N-A-D-A D-R-Y, Canada Dry, the best you can buy is Canada Dry!"), the store displays, the shops with scraggly Christmas trees for sale out front. And many of those images are now sold to you, babes, with the label "vintage."
It hit me how much "of another era" I really am!
In other news -- it is a very cold day! You'd think sunshine would help, and it does.
Theoretically at least. But the walk to the barn this morning is nonetheless brisk. For me and for them.
(the birds, on the other hand, seem just fine!)
Breakfast -- still with oatmeal. Ed douses it with maple syrup, I prefer fruits and yogurt and honey.
And yes, my December lunch hits another level of decadence.
I pick up the kids as usual. They're in great moods. he was a classroom helper today, she hung out with her pals at recess. It takes that little to make them happy (imagine being thrilled to be appointed a "helper," who is then tasked with doing more rather than less in the course of the day!).
(why they always leave their winter jackets in the car is beyond me...)
In the evening, I reheat the soup of course. The beauty of veggie soup is that it lasts. And lasts. Ed turns on Season 2 of Clarkson's Farm. Somehow we watched Season 1 and Season 3 but never tuned into this in between one. More than once I found myself laughing out loud. When you listen to the news of the day -- national and international -- you honestly think that laughter belongs to some bygone era. And yet, tonight I laughed. Perhaps it's because tending to animals, to flowers, fruits and veggies is so hard. You need skill, experience and luck to have a really successful year. Clarkson knows how to turn this all into a good show. Watching him stumble along is good comedy, but it also makes you feel better about all the hits and misses you've had in your own growing fields, with your own farm animals. So you laugh at the show, and too, at yourself.
Laughter and reheated soup. A perfect winter evening.
