Thanksgiving
is past, Christmas and the New Year loom. Strange enough - it doesn't feel like
it.....
I don't
know about you, but I find that usually when you get to this time of year, you start
to feel a change. There’s a buzz of excitement in the air. Kids are looking
forward to holidays, lollies, and presents. Adults start to dread the terrible
traffic and congested car parks. Me - I feel the beginning of
something new.
Christmas
and New Year; the time of love and fresh beginnings and all the potential that
it holds. For me this time of year also holds my birthday. Another year older,
more memories, lessons and experiences fill my mind. December for me
is truly the beginning and end. One chapter of my life closes and
another begins. Adventure is imminent.
Life, as always, throws its curveballs. You end up in places you
may have dreamed of but never thought possible. [Who ever imagined that I’d be
a cowgirl?] The impossible becomes possible as new and different excitements
explode your mind.
Just how
does that excitement get in the air - what generates it? The passing of time? The seasons? The events
happening around you? Something ethereal? Chemical Χ?
Everyone
gets that feeling at some point in time, many around Christmas. "It’s
beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...." Songs talk of it, the
media plays to it. But this year I don't feel it.
Normally,
come the first of December, I am there - the Christmas tree will go up (never
earlier then the 1st) the carols sneak their way into my playlists, the
planning begins. The finalisation of presents, how
to post said presents. And of course you can't forget the plans for the day
itself. All 3 of them. The who (everyone possible) the where (at home waterside
is most preferable) and the food (BBQ & salad/roast/or Italian most often
top my list).
Now it's
the 7th already and I don't feel that buzz. I've hardly thought of what will
happen for Christmas, let alone my birthday/New Year!
Granted
much of the decision making is spread upon others shoulders this year - Ralph
and Sara will make the most. It still doesn't take away the fact that plain and
simple – it doesn't feel like Christmas is merely weeks away.
I've
been thinking over why. Being far from home, outside of my normal season
pattern and temperatures. A new and surprisingly different culture has had its
effects.
November through February, what is meant to be my summer;
beautiful hot days followed by balmy nights, lazing by the waters side as the sun
beams down, running its graceful touch along my back. This is what my body and mind is expecting. Yet my reality is far
different. I’m faced with chills: shivers run down my spine in place of the
sun. The winds still come from the north – but these don’t carry the balmy
tropical breezes to which I am accustomed. No these winds bring arctic air,
frosts and freezes. Just this last Friday snow was predicted [and fell] in Texas. Texas, the state whose climate is meant to
be closest to home.
Already this winter [which has barely started] is colder then the
dead of a Queensland
winter. Today hovered around 10°C, the dew point around the same. It was a damp
and cold day, one where you could always see your breath. {see the 'Christmas lead-up' gallery} Nothing like the
Childers winters day in which, by lunchtime, {on a clear still day} you would
have removed your jacket, even at times wishing to have worn shorts in
preference to trousers.
For all of my life so far, when the weather is this cold it means
that Christmas is months away. The traditions here are also far different than
home. Sometimes we (ok - I) forget that even though Australia and America are similar in many ways -
there are many more in which we're different. Though through globalization Australia is
inundated with American media [mostly TV] that we think we understand Americans. But we don’t. Not even close. As
Ralph says, there’s the right way, the wrong way, and the American way of doing
something. Subtle nuances that manage to change the meaning of a sentence or
bring confusion to a situation.
Never
before have I experienced Halloween or Thanksgiving. Hot apple cider, choosing
a live tree - cutting said tree, all of these are a part of their culture here
but aren't a part of mine.
I
participate in, and enjoy the festivities as we prepare for Christmas. No
matter if you can't feel the change in the air, you'll always find delight in
decorating a tree with children. It just feels like something’s missing.... and
it’s rather hard to place your finger on what it is. There are many small
things, which if someone where to ask for, you probably couldn’t easily
list. But it’s the small things of home that make the holidays. When you’re in
a new home it can be hard to blend the traditions of your locality with the
traditions of home.
“There’s no place like home” well, home
is where the heart is; home is where the love is.
I’ll be home for Christmas – not just in my
dreams.
