Tag Archives: winter holidays

To Holiday Letter or Not?

Holidays, Uncategorized

Well, it’s that time of year again when I debate whether it’s worth it to send out holiday cards and also to include some sort of holiday letter. I did compile one of these, and I hate for it to go to waste. And, I do appreciate reading the (more concise) versions sent by my friends.

But our printer has been giving me trouble, from non-connectivity to low ink reserves, and I hate to keep bothering my poor husband (and resident Tech Support Person) with these problems. (For one thing, he likes to recycle the ink cartridges himself and this usually results in pools or smears of various colors from magenta to cyan all over the dining room table, and his fingers, and anything else within striking distance.)

I used to send out photos of our darling daughter when she was younger, necessitating getting her to pose in some vaguely holiday themed way next to a pine tree or something, and then getting the photos printed (remember printed photos?) by whatever arcane means we had back when she was a child. This was before cell phone cameras or even separate digital cameras were prevalent (and she isn’t even 30 yet!).

Then I went to a family newsletter sort of thing, invariably criticized by husband and daughter about which photos I had chosen and what I said about their activities. Everyone’s a critic!

So, this year, having decided that I will send out cards to those people who are still on my card exchange list, do I just write nice handwritten notes to everyone, and if they really want to know more, suggest they connect to my blog? This works for the more computer savvy among them, but not that handful of Luddites or older folks who don’t do computers. Or just don’t like blogs.

I think I will just attach my letter thing here and hope for the best. If you want to go the extra mile and download it, please give that a try. If not, don’t. Apologies to those who don’t read my blog and to those who don’t want to click on the link as it’s the only way I could figure to add it. But since you are not reading this, I will have to apologize to you via written note. I am pretty familiar with that technology!

NOTE ON FEATURED IMAGE: We finally got to view the holiday lights at the Mormon Temple last year, which were very cool! Happy holidays to all!

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			Missing Some Holiday Pieces
		

		
		

			Holidays, Uncategorized, , , 					

	


		

		

Do the winter holidays ever leave you feeling as though you’re missing a few key pieces?  Maybe you didn’t have as much fun as you thought you’d have, didn’t get the gift you asked for, or missed spending time with a good friend or family member.  Or, like us this year, you sent out many more cards than you received and wondered if holiday cards are “out” now and you just didn’t pick up on that trend?





Our family metaphor for “the missing pieces of the holidays” is the annual tradition of doing an elderly jigsaw puzzle that has, to date, seventeen missing pieces.  This puzzle depicts The Twelve Days of Christmas, with the added twist of gaping holes.  We have other holiday themed puzzles (somewhere) but somehow this is the only one that we can find when there is some quiet time in front of the fire and nothing else to do.  





Daughter M.E. and visiting friend Dan work on the less than perfect puzzle.





Why don’t we just get rid of this defective time waster? Well, for one thing, the zen activity of jigsaw puzzling is made even more mysterious and wondrous by never remembering which pieces are missing.  For another, it is symbolic of the way that, even if the holidays do not live up to the hype (when have they ever?), the best part of the season can be taking time away from hustle and bustle even if the end result is not one hundred per cent rewarding.   Third, the hardest part (the numbers) is still enough of a challenge to keep us interested and add that sense of achievement even in the midst of regret over the fate of those seventeen missing pieces. 





Like the smile of a child with missing teeth (albeit without the promise of growing new ones), the puzzle is endearing.  And, even with some pieces missing, the puzzle and the holidays can be enjoyable and relaxing if we realize limitations.  No one, and no holiday, is perfect.  Make the most of what you have.