The Recovering Farmer

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas 2014

I feel like I am in a vacuum. I am sitting here on Christmas Eve thinking I need to take down the tree. Unplug the lights. Get back to work. No. Not because I am a Grinch, although some might argue that point. It is because we had our kids down this last weekend to celebrate the season. To celebrate family. So now they have left and it feels like Christmas is over.

Because we have kids that do shift work it was difficult to coordinate a get together. However our social convener, that being the minister of the interior, that being my better half, and the kid’s mother was able to establish that the weekend before Christmas would work for everyone. Our son’s girlfriend almost messed that up. You see she is an avid Curler and it so happened that zone playoffs were scheduled for the weekend. There too, we got lucky. Happened that the playoffs were in our hometown, a mere mile from our house. So we hardly missed a beat. The bonus was that she won.

As we reflected on the weekend that was my wife and I both felt good about what had all happened. You hear about the commercialization of Christmas. You hear about people spending far too much money. Not enough time spent building relationships. Our son-in-law’s father is out for Christmas. He came for the weekend. My sister joined us for part of the weekend. My niece and her husband came by for our Christmas dinner on Saturday. Our son’s girlfriend’s father dropped in for lunch on Sunday. It was a beehive of activity but so much fun. Thank goodness my wife loves cooking. There was lots of food, whenever food was needed.

Just saw a commercial done by Ikea (no, this is not an endorsement) that supposedly did an experiment with kids. Now understand, Ikea is a Swedish company. In Sweden kids write letters to the Three Kings rather than Santa Clause (that opens a whole new can of worms). In the commercial the kids are asked to write to the Three Kings. Each and every one made requests for toys. Then they were asked to send a letter to their parents. Those requests were significantly different. Those requests were much more in tune with what Christmas is about. The main request? “Please spend more time with me.” The irony was that when asked which letter they most wanted to happen the majority suggested the letter to their parents. (Truth be told I saw this on Facebook. No idea if it is true. Doesn’t really matter. The message is real.)

Here is wishing you a Merry Christmas. Hopefully, whether the week before, the day of, or the week following, you will have the opportunity to renew friendships and build on relationships. That is obviously what this time of year is for. Worked for me. Merry Christmas. Make it a good one.

P.S. Posting my favorite Christmas poem, again, because it really epitomizes how I feel.

Put your problems on probation
Run your troubles off the track,
Throw your worries out the window
Get the monkeys off your back.
Silence all your inner critics
With your conscience make amends,
And allow yourself some happiness
It's Christmas time again!

Call a truce with those who bother you
Let all the fighting cease,
Give your differences a breather
And declare a time of peace,
Don't let angry feelings taint
The precious time you have to spend,
And allow yourself some happiness
It's Christmas time again!

Like some cool refreshing water
Or a gentle summer breeze,
Like a fresh bouquet of flowers
Or the smell of autumn leaves,
It's a banquet for the spirit
Filled with family, food and friends,
So allow yourself some happiness
It's Christmas time again!
Bob Lazzar-Atwood

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