A Time for Family and Friends by Betsy Ashton

We've officially arrived at THE HOLIDAYS. Be you Hindu or Buddhist, Christian or Jew, Muslim or agnostic, nearly everyone gets together over THE HOLIDAYS with family and friends, share a meal or a drink, exchange presents, enjoy the season.

Alas, for too many, the season is fraught with arguments over politics. I heard from so many friends that their families didn't check their politics at the door, thus leading to loud arguments and one actual fist fight. I frankly am burned out on politics and can't wait to wave goodbye to 2017.

Another alas comes in when stress mounts and people allow themselves to be overwhelmed. I used to be one of them. I was a Martha Stewart wannabe. I decorated my home to the nth degree, wrapped more presents than anyone needed, baked and cooked more food than we needed, all to collapse the day after Christmas into a puddle of cleaning, self-pity, and exhaustion. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't turn my home and family into the Brady Bunch decorated by the indomitable Martha.

My family wanted a quiet day, a gift or two, a decent meal, and people who weren't stressed. They finally got it.

I turned in my Martha card and took out membership in the Martha Stewart Never-Be club. I set aside three days to decorate my house. What's not in place at the end of those three days goes back in the garage, Maybe next year. Maybe not. I like the way the house looks and smells. I like to cook, but I don't overload the table. Usually, holiday meals are my husband and me, and maybe a couple of friends. Gone are the days of 25 people sitting down to eat in my house.

How did I manage this? Well, it was easy: My husband and I moved 500 miles away from most of the family. We make the drive to New York for an annual "Between the Holidays" luncheon at a restaurant equally convenient for the locals up there. Terry and I host. We enjoy good conversation, good food, and no clean up afterwards.

The grands are part of this "Between" party. We deliver gifts and enjoy watching them open just ours. If we were there on Christmas Day, we'd have about five minutes before they would be carted off to other family members. We're selfish. We like a day alone without competition.

When we get back from New York, we are home for at least eight weeks. No travel, no appointments, no nothing but what my husband and I want to do.

I hope you all enjoy your holidays in your own way. If you like political arguments, this is one year when there is plenty of opinions to go around. If you like peace and quiet, may you find it.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. See you in 2018.

It’s Time To Celebrate...Anything ~ by Leah St. James

It’s the middle of September, and the Halloween decorations and costumes have been out in my town since the first week of August...a full MONTH before the kids went back school! When I was a kid, we wouldn’t even think about Halloween until October, or maybe mid-September. But in today’s world of super-rushed shopping seasons, it was apparently right on schedule.

Of course, being the media-savvy author that I am,  I took a shot with my phone and posted it to Twitter. My caption was something like “REALLY, Halloween??? The kids aren’t even in school yet!!”  

If I was expecting a flood of empathetic rage, I was deeply disappointed. No outrage by fellow Tweeters. Not a peep!

Then I realized why. The world is okay with this.

In fact, only a week later, someone else posted a photo that somewhere, in some store in America, the Christmas decorations were up...half a month BEFORE LABOR DAY. (Geez...even when I’m ahead of myself I’m behind the trends!)

Again no outrage.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided it must be that we’re all so depressed about the craziness of the world, we grasp at any and every reason to celebrate...anything. My problem with rushing the holidays is that (for me) it takes away the special-ness of the day. (Not to mention, some of us need all the time we can get to mentally prepare for these big events. Let us...or me... be blissfully ignorant for a few weeks, would you?)

Besides, there are alternatives. No need to start decorating for Halloween in August. Every day, some organization or company or group is celebrating some event/group/food/idea that is deserving of your attention.

Take today, for example, September 22nd. According to website checkiday.com, there are no less than a dozen causes to celebrate today.

For one, it’s the Fall (or Autumnal) Equinox. Yippee!!! In North America, as we officially see less and less sun each day for the next several months, the temperatures will drop. For some, it will bring moderate temperatures, relief from a scorching-hot summer. For those in the north and higher elevations, it means it won’t be long before we see snow and ice and....ugh. Enough about that.

Happily (again according to that website), it’s also:

• Business Women’s Day
• International Day of Radiant Peace
  (which I believe is quite serious, so I won’t say anything snarky)
• National Centenarian’s Day
• National Elephant Appreciation Day
• National Hobbit Day
  (birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins)
• National Ice Cream Cone Day
  (not to be confused with National Ice Cream --in a dish--Day)
• National White Chocolate Day
  (not to be confused with National Dark or Milk Chocolate Day)
• Proposal Day
• World Rhino Day, and....
• World Carfree Day!
  (When I first saw this, I thought it was CARE-Free day. But it’s CAR-free...a day to celebrate getting from here to there without an automobile. ... Who’d have thought?)

There is also a day devoted to journaling, but apparently the exact holiday is copyrighted (really?) and I need the organization’s permission to even mention it. (I wish I had time to write and ask for their permission, but I don’t, so I’ll leave the actual name and its intended celebrations to your imagination. I’m disappointed...it would have been a good one for us writers to focus on.)

Oh, and if you’re looking for month-long celebrations, September is National Organic Harvest Month and National Piano Month.

So...if you’re already tempted to whip out your plastic pumpkins or (please, nooooooo) your Christmas tree, consider instead baking an elephant-shaped birthday cake for Bilbo and Frodo. Make sure you use organically grown and harvested ingredients which you’ll purchase by riding your bicycle (or maybe a bus...or even taking a stroll) to and from the local woman-owned grocery store.  And don’t forget the ice cream and cones while you’re there. 

During the birthday party, ask your favorite Centenarian to take a seat behind the piano to offer musical birthday wishes. (Everybody who’s a hundred years old knows how to play piano...right?) Maybe he or she can shift into some favorite Hippie peace tunes from the ‘60s. (Hey...I was around back then. I can poke fun!)

When the party’s over, even though we didn't hit every single holiday on the day's list, I think you’ll be holiday-ed out...at least until September 23, which is:

• Great American Pot Pie Day and...

:-)
.....................

Leah writes stories of mystery and romance, good and evil and the power of love.

Please visit her at her website or Facebook (where she loves posting photos and videos of her son's kitten, Hercules). On Wednesdays you'll find her on Twitter  sharing lines from her current Work in Progress for #1LineWed.