Tradition

Back in college, we had an old saying that if you do it more than twice, it's a tradition.

The holidays are full of all sorts of activities/tasks/excitement/traditions. As a kid, we always had certain traditions we did during that long stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Putting up a live Christmas tree, shoveling the driveway (multiple times), building our snow fort, my brothers and I trying to kill ourselves on the toboggan. Life was pretty simple back then (no video games, no cable, no internet).

As I "grew up" (the wife will challenge that premise) and struck out with my own family, we adopted new traditions. First, when we were stationed in Germany, my wife and I started our own traditions to celebrate the holidays. An oversized Christmas tree in a tiny apartment on the 4th floor (imagine the logistics), trips to the Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, hot Glühwein, collecting lots of handmade ornaments/figurines.

When we moved back stateside and started a family, our traditions changed again. Since we were initially the most "mobile" (young married couple, no kids), we spent most of our holidays traveling to see family in Houston, Corpus Christi, or Oklahoma City. That is about the time we bought our first home and I started on my collection of Christmas decorations/lights to put up outside. My vision was for a single color (red) string of lights to encompass the entire house. In Dallas, there were whole neighborhoods that decorated in the same theme. We used to drive out to tour several of these neighborhoods along with the rest of the crowds trying to imagine that, one day, we'd be just as festive. There is one major subdivision in Fort Worth that every house is decorated in massive fashion and they even have to hire traffic cops to control traffic. Some enterprising youngsters sell hot chocolate along the route to make some coin. Along the way, junior joined the crew and we began our own set of traditions (buying a tree, decorating it together, touring some of the local neighborhoods for the light shows, going to visit Santa,etc.). Each year, the number and complexity of the ornaments grew. We continued to acquire new Xmas ornaments every year while continuing to display the old ones (still have 2 from my childhood).

Eventually, I found a new career in south Texas and relocated back to Houston. Some of our traditions followed as well, some new ones were started. Eventually, we caved and moved to an artificial tree (allergies) that I would put up every year right after Thanksgiving usually while watching a football game (required lots of patience, detailed instructions, and a fair amount of scotch to assemble). More ornaments, more holiday glitz, more displays. Monogrammed stockings for everyone (including the dog). Lighted garland, Nativity scene, wreaths. I was still maintaining the single light theme on the outside. I just like the old school C9 lights around the house, but it is hard to keep the lights burning/unbroken year after year. Normally, I buy a new string every year to replace the old burned out bulbs and keep the strings fresh. My son and I even got into a debate one Christmas over the colors on display (he wanted multi colors). We still tried to tour other neighborhoods to see the lights, but there don't seem to be as many as in north Texas. One house we have always gone to every year has been Roller Coaster Santa. A very creative guy has build a huge, handmade roller coaster track and with a 25 foot lift hill and a single car (small wagon) that makes the circuit. He loads up a Santa figure in the car/sleigh and sets it off on the track. Takes about 2-3 minutes to climb the hill on a chain motor and about 20 seconds to careen around the track and start all over again. Not sure how his neighbors feel, but on a good night, the line of cars will be backed up 3 deep in front of his house. We also used to go to the Nutcracker down town every year if I could get good tickets.

All that changed a few years ago. With junior off in college and engaged in other interests (aka girlfriend) and getting backed up at the office, my drive and motivation to put out all of the decorations has waned a bit. Some years, I put up the lights/tree right Thanksgiving. Some years, I have not been as energetic. Last year, with Shadow's passing, I didn't put up lights or the tree until the weekend before Christmas (my heart just wasn't in it). I did get the tree up last weekend, but have yet to get the lights up on the outside (still going red). Having the family at home helps boost everyone's spirit. I am trying to get in the spirit this year, but with all the various challenges this year, it may be a another week before everything is up and running. With one more year to go in college and given his proclivity towards the tech industry, I am afraid that Steve will land a job that is not close by (translation: out of state). NOT looking forward to those times. In the meantime, he is about finished with this semester and getting prepped for tests/finals. He should be home again next week in a flurry of clothes and boxes.

And, of course, I have yet to start Xmas shopping...

Deck the Halls!