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Christmas Past and Present
Dec. 25th, 2020 01:20 pmThis morning as I walked downstairs I felt a moment of nostalgia. "It's Christmas morning," I remembered. "What presents have magically appeared under the tree?"
Of course it's been eleventy-someodd years since I believed in Santa Claus or presents magically appearing beneath a Christmas tree. It's also been not much less long since I actually believed in Christmas. ....Oh, I don't deny that Christmas exists. It's a religious holiday that's important to one of the world's large religions. I'm just not a religious person.
"I'm part of the Bah-Humbug Brigade!" I chuckled to myself as I settled down to sleep around 8 on Christmas morning.
Over the years since then I've kept Bah, Humbug as a meme to encapsulate my feeling of alienation at this time of year. Christmas is familiar to me because I grew up in a religious family celebrating it, and simultaneously foreign because I'm not longer religious and haven't celebrated it for years. At Christmastime I feel like I'm on the outside looking in through the glass with a tinge of longing— as well as a tinge of disgust at what it's become.
Of course I didn't invent the phrase Bah, Humbug. It entered our cultural lexicon with Charles Dickens's classic 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. "Bah, humbug!" was the memorable refrain of the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy man who scoffed at the religious significance of Christmas to anyone. He thought it was theft that his employees even wanted the day off to celebrate at home with their families.
I chuckle at saying "Bah, humbug!" but I'm not Scrooge. I don't deny the importance of Christmas to the 2-billion-plus Christians in the world. I'm just not one of them. But if you are, I'm happy for you.
This year, of course, a big trip isn't in the cards. Thanks, Coronavirus. But big trips aren't our only tradition. Sometimes we take a smaller trip, like visiting Yosemite for a weekend. Oops, not this year. Or we stay close to home and visit friends locally. Uh-oh, Coronavirus again! This year it's just going to be a quiet weekend, at home, by ourselves.
Of course it's been eleventy-someodd years since I believed in Santa Claus or presents magically appearing beneath a Christmas tree. It's also been not much less long since I actually believed in Christmas. ....Oh, I don't deny that Christmas exists. It's a religious holiday that's important to one of the world's large religions. I'm just not a religious person.
Bah, Humbug?
I've written about Christmas with the tag Bah Humbug on LiveJournal for years. Partly that's a personal inside joke, dating back years now to when I was in graduate school. The preeminent technical conference in my field had its annual submissions deadline in early January. Late December was crunch time to finish up our research and writing. That year I was working on not one, nor two, but three papers for the conference. It was mega crunch time. I recall I went to the lab sometime around 1pm on December 24th and left to go home at 7am, having pulled an all-nighter (one of many)."I'm part of the Bah-Humbug Brigade!" I chuckled to myself as I settled down to sleep around 8 on Christmas morning.Over the years since then I've kept Bah, Humbug as a meme to encapsulate my feeling of alienation at this time of year. Christmas is familiar to me because I grew up in a religious family celebrating it, and simultaneously foreign because I'm not longer religious and haven't celebrated it for years. At Christmastime I feel like I'm on the outside looking in through the glass with a tinge of longing— as well as a tinge of disgust at what it's become.
Of course I didn't invent the phrase Bah, Humbug. It entered our cultural lexicon with Charles Dickens's classic 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. "Bah, humbug!" was the memorable refrain of the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy man who scoffed at the religious significance of Christmas to anyone. He thought it was theft that his employees even wanted the day off to celebrate at home with their families.
I chuckle at saying "Bah, humbug!" but I'm not Scrooge. I don't deny the importance of Christmas to the 2-billion-plus Christians in the world. I'm just not one of them. But if you are, I'm happy for you.
Normally I Travel... Or Visit Friends...
Another way I'm not like Scrooge is that I don't intend to work on Christmas. ...Not since that one time years ago in grad school, anyway! Many years I take advantage of the time off my employer provides, and the generally slow place of business at this time of year, to travel. For example, last year Hawk and I landed in the US Virgin Islands on Christmas Eve and spent a busy Christmas day beach-hopping and touring on St. John Island. The year before we were in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina over Christmas.This year, of course, a big trip isn't in the cards. Thanks, Coronavirus. But big trips aren't our only tradition. Sometimes we take a smaller trip, like visiting Yosemite for a weekend. Oops, not this year. Or we stay close to home and visit friends locally. Uh-oh, Coronavirus again! This year it's just going to be a quiet weekend, at home, by ourselves.
