I dropped the last bundle of outbound Holiday Greetings at the post office the other day. I always leave someone out and some come back undelivered but the work is done. I remember when people sent an update for the year and either included it with a card or in lieu of one. I don’t see much of that nowadays but then postage and the cards themselves are very expensive. I understand, a long mailing list can be cost prohibitive. But I remember a long time back when I was coming out, identifying as a writer; I didn’t want to labor friends and family with a chronological list of high and low points from my year. I appreciated the thought as well as the news but, not really good reading. So I started writing Christmas poems and sending them instead.
The word Narrative is a sophisticated way of saying Story. But it is more than that. It is the difference between Bird and Pelican. By a single word a living creature is reduced to nothing more than a feathered, flying animal. A different word and it unfolds with character and imagery. Pelican is more than just a bird, it is big, with a fleshy pouch under its huge beak. It is the bird with long, flared wings that skims low across the shallows, gliding effortlessly on a cushion of offshore breeze. They dive deep into the water at a steep angle, mouth open like a dip net; the fish doesn’t have a chance. To make that revelation just use a different word. That is the difference between Narrative and Story. When I send a holiday greeting I want it to be a good read, its message requires more than information, it needs the narrative.
Over time the poems gave way to timely vignettes about family or my adventures that captured the spirit of the season. My subtle, underlying holiday message is the same every year; “Something interesting happened and I want to tell you. Oh, and by the way, I remember you, I care about you, I am always happy to see you and when I miss you, I miss you. If we can’t sit together and drink coffee then take care and be happy. It is a choice.”
I spent about 90 envelopes and stamps this year, added a few yesterday that I had overlooked or new to the list. I think of the project as a gift from me to myself. Every time I sign my name, stuff the envelope, lick and stick I give that person my undivided attention and it feels good. I will celebrate Christmas but Jingle Bells & The First Noel are just one of many reasons to proclaim the season. In my end-of-the-year celebrating I usually pay more attention to Thanksgiving and Solstice. Christmas was hijacked by early Christians to coincide with Solstice, (Baby Jesus was born in the spring after all) that way converted pagans could keep a familiar holiday under a new pretense. They neither canceled nor changed the date, just substituted a new story.
Thanksgiving, on the other hand, began with rituals to celebrate fertility and the harvest season and they predate The First Noel by several thousand years. How can you not love Thanksgiving, thank you. Solstice reaches even farther back into antiquity. They saw it coming, watching the shadows change as the sun’s arc dipped lower and lower in the southern sky. On that day when shadows were the longest and daylight hours their shortest, they celebrated. They knew from experience that the sun’s arc would begin to rise again. The sun left those cold people with a promise. “It is going to get even colder and times will be painfully hard but I will be back, and I’ll bring summer with me.” For tens of thousands of years the sun has never, not come back.
I will have company, we will be outside at Dark-O’Clock on 12/21 with a fire and music that exalts the sun and sunshine; George Harrison, John Denver, Sheryl Crow and others. (Here comes the sun and I say, it’s alright) There might even be some sing-along, shuffling of feet and dance a little dance. The fire will stay lit but after the singing and dancing we can come inside, watch the flames from the kitchen window. There will be a pot of green chili and sopapillas to seal the deal and a communal toast with dark chocolate and sipping brandy.
The word Narrative is a sophisticated way of saying Story. But it is more than that. It is the difference between Bird and Pelican. By a single word a living creature is reduced to nothing more than a feathered, flying animal. A different word and it unfolds with character and imagery. Pelican is more than just a bird, it is big, with a fleshy pouch under its huge beak. It is the bird with long, flared wings that skims low across the shallows, gliding effortlessly on a cushion of offshore breeze. They dive deep into the water at a steep angle, mouth open like a dip net; the fish doesn’t have a chance. To make that revelation just use a different word. That is the difference between Narrative and Story. When I send a holiday greeting I want it to be a good read, its message requires more than information, it needs the narrative.
Over time the poems gave way to timely vignettes about family or my adventures that captured the spirit of the season. My subtle, underlying holiday message is the same every year; “Something interesting happened and I want to tell you. Oh, and by the way, I remember you, I care about you, I am always happy to see you and when I miss you, I miss you. If we can’t sit together and drink coffee then take care and be happy. It is a choice.”
I spent about 90 envelopes and stamps this year, added a few yesterday that I had overlooked or new to the list. I think of the project as a gift from me to myself. Every time I sign my name, stuff the envelope, lick and stick I give that person my undivided attention and it feels good. I will celebrate Christmas but Jingle Bells & The First Noel are just one of many reasons to proclaim the season. In my end-of-the-year celebrating I usually pay more attention to Thanksgiving and Solstice. Christmas was hijacked by early Christians to coincide with Solstice, (Baby Jesus was born in the spring after all) that way converted pagans could keep a familiar holiday under a new pretense. They neither canceled nor changed the date, just substituted a new story.
Thanksgiving, on the other hand, began with rituals to celebrate fertility and the harvest season and they predate The First Noel by several thousand years. How can you not love Thanksgiving, thank you. Solstice reaches even farther back into antiquity. They saw it coming, watching the shadows change as the sun’s arc dipped lower and lower in the southern sky. On that day when shadows were the longest and daylight hours their shortest, they celebrated. They knew from experience that the sun’s arc would begin to rise again. The sun left those cold people with a promise. “It is going to get even colder and times will be painfully hard but I will be back, and I’ll bring summer with me.” For tens of thousands of years the sun has never, not come back.
I will have company, we will be outside at Dark-O’Clock on 12/21 with a fire and music that exalts the sun and sunshine; George Harrison, John Denver, Sheryl Crow and others. (Here comes the sun and I say, it’s alright) There might even be some sing-along, shuffling of feet and dance a little dance. The fire will stay lit but after the singing and dancing we can come inside, watch the flames from the kitchen window. There will be a pot of green chili and sopapillas to seal the deal and a communal toast with dark chocolate and sipping brandy.
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