There are a lot of things that we didn’t do this year so that we could do them next year. The only problem with that? Some of the people we would have done them with didn’t make it to next year.
When Am I Ever Gonna Wake Up? I Wish You Were Here With Me Right Now. But… I Guess That’s Not Gonna Happen. Not Now, Anyway.” – Del Griffith (John Candy), Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
We’ll do those things anyway. Not with them. No big family gatherings, no holiday feasts this year. Not in our home anyway. Travel? Also not in the picture.
What is in the picture? A meal with a table setting for those passed and present. They are still with us, in our hearts, our thoughts, our dreams and our memories. Always.
As we skip some things because of the pandemic, I find us overdoing, no, extradoing other things. I’ve always been big on holiday decorations. Over the years, my drive to be seen from space declined. We barely put up any decorations last year.
I don’t read no papers, and I don’t listen to radios either. I know the world’s been shaved by a drunken barber, and I don’t have to read it.” – The Colonel (Walter Brennan), Meet John Doe
This year? We break out every timer, every power strip, every last extension cord. We aren’t alone. Our neighborhood lights up like Thor realizing he isn’t the God of Hammers.
Are we overcompensating? Kinda sorta maybe lets just call it extracompensating. Shall we? We extracompensated earlier by putting stuffed animals in windows for people doing zoo/safari drives. We encourage others to join us in extracompensating by engaging in activities like:
- Donating to Food Banks/Drives,
- Cheergrams for Essential/Frontline Workers,
- Holiday Decoration Scavenger Hunts.
- Lights at Night Walk
- Lights on the Bay Drive
We take lots of Hot Cocoa breaks, some virtual, but most analog. Curl up on the couch with the Overlords. Watch one of our favorite holiday movies. Guzzle hot chocolate and devour lebkuchen. The Papillons approve.
My Holiday movies?
The usual Baker’s Dozen, but not your usual list:
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987)
Meet John Doe (1941)
White Christmas (1954)
Love, Actually (2003)
Die Hard (1988)
Joyeux Noël (2006)
Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)
Trading Places (1983)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Grinch (1967/)
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
“Meet John Doe” is my second favourite Capra movie, and my holiday Capra vehicle, period. Yes, even over “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I added hyperlinks to a few others that may not be classic holiday picks.
“Joyeux Noël” grew out of the “L’incroyable de Noël de 1914” chapter in Yves Buffetaut’s “Batailles de Flandres et d’Artois 1914-1919.” On Christmas Day 1914, Saxon Infantry and the 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh Fusiliers traded their trenches for a football pitch. British and German Armies gathered in Frelinghien, France in 2008 for a game of football in honour of their ancestors.
“Lighthouses, John. Lighthouses in a foggy world.” – Henry Connel (James Gleason), Meet John Doe