Trails from the Creche: Arrivals, Departures, all a matter of time.

Timing is..."Not always on my time table #@*%!" As I shared with you here, a sharing gift 😊 just ahead of 12/25, how holidays and other major milestone moments, for better or worse, arrive, are not always well-timed ("I'm not ready for this"). For many of us, no matter how much advance notice (see below) we are given, such moments still catch us underprepared...'flat-footed'😟, at least emotionally, if not practically. This Christmas is probably proving (still in process, at least "Twelve Days" more😔) to be no different than that of those of yesteryear, all the way back to the...Creche, the "Reason for the Season", prompts of which can be found in a mash-up of pageantry, beginning with the Santa parade on Thanksgiving (around here), proceeding to the familiar scene, the latter represented by still life in and outside as well as plays depicting the foretelling, the build-up, culminating in the Nativity, the Creche, usually played out on the Eve. Eventually, to be followed by...

Christmas Freedom Day! An analogue to "Tax Freedom Day" (the date on the calendar representing that which the nation as a whole has worked until to pay is taxes, a date that moves around on the calendar, usually in the 'wrong' direction😠). A date on our contemporary Advent calendar does not yet exist...yet! But like the "Festivus" episode on Seinfeld, which has become a cottage industry of sorts, maybe the consideration of all the time, effort, and preoccupation ("...the hopes and fears of all the years...𝅘𝅥𝅯") could come together on our behalf, those of us that either wear ourselves out, or put this otherwise sacred holiday at risk, wearing it out, by setting aside a day that reminds us just what it takes, and what brought us to this moment, this place, "O Little Town of Bethlehem𝅘𝅥𝅯" Represented also by...

Christmas Characters, Caricatures: In addition to those we see in millions of Nativity scenes, which we ourselves, or our children have played a part in*, how those that were called upon, invited, exhorted to attend, to witness the miracle of The Birth, we also have experienced on a more personal, secular level, been witness to characters in our own Christmas gatherings, ranging from the perennial "Johnny/Jennie-come-lately", to those few who arrive annoyingly early (ostensibly to "help" but I suspect also to see if we are on our toes or instead, 'flat-footed')...or, finally, those who, only arriving a few minutes before, already seem to have a foot out the door (maybe accompanied by the strategy I have gifted you here, a 'graceful exit plan'). We all played a part in this play, whether an attendee or a host. Which best depicts you and who do you relate to most in the Original? Yes, whether reflecting on the very first Christmas, those you grew up with, or the one in your midst, timing has a great bearing, even for one of our main contemporary characters...

Just in the Nick, Nicholas...As I was once again reminded, by listening to a recollection yesterday morn, one on the parallel courses plotted by two main characters of the Christmas scene, at least in this Century and in this part of the world, include those of Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas, whose histories are sometimes confused and others fused, mashed-up, to form a whole array. One, the "Jolly Ole Soul" is aligned with the one day itself, who along with at least one elf, is capable of great feats, whose feets are the harbinger of great things to come, first in the hearth, then throughout the earth. Whereas the other Saintly figure is more of a reminder for us, remaining throughout the year, for the real reason for the season, whose feats of kindness, charity, and other spiritual gifts are not timed to coincide with 12/25 but are meant to sustain us throughout the year. As the narrator reminded me near the end, I can embrace both, but should try my best to follow the vector of one while giving the other a rest, as he returns to points north. 

*My Christmas Smash-Up: I was also reminded, partly by the re-creations of the Creche, the ponderings of the narrator, and a few chidings of the tidings from a sibling, of how I, after failing to heed the cautions of my father, an experienced sledder ("If you get near to that ditch at the bottom of the hill, roll off or else..."), resulted in a cut lip as well as a more lasting 'shiner', the latter of which informed all those congregated on the Eve to witness just how "Wise" I was, accompanying the other two Wise Witnesses, arriving late on the scene.