On A Quiet Holiday:

Mountain Man and I are not going anywhere for dinner today nor are we having anyone over. The Princess Daughter and Prince Charming are going to his mother’s this year. I cleaned the house and did piles of laundry yesterday so I could have the day off today.

I’m waiting to have a good sit by the wood stove and watch the parade on TV while knitting up some more mittens and sipping herb tea. Mountain Man is waiting for the games on this afternoon and snacking on fresh veggies cut into bite size chunks.

We could have gone elsewhere. We had invitations. We just wanted a quite day. There will be food of course but no grand spread. As we get older we don’t go in for all the fancy foods that although they are very good in taste, don’t agree with us. And Mountain Man never was the holiday type.

I don’t know when it happened, this less is more, but I just don’t need to have a grand gala ‘to do’ anymore. Once upon a time every room needed to be dressed up for each and every holiday large or small. Special foods and guests were planned for. Now home and quite are best.

I decorate lightly for the entire season not one holiday or another. Tomorrow autumn leaves will be replaced by snow flakes and I’m done. Boxes of holiday doodads will sit quite in the barn storage area, unused for another year.

Did I get old or just wiser? I’d like to thing the latter. I’m not depressed. In fact I’m quite happier then I’ve been in some time. It’s taken a while to get over the death of my son nine years ago and then my breast cancer three years ago too. And it’s not the seeing friends and relatives. I talk to and see them at other times without all the hubbub of holidays.

I guess I’ve just learned how to relax. Most of my holiday memories are of running around like a chicken without her head trying to make everyone else’s holiday nice and landing exhausted in bed wondering where the day went. I missed all the good moments only hearing them from the other room while I cooked.

Now I treasure my friends and family in relaxed quite without holidays in the way. (Insert sigh of contentment here.) Happy Thanksgiving!