Before
the new year begins I thought I would take a few days away from art and write
about a family Christmas as close to the North Pole as my family goes. That turns out to be Traverse City, Michigan
where my older son
Danny lives. In the summer, it is known
as the Cherry Capital, much of the rest of the year I would call it the Snow
Capital! It is right on Lake Michigan
and is a popular resort town where many
celebrities have summer homes and the film maker Michael Moore lives full time. It is extremely well known in the nearby
states and much less so in the rest of the country.
Danny
invited all the family for
Christmas and all accepted. We flew from
Santa Fe, my younger son from Los Angeles,
my daughter with husband and 2 sons from Philadelphia and my older
children's mother and husband from New York.
Add to that Danny's son and daughter, his girlfriend and her two
daughters and her parents and it was a typical American family amalgam of 17
for Christmas dinner.
But as
you all know the holiday really begins on Christmas Eve and this was no
exception. We spent it not on the
outskirts of
Traverse City where one house is next to the other but 15 minutes
away in rolling hills where the houses are further apart and, of course, the snow is deeper. This was at Danny's girlfriend's
home. The Christmas tree in the window
with the snow behind was magical.
Her
family has a tradition of small bites on Christmas Eve to which all contributed. My 14 year old grandson, Aidan, is
turning into quite the chef and contributed a delicious pulled pork worthy of
Corky's in Memphis, Tennessee. There
were meatballs, shrimp, cheese, home-made sweets, a fabulous smorgasbord of
flavors.
Christmas
morning at Danny’s started at 7a.m. with
stocking opening by those 15 and under which we did not attend but we did join
in for the gift giving. I have never seen so many wrapped presents
under a tree before. For an idea of how
many gifts were given just multiply one from each to each and multiply by 17...
Well, thankfully it wasn't quite that
extreme.
After an
informal lox and bagel lunch, a tradition that, I believe came more from the
Jewish side of the family, we had some much needed exercise, a long walk for some
while others went
for a swim, making room for a huge brisket and turkey dinner.
Where
does the gift giving tradition come from?
The
obvious answer for Christmas is
the three Kings bringing gifts to the Christ Child, but we can be quite sure
the tradition started long before that. Almost every culture and religion has
occasions on which to make gifts. Think
about how many holidays you might give a gift and sometimes you just do it to make
someone happy, like bringing flowers home for your significant other. And think of how disappointed we are if we
perceive that the recipient, no matter his/her age, is not pleased with the
gift. The act of giving is a human
instinct that we find necessary in order to feel fulfilled.
The
strain of having a
group of people together, with even more at stake if it is family, is naturally exhausting, especially
for the hosts who make
this all happen. Why do we do this to
ourselves once or twice a year? Because
it is not only the way we bond and keep in touch with family but also get to
meet and mingle with those who have joined the greater family recently. With an infinite number of variations this
tradition exists throughout the world and is usually focused on the winter solstice.
With all best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2013 !
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