Folks often say in Nova Scotia, that if you're not too fancy about the weather at the moment.....wait 15 minutes.
When I was a young lad(way back in the age of the dinosaurs), there would be snow, and often plenty of it on the ground in mid-December. Now granted, during that particular pre-historic time frame, I lived and grew up in central Ontario in what was and still is considered the "snow belt" part of that province.
And sure, there were likely those years when a "green Christmas"(no snow) was the recipe of the day at that time.
Sunday here at the "old homestead" it was relatively mild out. It was in the range of 8 to 10 degrees C in the afternoon. All of which made for the perfect weather temperature to go out to a Christmas tree farm about an hour away and cut a tree for the family.
Monday temperatures hit upwards or above 15 degrees C, but dangerously windy with some rain added into the mix for good measure. Believe me - wIndy hardly describes it - yikes.
All the above is great information(okay not all that pertinent), and not necessarily what the guts of the post are about.
So, how many of us whether by design or by default at this time of year, strive for the "big; enormous; or monumental" Christmas event or happening? Well, whether you do or not, many will. You know the ones, who live and die by the motto, "Bigger is better."
Without going into a horrendously long and detailed post about "bigger is better" during the Christmas and holiday season, let me say that my experience over the years has revealed that most times achieving "bigger is better", requires far more planning and work than the recent coronation of King Charles.
On the other hand, the flip side to the "bigger is better" coin is, "simple works."
During the Christmas and holiday season many of us(and at times yours truly), can get caught up in planning family events or outings to within "an inch of their life." When that happens there is simply no or not much room left for spontaneity to occur.
If we reflect, how many of us remember and cherish the memory of some simple spur-of-the-moment event or thing that happened at Christmas years ago?
You see, "simple works" as much and as well as "bigger is better."
On Sunday, we went out to a U-cut Christmas tree farm. A pretty basic spot, as in no real "bells and whistles" so to speak.
The folks who own and run it, I would say do it as a labour of love. The wife portion of the family/team operation explained the procedure for first-timers.
- Singing to the trees will help in choosing the special one for your family
- If you can't sing but try - that will stunt the trees' growth
- Once you haul your special tree back, you MUST ring the bell hanging on the post
- The bell ringing does nothing, but draw attention to yourself(Lynn's favourite part)
- And finally - have nothing but fun and make memories
Pretty simple. Not much planning and the perfect spot to let "spontaneity" surprise us.
The result was, that we talked about the fun we just had at the farm for the next hour on our way back to the "old homestead."
All joking aside, this can and often is an exceeding busy; stressful, and challenging time of year. And I know, we all want and desire at times those "bigger is better" memory-making events during the Christmas and holiday season.
But, wouldn't it be nice if we left the room during this time of year for "simple works as well?"
Spontaneity plus simple ........will often create during this season, memories that will last a lifetime.
--as always with love--
--- get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself ---
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