Christmas ’22

Christmas morning, 2022, before we opened any presents.Tree, Christmas 2022

This year’s tree cost as much as last year’s, mainly because it’s shorter than most with a goofy bend atop, and while its trunk begins straight and true, it then detours in an odd direction, giving the tree a tilt usually associated with an impending fall. The stuff of Christmas movie comedies.

Also the stuff of actual falling Christmas trees, in the days when our tree was placed in a bucket weighed down with bricks and then filled with gravel. Stability not guaranteed. At some happy moment in the early ’70s, we acquired a tree-legged tree stand with three screws to secure the trunk, and it worked like a holiday dream. None of our trees ever fell after that.

I wax nostalgic for Christmases of yore, of course. Who doesn’t at least a little? But if I live long enough to be nostalgic about Christmas 2022, I’ll probably take a pass.

Not because of any family strife or other stereotypical situations. Yuriko and I welcomed both of our children home. It’s rare now to have us all in the same room, and a treasure when we do.Lilly Christmas 2022
Ann Christmas 2022

Bonus: my brother Jim came as well. I’m not sure why I made his picture at a Batman villain angle, but I did.Jim Christmas 2022

Once Christmas Day finally arrived, we had a pleasant time, sitting down to open presents, doing a zoom with more distant family members, and later convening at the table for Christmas dinner.Christmas Dinner 2022

Some of the days before and after Christmas were a mite stressful, however, because of the great Southwest Airlines FUBAR. Media outlets are missing something by not applying that term to the situation, since it sums it up so nicely.

One more thing about Christmas. A few days ago, I happened on a posting by a fellow who devised a way to track the Christmas songs that a local (Chicago area) radio station plays. During the rest of the year, the station plays “light” music, but come early November sometime it becomes “Christmas FM.”

What did he find? The station played all of 187 different tracks, representing only 101 different songs during its run this year as a Christmas station. Out of a universe of what — thousands or tens of thousands of Christmas and holiday songs? — the station plays only about 100.

Mr. Program Director, how about expanding your list next by at least a few hundred more?

The program director would have deaf ears for such a request. He knows the radio biz, I do not. He has studies. He has focus groups. Or maybe he isn’t a he or a she, but an algorithm. Whatever the case, repetition is king. All I know is that FM radio used to be about variety, and used to be more interesting, and yet somehow made money.

Thursday Debris (Electronic and Paper)

As expected, full winter is here. Not much more to say about that till a blizzard comes. We’re overdue one, at least when it comes to my completely nonscientific feelings on the matter. Not that I want one, just that it’s been a while, and the Old Man might want to let us have it this year.

Christmas lights are up around the neighborhood and beyond. Have been, mostly since last week. So are ours, but I don’t light them. Soon. I haven’t even gotten around to replacing the white overhead front door light with a green bulb. Soon.

We visited the Elk Grove Village lights recently, which includes a glowing ball you can walk into. Elk Grove Village Christmas Lights
Elk Grove Village Christmas Lights

How could I not open an email with a subject line like this?

SAVE at our annual Holiday Open House! Details inside

Easy not to open, actually, and usually I wouldn’t, but since I did know the sender — a dermatologist we’ve visited — I took a look:

Don’t miss our biggest savings of 2022 on skin treatment packages and in-clinic products at our Wheaton/Naperville location. Oh, what fun!

Oh, what fun? Like riding in a one-horse open sleigh?

Ridding the house of excess paper is an ongoing task. Digital age, my foot. Today I found a form letter, undated, from the Schleswig-Holstein Park District. The head:

PARENTAL GUIDELINES

Followed by a lot of verbiage, but I didn’t need to read any more. Those days are over. Out to the blue bin with it.

Before I tossed, in the same blue bin, one of those cardboard triangles that Toblerone comes in, I noticed that the brand is owned by Mondelēz International, complete with macron. Wait, isn’t that the name of the president of France? How is it that the Fifth Republic has a diacritical mark as its supreme magistrate?

Never mind. When did the essential Swiss triangle chocolate fall under the sway of Mondelēz? Back in 1990, when predecessor Kraft bought Toblerone. Shows you what I know. Then again, that would account for Toblerone’s wider appearance in North America since about 1990. Back in the 1980s, the chocolate wasn’t just Swiss made, that’s where you found most of it.

Despite its Euro-sounding name — Iberian-sounding — Mondelēz is actually headquartered in the far-off, exotic city of Chicago.

Holidays

Christmas and New Year’s Day came and went pleasantly, a pause in paying attention to the rest of the world except maybe for weather reports. And I did hear that Betty White died, not an hour after I saw her face on a magazine in a drug store rack, noting her upcoming 100th birthday. RIP, Betty.

A bit of Christmas morning. A few hours later, a zoom with other family members in Texas.

Christmas dinner was nearly the same, in foodstuff prepared for the table, as Thanksgiving, except no beans and instead a large salad. Toward the New Year, Yuriko prepared osechi ryori, as every year. Homemade dishes need not be as elaborate as in this article, but they are put in a three-tiered box, and ours are just as delicious as any prepared by a store.

Mostly pleasant December weather gave way at the end of the month to snow and then heavy snow for New Year’s Day, but nothing blizzard-like. Nothing to interrupt traffic for long, though I expect not that many people were out on Saturday or Sunday anyway. We didn’t go anywhere either, but we did shovel, since today brought a return to workweeks.

Manhattan Decked Out for Christmas

Regards for Christmas and New Year’s Day and all the days around them and in between. Back to posting around January 3.

One reason to go to New York City in December is to admire the seasonal lights and decorations, and that’s what I did. Starting with the impressive Christmas tree on the street in front of the New York Stock Exchange.Manhattan Christmastime

Fearless Girl is there now, and she still has her admirers.Manhattan Christmastime

On Broadway just up from Bowling Green, the Charging Bull bronze still stands, and there’s a sizable tree nearby as well. For some reason, there was also an Kazakhstan flag flying.Manhattan Christmastime

I saw the giant Rockefeller Center tree, though the madding and maddening crowd put me out of the mood to take pictures. For the record, the 2021 tree is a 79-foot Norway Spruce, 46 feet wide and weighing 12 tons, according to the center, with about 50,000 LED lights and a 900-lb. Swarovski star with 70 spikes on top.

You might call the tree shape at Radio City Music Hall a bit of deco decoration.Manhattan Christmastime Manhattan Christmastime

No Christmas show inside.Manhattan Christmastime

Another gorgeous light display in the area was on the wall of Saks, facing Fifth Avenue. The crowds were quite attentive as it shifted and blinked.

Back downtown, Zuccotti Park.Manhattan Christmastime

The lights of Trinity Center, overlooking Zuccotti.Manhattan Christmastime

From there, I went to the World Trade Center complex. Not especially decked out for the holidays, but I caught the buildings at a good time in terms of lighting.Manhattan Christmastime Manhattan Christmastime

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, still under construction.Manhattan Christmastime Manhattan Christmastime

It’s a replacement structure, designed by Santiago Calatrava, for a church of the same name and denomination on the site that was destroyed by the Twin Towers collapse. The new church will also be a memorial honoring those who died in the attack.

The Oculus‘ interior is blue for the holidays. At least it was when I stepped in for a few moments. A lot of other people were taking a look as well.Manhattan Christmastime Oculus

Wandering the streets of Manhattan, I saw a lot of smaller decorations, such as this restaurant annex on 51st.Manhattan Christmastime

Fire house lights, same street.Manhattan Christmastime

Bongs in the window.Manhattan Christmastime

Not Christmasy, but colorful all the same. This head shop near the Oculus — are they even called that any more? — is no doubt taking advantage of the legalization of cannabis in New York State this year, though retail sales haven’t started yet. For what it’s worth, I noticed the smell of cannabis on the streets of the city a lot more this time than ever before. And for that matter, less urine smell, which I suppose is a function of the hypergentrification of Manhattan.

Over in the Meatpacking District, angular snowfolk occupy a small plaza.Manhattan Christmastime

The angular building facing that little plaza.Manhattan Christmastime

After visiting Little Island, Geof and I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the first floor of the building.Manhattan Christmastime

I had the Mexican French toast.Mexican French Toast

I’d never heard of that before. Created for the table of Maximilian I? Man, it was good.

Not far away, on 14th Street, is Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en San Bernardo, a parish church formed by the merger of two congregations in the early 2000s. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en San Bernardo
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en San Bernardo

An 1870s building designed by the amazingly prolific Patrick C. Keely. Wonderfully colorful interior, hardly shown in my picture.Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en San Bernardo

A good place to spend a few Christmastime minutes.

Despotism In Jest & In Earnest

Back around December 19. Got things to do and, maybe, a few things to see.

Today’s amusement: I happened across this photo.

I’ve seen a lot of pictures of President Roosevelt, but never this one, which I downloaded from the National Archives. The occasion was a Roman-themed birthday party for the president, January 30, 1934.

Among other things, FDR’s enemies accused him of despotic tendencies, and it looks like he decided to make fun of the notion as Emperor Roosevelt.

Speaking of despotism, somehow our gnome ended up on the Christmas tree.
Stalin in the Tree

Dreaming of a red Christmas, no doubt. Except that reds don’t celebrate Christmas. Of course, Stalin could have, if he’d wanted to. He was Stalin.

I’d better keep an eye out, or some of the other ornaments might be sent off to parts remote, including the great beyond, as Christmas tree wreckers.

Tannenbaum ’21

We acquired a tree on Saturday at the same lot we’ve visited for a few years now. Prices were indeed higher this year, as has been reported. Seems that fewer trees have been planted since the late 2000s recession, and the cost of transporting them is up this year as well.

Got one anyway. A little smaller than most years, but not bad. I set it up and put on the lights.Christmas Tree 2021

The girls put most of the rest of the ornaments on. They learned the everything-here-and-there on the tree approach to Christmas decorations from me, as I learned it from my mother and brothers.Christmas Tree 2021

The result, with the room lights off.Christmas Tree 2021

All together, it only took a couple of hours to get the tree, set it up and decorate it. Much faster than last year. The whole process happened in between dinner, which was take out Japanese food, and a movie we watched together later in the evening, which was The Princess Bride. None of those things ever gets old.

Sushi Night

Everyone’s in town. The evening we had sushi at a place we’ve been to before. The place makes especially good sushi, we all agree. My own favorite is their unagi (eel).Daughters

What’s sushi for if not to dig in? The piece in the chopsticks is in fact unagi.sushi yum

On the way home, we drove to the lights that Elk Grove Village displays near some of its municipal buildings.Elk Grove Village Xmas Lights

Mostly my camera isn’t much for taking night shots — or more probably, I don’t know how to set it — but I like that one.

A Bit of the Old Christmas Leer

Mist and cold rain through much of the day. The kind of day when you stick pretty close to base camp. No snow or ice, for now. Won’t be long.

One of the Christmas ornaments that my parents picked up in West Germany in the mid-50s.German Santa 1950s

The leering Santa, I think of it. Some ornaments are distinctive enough that you remember from decades past when you see them again. Such as this Santa, which I happened across a few years ago at my mother’s house in San Antonio.

North Pole, Alaska

Here’s a question I’ve never considered at all before, for any reason: Where is the world’s largest Santa Claus statue? Guinness World Records and other sources put it in Portugal, where the municipality of Águeda erected a 69-foot Claus made of aluminum and iron and LED lighting in time for Christmas 2016.

Yet other sources assert that the 42-foot-tall, 900-pound fiberglass Santa statue in North Pole, Alaska, deserves the honor, as a more permanent fixture. It is definitely older, having graced the Fairbanks suburb since 1983 after making its way up from the Lower 48 (Seattle, specifically) in a tale told by Roadside America.

I don’t have an opinion about the champion Santa statue. I did see the North Pole Santa, though, not long before I drove down to Denali NP.Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Santa stands at the Santa Claus House in North Pole, pop. 2,090 or so. I couldn’t come to greater Fairbanks and not see that. The establishment dates from nearly 70 years ago in the early days of the town, which supposedly renamed itself North Pole to attract a toy factory that never materialized (“Made at North Pole” could be stamped on such toys.) One Con Miller and his wife Nellie capitalized on the name, however, by calling their trading post Santa Claus House.

These days the place isn’t particularly a trading post, but most definitely a tourist attraction, still owned by the Miller family. I came myself exactly because it is a tourist attraction.Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska
Santa-themed murals decorate the exterior walls.

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska
Inside, as you’d expect, is a large retail store devoted to Christmas decorations and other holiday paraphernalia.Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska
Not as large as the Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan, but pretty impressive all the same. In one corner, a Santa and an elf were standing by, waiting for children to visit. I understand that a Santa always stands by at the store, no matter what time of the year it is.

Santa Claus House might be the main tourist attraction in North Pole, but other parts of the city play to the theme. For instance, visible from the highway is Universal Welding, and its locally themed sign. Local street names include Santa Claus Lane (what else could that be?), Snowman Lane, Mistletoe Drive, Kris Kringle Drive and Donner and Blitzen drives.

Then there’s the North Pole post office.North Pole, Alaska, post office

I had lunch at a diner in North Pole, Country Cafe. A nice ham and cheese sandwich. The place didn’t have a Christmas theme, but rather model military airplanes. No surprise, really. Eielson Air Force Base isn’t far down the Richardson Highway (Alaska 2) from North Pole. Santa Claus House and its tourist draw is nice, but I’m sure it’s Eielson that supports the local economy.

The Devolution of Our 2020 Christmas Tree

Today was the last day for the Christmas tree. As usual, it’s been nice having it around, but its time had come.
Xmas treeBefore long, I’d removed the ornaments. No one volunteered to help.
Xmas treeIncluding Eggplant. I think we bought that one at an impromptu crafts sale at an apartment building near where we lived the year Lilly was born. I expect she was there with us, strapped in a carrier.
Xmas treeThe lord. Got him about the same time as Eggplant, though I can’t remember where. I like to think of him as one of the 10 Lords A-Leaping, resting between leaps.
Xmas tree

Xmas tree

 

Soon all the ornaments were off. Except the Star of Bethlehem. It’s always the last to go. I bought it at a garage sale years ago because it is a gold colored version of a silver star I put on our tree growing up. The exact same style.

After everything was off, I dragged the tree outside. The dog decided to investigate the mass of needles left behind in the living room. We will find needles in odd spots for months. Until next Christmas, probably.
Xmas treeLast stop (on our property, anyway): the curb.
Xmas treeThat’s the tree well-illuminated by the nearby street lamp.