Moonrise, Moonset; Winter Traditions and the New Year.

Rejoice! Our planet has completed another full rotation around the sun, and you are still here to see it. The darkest days are behind us again, and the Northern hemisphere is full of hope for Spring as each day gets a little bit longer and brighter.

The fall and winter holidays (which really are all in winter if you live at 62 degrees North) have been a wild ride for us. Not in a bad way, oh no. You see, in my experience there are only three kinds of people when it comes to the winter holidays:

• The Pinterest Person (FUCK-YEAH-BONANZA-DO-ALL-THE-THINGS!)
• The Fiddler on the Roof (They do the things, but don’t know why, only because it’s “tradition” and tradition keeps them balanced while they simply try to eke out a simple tune whilst fiddling on the roof)
• The Grinch (hates fuss, hates mess, hates tradition; even unconventional ones, probably a miserable cunt. Who hurt them so badly, I wonder?)

I think you already know which of these three I am. I grew up in a Grinch Household. I loved the dark days of the year as a child. I loved making evergreen pieces for yule at school. I loved that we were allowed to burn candles at our desks. I loved the sparkly lights people put up in their houses. I loved the smell of pine trees and the food trucks that served oliebollen popping up all over town.

Often times, I had to beg my mother to get us a tree to decorate. “It’s so messy! All those needles! It’s such a fuss; I don’t want to bother! It’s expensive!”. Some years she caved to my whimsies, other years she didn’t. My childhood memories of the winter holidays are mostly negative. And if you are a Grinch, that’s cool. You do you, Boo; Just be aware that your children are probably going to end up just like me: a Pinterest Person who does ALL THE THINGS!

I’m like Jack Skellington when he first visits Christmas Town.

From the end of October until January, I do ALL THE THINGS.

We carve all the pumpkins, wear all the costumes, and paint all the faces.

We make all the shadowboxes and create all the “Creepy Treats”

We even have a make-your-own Frankenstein Avocado Toast Buffet.

Then we move on to the Gluttonous Feast of Giving Thanks, where we make crafts for our friends, eat a big roast bird, and drink Martinelli sparkling juice (Martinelli is mandatory).

As you can see, being the FUCK-YEAH-BONANZA-DO-ALL-THE-THINGS Pinterest Person does not mean everything needs to be perfect. Red solo cups are fine; You don’t need Waterford Crystal. And paper plate crafts are fine too; It’s about joy and fun, not perfection. “Nailed it” means it made you happy.

We put up a small, fake tree, with decades worth of mismatched and handmade ornaments, garnished with that old-timey tinsel. My children get to decorate it, all by themselves. I think it’s fabulous. I’m sure Odin does too. And if yours is all super-coordinated and beautiful, that’s awesome as well.

Neither John nor I are from the Midwest, but we put a fucking pickle in that tree! Why? We don’t know! It keeps us fiddling on that roof! (And it is FUN!)

We wear silly hats, silly, red noses and Yule Queen Crowns!

We bake and decorate all the cookies and maybe even a Mario castle!

Presents are few in a family of our size. One or two (depending on cost) extra thoughtful presents per person. That’s it. That’s the budget. They are bought months and weeks in advance and hidden throughout the compound. The presents are not wrapped or put under the tree until the small children are in bed on Christmas Eve. My husband and elder children are sworn by both a Klingon blood oath, and the three oaths of Dagon not to spoil any surprises. Why? This is the way.

Christmas morning always involves a build-your-own-waffle buffet.

New Year’s Eve means making your own “oliebollen” since there are no Dutch food trucks around in Talkeetna. And we always visit the Gorilla Fireworks stand for some colorful, small explosives to chase away the bad spirits of the old year and the demons of ice and snow.

New Year’s Day should be spent full of fancy cheese, shrimp, and Danish Mead (I much prefer this over some of your traditional black eyed peas).

So yes, it’s been a wild ride. A fun one. I captured this spectacular sequence of a rising moon on one of the last days of 2020.

And this equally stunning picture of the moon setting the very next morning.

Moonrise, moonset; Rotation done. One day. One year. And you’re still here. I wish you well and I hope you find many little ways to find joy. Or at least I hope you keep your balance, any way you can.