Tonight is a very, very cold night....I walked briskly from my car to the house..and if not for the traces of snow (ice) on the ground, I could have run fast to be inside. It is really super cold!!!
Rick had all the Christmas trimmings out on the living room...In fact, he is right now, putting up the all-red tiny lights. It is a very tall tree and after he has put up the lights, it will be my turn to help him. Like last year, it will be a beautiful Christmas tree loaded with all-red decors.
Like Anne (my daughter), i also have mixed feelings about Christmas, especially being away from the Philippines where Anne, Yani and kids are. I also miss the familiar Filipino christmas songs, native Christmas decors and seeing a lot of parols by the windows and in the streets of Manila. Even if there are also a lot of lights here in Jersey, I have yet to see a lighted parol like what Rick gave me. And nothing can come second to the way we, Filipinos, celebrate the special holidays of the yuletide season. Christmas here is short, simple and very brief. Unlike the Philippine way where there are endless invitations to friends' houses, relatives, godchildren, kissing of the hands (mano), exchange of gifts, children caroling by our gate, the smell of puto bumbong , bibingka (rice cakes), salabat (tea), midnight masses, etc...And may i include, the hassle of being in the midst of traffic jams and crowded malls!
Oh, I could go on and on and on...
On the other hand, the sight and feel of snow is something else too! Snow really completes a "white Christmas". I always think of my grandkids whenever I see the first snowfall. How I wish they were here to experience this....Oh well,in God's time, I know they will in the very near future!
But of course, the relevance and essence of Christmas is Christ..Himself....the traditions and rituals I mentioned above are just trimmings of the celebration.
