I Guess We're Starting New Traditions...

 When you make a major life change (new job, moving, etc...), you find you miss some things, but not so much other things. One thing I realized after our move last fall that I had taken for granted was our proximity to the cemetery where so many family, friends, and loved ones are laid to rest.

For almost fifty years, I was able to get in my car and drive to the cemetery about a mile away from our house. I could visit my parent's graves, place flowers, or a carved pumpkin at Halloween any time I wanted. I'd then just turn around and travel the mile back to our home.

Those days are gone.

This week was the first Memorial Day were we had to travel. It's only about an hour away from our old house...still, we needed to make some plans. We packed a lunch, carpooled and met the rest of the family at noon. After putting flowers on the graves, we sat in the shade of a huge tree and enjoyed each other's company.

It hit me, as I snapped a picture or two of the gathering, it was the first time we've ever done that. I don't think I've ever had a meal at the cemetery, let alone, a meal with my extended family. As we chatted, we talked about how we'll be doing this again...a new family tradition has been born.

There are a lot of things I miss about the old home--many of those things I've gotten over fairly easily. But, not being close to the folks...I can say I'll miss that a lot.

To Quote Clark Griswold,..."The Tree!"

 Tell me, what don't you see in these pictures?

I'll give you a hint...it's green, it was once alive, and you can buy fake ones around August of each year at Costco.

What you're not seeing in these pictures is our Christmas tree.

And I have no idea what happened to it.

Some background: since 1997, we lived in a community that provided a service--they would drive around and pick up discarded Christmas trees after the holiday as long as they were on the curb by a specific date. Taking the tree out to the street after Christmas was second-nature. It's what you did. Streets would be lined with dead trees after Christmas.

During the week after Christmas we took everything down. Because this is our first year in a new community, I had no idea if that same wonderful service was available here, and since I didn't know what to do with the tree, I dragged it and left it on the curb. I did notice ours was the only tree on the street.

On New Years Eve the last contractor working on our basement came to finish the bathroom shower door. He was a local and when we had a moment, we asked him what people did with their old Christmas trees. He said people took them to the local landfill and the city added the trees to their mulch that they gave out each spring. Great, I thought. I can strap the tree to the roof of the van and go for a drive.

I figured I'd either take the tree to the dump of cut it up and put it in the garbage. Either way, it would be gone eventually. Then, I kind of forgot about the tree. We had a few skiffs of snow, but not enough to cover up the tree. Plus, some days we never leave the house so a dead tree outside wasn't high on or list of things to do.

Last Thursday I went to get the mail. As I walked back to the driveway I noticed--for the first time--the tree was gone. I have no idea when it was taken or who took it. I felt like Clark Griswold when he said in disbelief after his tree was destroyed, "The tree." If the town doesn't pick up old trees then some kind person took it away for us. If so, I'd like to know who so I could thank them.

Just another adventure living in a new place.

An Explosive New Years Eve Celebration...

My wife found something interesting last week. She was doing a little internet surfing when she came across funny or unusual family Christmas and New Years traditions. I heard her take in a deep breath, and she said, "We've got to do this!"

After she told me what it was, I agreed.

You see, someone, somewhere out there has a tradition of taking the gingerbread house they build for Christmas and blowing it up on New Years Eve...literally. When she told me, I thought it was such a natural thing to do. I mean, you've got this building made of sweets and it's just sitting there. The longer it sits, the less you want to eat anything off it. Blowing it up solved the age-old question, "What are we going to do with the gingerbread house."

A couple of things. When the kids put the thing together, no one imagined we would be violently destroying it a week later. So, they built it well. And since we're not prone to blow things up, we didn't know the type of explosives we should use. I went shopping Saturday and found some things I thought would work.

Last night, just before and after midnight, we broke holes in the building's walls and placed our fireworks inside. The results were amazing. They lit up the culd-a-sac and when the smoke cleared, most of the building still stood (good construction...). 

We decided we'll need to adopt this into our holiday traditions. Next year, we're going to do some planning. The kids will know that will happen to the house so they may make changes in how they put it together. We'll also do some investigating into which fireworks work best. We had a lot of fun last night. Everyone says they hope the new year will be bigger and better. At least for us and gingerbread houses at New Years, we've got a year to see if this is true.

Gingerbread House...Try Gingerbread Castle!

Our kids have tried, over the past couple of years, to build a gingerbread house at Christmas. We normally buy one of those kits with everything included. I'm sure some kits are better than others, but the ones we got turned out to be less than stellar. 

Beginning last year, my wife suggested something new--use graham crackers in place of gingerbread. This year the kids decided to go for broke.

When it was all said and done, we got the lowdown on the structure. It's a castle, complete with a king (gingerbread man on the right--I think--with a jellybean for a crown...), and a queen (gingerbread woman on the left, also with a jellybean crown...), and all the subjects below (the line of gummy bears on the next level...).

On the back there's aquatic animal gummies complete with lobster and dolphins. It's quite a thing to see. I told the kids they'll need to up their game for next year. I suggested they make our house. We'll see what happens.

New Traditions...This Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is slipping into history. The kids are in their rooms--most likely not asleep. My wife and I are watching (upon recommendation of a friend...), Arthur Christmas as we wait for the kids to begin dreaming of sugar plumbs and other such things.

The show, Arthur Christmas--it's a first for us. There's a couple of other new things we're trying this year. And even though "New Traditions" is an oxymoron, we're hoping the term sticks.

Since Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday this year, we had church--great day to go to church, by the way. Then we got ready for Christmas Eve. I spent time making a video for tomorrow. The kids did some baking and cleaning, and tonight we all gathered in our room and played a game.

Both my wife and I read somewhere about Christmas Eve traditions in other countries. They give books to their kids on Christmas Eve. We thought it would be fun, so we packaged books and pajamas and let the kids open those presents tonight.

The experiment was a huge success!

After the kids retreated to their rooms, I stepped outside with my phone. Just like in a book or a Hallmark movie, it's snowing, covering the world in a blanket of white. Even without the light of day, it's absolutely beautiful outside. I took a few pictures of our house, and a video of our culd-a-sac. I sometimes can't believe I live in such an amazing place surrounded by not only neighbors, but friends.

Will the kids be getting pajamas and books next year? Will we play games together and watch new Christmas shows? If so, then the term "new traditions" might actually apply. As always, time will tell.