Monday, December 12, 2022

Holiday Post 2022: Traditions, Manners, and Miscellany

Welcome to the first of my holiday posts for 2022 here at The Itinerant Librarian. For me, on the one hand, this year felt like it has lasted forever, yet month by month it seems months went by quick. It is a weird feeling that I cannot quite describe. Despite most people pretty much declaring the pandemic is over, the fact is the pandemic is certainly not done with us, and as I am writing this the news speak of a tripledemic (link to CBS news) just in time for the holiday season. My family and I continue to do our best to protect ourselves, taking whatever precautions we can. So, tripledemic or not, other bad news or not, because let's be honest, this year has not been that great either, let's take a break and enjoy the holidays. 

As in previous years, my family and I will be staying home for the holidays, and hopefully we will remain safe. As of this post, next week is finals week for the college students. After that, I have to work until the 21st, the Wednesday before the Christmas holiday. The Wednesday is allegedly a half a day. We'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, we will be making coquito at home soon (see below to learn a bit more about coquito).


Traditions and Manners


  •  The U.S. Census Bureau has released their 2022 Facts for Features for the Holiday Season. For example, did you know that the value of U.S. imports from China of Christmas decorations for 2021 was $2.9 billion? As I often tell students, the U.S. Government keeps track of a lot of information, and they often put it together in neat reports if you know where to look. 
  • Speaking of holiday trivia, PNC, the financial services company, has been calculating the price of the items in the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" for years. They are doing their Christmas Price Index again this year. Find out how much the partridge in the pear tree and other items in the song cost in today's economy. Find out also if the prices have increased or decreased from last year. It's a fun feature that also teaches folks a bit about costs and consumer spending. 
  • Via Almanac.com, the nice folks who put out The Old Farmer's Almanac among other publications, we get "The Month of December 2022: Holidays, Fun Facts, Folklore." They do pack a lot of information and holiday trivia, so I'd say it's worth it taking a look. Some of the bits of information included: 
    • A December calendar listing various holidays that fall in December.
    • Moon and Astronomy information. 
    • Some recipes. 
  • The Biden White House is decked out for the holidays, and you can take a virtual tour at the White House website. 
  • Maybe you want to start some new traditions for the holidays. Here are some more ideas via Good Housekeeping.  From the list I like making hot chocolate (as in homemade, not just from a packet), Christmas morning breakfast, honoring a loved one, and teaching your kids about giving back. On the other hand, I can do without the elf on the shelf.
  • Some advice on surviving and coping with the holidays. Not everyone is happy about the holidays, and for some folks, this can be a difficult time for various reasons. So here are some items that could be of interest or that I hope might be helpful. Personally, I am glad we do not travel anywhere over the holidays. But if you have to travel, or you have to host travelers, some of this may be useful.
  • By the way, the holidays are not just Christmas. Our pagan friends celebrate a holiday or two at this time as well. So here are some items of interest for folks who may celebrate Winter Solstice, Yule, so on, or for folks who wish to learn more about the pagan holidays (you know, the original holidays).

 

Before we go any further, here is a special Christmas and holidays edition of

Great Debates of Our Time


Today's topic: putting the up and putting down the Christmas tree. 

  • Architectural Digest jumps in asking "when to put up your Christmas tree." They claim they are just giving suggestions. Back when I was growing up, in our house, mom made sure the tree went up the day after Thanksgiving, i.e. on Black Friday. At our home, we are bit more relaxed  but also busy with work, and we just get to it when we get to it. That means anywhere from a few days after Thanksgiving to about a week or so before Christmas. 
  • The Telegraph on the other hand looks at when you need to take the tree down. I am Puerto Rican, and in our house, we keep the tree up well past Three Kings Day (Epiphany) and into the octavitas, which means almost til the end of January at least. I never quite get the rush Americans have to take down the tree pretty much the day after Christmas. I say enjoy it a bit longer. After all, you took the effort to put it up. Enjoy it a bit more before you take it down.

 

Now let's get back to the rest of the blog post.

 

Xmas Tree, Decorations, and Other Objects

If you have a cat, you can probably relate.

  •  GQ presents the best artificial Christmas trees that will have them all fooled. I have not met an artificial tree that would make me think "oh, how natural it looks," and I doubt the ones here will make me think differently. Still, they show some nice trees in the article.  If you and your family prefer to go out and cut your own tree, that is perfectly OK. But if you prefer to have an artificial tree, this article may be of interest. In our home, we've had an artificial tree for years, and that option works fine for us. 
  • Bob Vila offers 12 trends in Christmas decor for 2022. Nostalgia is apparently one of the big trends this year. Things like putting tinsel on your Christmas tree and ceramic trees are making a comeback for some folks. 
  • There are still plenty of folks who send out Christmas cards. I still do, though the number of people I send them to has shrunk a bit over the years. The number of senders has gone down a bit too, but overall we do our best to maintain the tradition. If you send out Christmas cards, maybe you want to consider making your own. If that is the case, this article from Good Housekeeping magazine has some ideas to make your own Christmas cards. 
    • In addition, here is a link to my holiday post from 2021 season because I posted some additional links related to holiday cards such as etiquette of sending holiday cards and what to write in them if you need a little help with the text. I still find the article on what to write in the card to be useful. Hopefully you find it useful too. Feel free to check out the post. 
  •  For some folks, Christmas and holiday themed movies are a tradition. If you want some suggestions of what to watch, Cosmopolitan offers a list of 50 best family Christmas movies. From their list, I've seen the following: 
    • The Polar Express (2004).
    • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
    • A Christmas Carol (2009, this is the animated one with Jim Carrey as Scrooge).
    • A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).
    •  The Santa Clause (1994, where Tim Allen portrays Santa).
    •  The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
    •  Home Alone (1990).
    • Home Alone 2 (1992). 
    • Do note a lot of the films on their list are on Netflix, so if you are one of the few people who do not use nor subscribe to Netflix, you could be out of luck. In that case, may I suggest you do a run to your local public library. Your local public library usually has a good selection of films both in DVD and Blue Ray in the building as well as streaming options through services like Hoopla. Check with your local library. Odds are you will find something you may like. 
  •  Need some amusement? The folks of the Smithsonian Libraries have their annual holiday jigsaw puzzles online. Check them out.

 

Music and songs


 

  • Billboard has a list of new Christmas songs for 2022, and to be honest, I have not heard of a single one of them for the most part before finding the list. 
  • Good Housekeeping has a list of 55 modern and new Christmas songs. On a side note, the links here and in Billboard send you to the Big A's music service. If you do not want that, you can always look them up in places like YouTube or your favorite music service. Or again, your local public library may have some options for music too.
     

 

Food and drink


  •  Via The Grio, ideas to make a very nice charcuterie board (you know, the crackers and cheese and meats tray). In our home for holidays we do make a charcuterie plate. Maybe not as fancy as some of the ideas in the article, but it is nice, generous, and delicious, especially with a good wine or two. 
  • Speaking of wine, you may want some wine, or maybe you prefer cocktails. So here are a couple of places to find some cocktail recipes for the holidays. Just remember if you drink, please do so in moderation and responsibly.

 

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Stay tuned. Coming up next is the holiday post on "Gifts, strange items, and other shopping" where I like to look at some of those shopping lists out there and maybe poke fun at some of the more ridiculous options. That's coming up next. As always, feel free to comment if so moved. 

Meanwhile, have a safe and happy holidays season. 


P.S. Oh, I almost forgot. I promised you a little something about Puerto Rican coquito. This link from Discover Puerto Rico has the traditional recipe (that is the one I use, or close to it). They also offer a couple of additional flavored coquito recipes. I have not tried those, so I cannot vouch, but the traditional is great and very easy to make. If you want to try an alternative to the usual egg nog, give coquito a try. Oh, and for the love of anything you might consider holy, do not buy it pre-made in a bottle. Make your own. It's not difficult; the ingredients for the most part are relatively inexpensive. You'll thank me later.


 


 


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