The Christmas Spirit

For many of us, finding and holding onto the Christmas spirit is particularly difficult this season. The pandemic, with all of its restrictions, has lasted so much longer than we expected. There have been few, if any, holiday parties. Getting together has been all but forbidden.

The rules, too, have not been particularly clear. For example, wearing a mask. I thought a mask needed to be worn when in near contact with other people (within six feet). When alone, a mask didn’t need to be worn. But I was chastised when a person walked into her office where I was sitting and the mask I had on was resting against my chin. As soon as she walked in I moved it over my nose and mouth. That was unsatisfactory, though; her concern was that, especially if I was contagious and didn’t know it, I was contaminating her space.

I was shocked when I was chastised; I thought I was doing it “right.”

I don’t wear a mask when I walk my dog, although I have one with me and pop it on if I’m coming in contact with others. However, if I can walk across the street I do that. I notice that others wear a mask when taking a walk, though.

I try to be respectful of others’ concerns but trying to gauge them is sometimes challenging. Hopefully, with the vaccine, this won’t be a worry much longer.
Which circles us back to trying to hold onto the Christmas spirit.

Steve and I on Saturday night made our way over to Community Christian Church of the Foothills for its annual Drive-thru Nativity. The free event brings drivers to three significant nativity scenes: an angel appears to the shepherds, Jesus is born in the stable and the three wise men journey to find Jesus. At the end of the sojourn, a greeter gave us a copy of the program and a little bag with two candy canes. The event, which involves a lot of hard work, planning and dedication from its volunteers, is beautifully executed and goes a long way in reminding me of “the reason for the season.”

Another reminder that Christmas time is here are the displays of lights throughout the foothills. Like Halloween, our residents (and some businesses) embrace the holiday and put a lot of time and effort in decorating their homes. CV Weekly, with the Glendale Area Schools Credit Union and several other sponsors, is hosting the Merry & Bright Self-Guided Holiday Light and Display Drive-By Tour. The initial list of participating addresses can be found on page 8 of this week’s paper. Next week we’ll add more addresses as more are expected so there’s still time to have your address included.
Email MerryBright@cvweekly.com with your address and we’ll include it in the tour list next week.