Standing at the North Star Farms stall at the Farmer’s Market yesterday, it was hard to credit the predictions of snow. Given that Tallulah’s birthday is today (Happy B-day little one!) and that she wanted to get the tree on her birthday, we decided it was better to play it safe and get the druidic symbol of unity with nature now and not be left holding the knitted string. My Sweet Lady and Tallulah did most of the trimming, although they saved the teapot ornament which belonged to Grandma Bec and a couple other ornaments for me.
I also lifted Tallulah up to place the star on top of the tree, a ritual which is sure to end soon. Today’s snow combined with the tree’s lights and the uninterrupted sound of fingers on keyboards led me to want to hear a little Charlie Brown Christmas music. Flexing my penny-pinching skillz, I fired up the hoopty-machine and downloaded the album from Amazon, subsequently burning it to a disc. Yes, I do have an iPod touch with iTunes and a jack that runs into the stereo, but my California Audio Labs CD player still does a better job of playback. By the time the slightly spooky Peanuts Christmas song came on, I was feeling fine.
You know the song I mean, right? “Christmastime is Here.” Kind of weird, right? Also kind of a nice break from the “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” type songs. The note of melancholy rings true with that part of me that always generates expectations for this time of year that are bound to be disappointed sooner or later. I’d like to say that these expectations were in some way unique, but I am afraid they are pretty much the same Norman Rockwell inspired fantasies that plague many holiday planners.
So a little wistfulness is a welcome thing. They made a big mistake when they took it out of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The song originally went, “Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow / Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow / So have yourself a merry little Christmas, now.” They replaced that middle line with the title of this post, and I think the song is worse for it. Let’s be honest, some of our highest expectations may not be met this year, but that does not mean our holidays won’t be bright.