It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Like the flakes before a snow storm, winter is gently settling in. It is during this time, with holidays approaching, when I tend to romanticize winter, and glorify it the way we all do. Like Bob Cratchit did. Before things went Scroogie. You know, a stocking covered hearth, basking in the warm glow of a fire, frosted windows, family cheer humming in the background ... (Ok fine it is San Francisco and October is the nicest month of the year here.) But I can still dream of my own idyllic, Dickensian style winter, it is my Blog after all.

So here I am on a chilly November night, cooking up a holiday turkey of my own... And so...With a warm cup of cocoa I sit --under my own warm pad of a hot laptop basking in the glow of the dimly lit computer screen (like so many burnt embers) alighted only by its blue-whitish hue, fogging the windows, with just the faintest hint of a humming hard-drive spinning in the back ground-- looking forward to another Christmas, which if Halloween is any indication, will be the first Christmas Hunter truly understands and enjoys.

As he gets older, it is imperative we set in the family values and traditions. Like so many families we are spread out and have to create new traditions where others used to prevail. We are lucky, despite the distance, this will be Hunter's second Thanksgiving with Rayne Droplet's family, for which we are grateful.

In fact, we are looking forward to another upcoming trip where Hunter can re-experience some great traditions at the Pattersons. Wonderful holiday traditions, these, and of course the food is fantastic where Rayne Droplet's favorite stuffing is a family jewel and there is no substitute for enjoying the warmth and comfort of home. There are other more subtle traditions, from the lighting of Christmas bushes, to putting up house lights, grace before dinner; really there are too many traditions to number, like so many wreaths passed down an attic latter. Last year he pushed boxes around the garage but this year I think he will remember his trip and burn an indelible image. Thus, I am also looking forward to Christmas this year for the same reasons really, or perhaps, I think, because he will have his cousins to share the day and learn traditions from. Christmas as a kid should be enjoyed with kids. This is how I did it and so it feels right to continue the tradition.

All it takes is one second to see Hunter with his cousins and it is clear how much they adore each other and how important it is for him to have that connection. Even though they are older than he is, they seem to genuinely enjoy his being around. And now that he is getting older he can really play with them.

Over the summer we had a great time in Tahoe with Hunter and Maggie. She was great. Maybe because she could boss him around and he would listen, or maybe because they can play with sort of the same toys but she was a rock-star. They played golf together, walked the dogs, went to the beach, played Legos, all these great, simple things that make a child's life so enjoyable.

And as for Big Cousin Blake, well that is a different kind of relationship. Wonderful. But different. I remember one time we made our way over to the Profile Chamber in Lake Tahoe. It's one of Blake's favorite places where you can look at fish and wild life in a wonderful little preserve. Hunter loves looking at animals, as his Gramma Cindy will tell you, evidenced by their weekly pet store excursions, just to look. Anyway, once we got to the profile chamber it was a blur. A crazed whirl-wind really, as the cousins were sprinting to show Hunter all of the fun elements of the Chamber. Look Hunter a bat! Or, Over here, check out this bear! And even, Don't worry those teeth wont hurt you, just climb right inside that mouth...

Poor Hunter, who was barely a year and half old, was trying to keep up, and not be scared, but he really was overwhelmed. Something about the fish calmed him as he genuinely seems to like fish. At some point, his cousins became distracted and wandered away, leaving Hunter by the window on a feux cliff pondering the creek and its fish. Other kids had now ventured in, adding to the distraction and hysteria.

Hunter could not keep up or get his cousins' attention. So he stood there for a second, coiled up his little face and yelled over the top, BLAKE! LOOK! BIG FISH! The whole place paused, hesitantly inhaling long enough to turn see Hunter pointing at these tiny fish swimming by before moving on...

He has done so much growing since that time. At that point he was painfully shy. He would barely even look at people and even then it was just to check if they were his momma or not. Mall Santa made him cry, for goodness sakes. Now I think of him at this just past Halloween, just two weeks ago. We went to a pumpkin patch and he wanted to go down the huge slide all by himself. Up and down he went.

His mom prepped him for the day's activities and we went to his cousin's house for the annual pumpkin carving
extravangza/excusetohaveabeerintheearlyafternoon before the evening's main event at his friend's house.

When it came time to trick or treat, I did not know what to expect. He had been practicing saying "trick or treat" for a couple weeks, but who knows how it will actually transpire? Lately he has developed an extreme sensitivity to odd noises, "scary things" (I had to turn off the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin episode when Patty dressed up in her in witch's costume) and general darkness. It is only Halloween after all, obviously none of the these things will be an issue on this hallowed night...

And yet there he was. When he heard it was time to go he rounded up all the toddlers and their parents and almost pushed everyone out the door. The evening night was awash of strollers, plastic Elmo candy holders and toddlers. Of course we forgot our stroller, so Hunter had to walk. Well, I should not say walk so much as ebulliently, bounding and bouncing down the street, looking as if he forgot he was dressed as a Giraffe, he hopped on down the road like a Kangaroo.

The first house he saw, he literally sprinted across the street. We were supposed to walking a bit down the road, bring a traveling band of Princesses and Pirates with us, but he could not wait. Up he walked, right to the front door, pushed the button and opened his little bag. When the person smilingly answered, he said trick or treat! and got his candy and moved on. Just like he had done it a thousand times before. Mom and dad were proud.

My favorite moment was we when went to this particularly busy street where many of the houses go Grisswald with the decorations and this one house had a talking mummy right by the door that was scaring even adults. When Hunter saw it I had to pick him up as he was genuinely scared, and was loudly fussing to leave for fear. At that same moment it was time for him to get his candy, as I picked him up to leave I turned slightly so my left hand- holding a red plastic cup for, um, water- was facing her. Ignoring the crying baby, she proceeded to plop the candy in my half-full cup and obliviously began chucking candy at toddlers who were all freaked out by her mummy.

Classic. I mean, everyone knows what goes in those red plastic cups...


So with Christmas fast approaching and fall upon us, I do get a little whimsical and sappy about family traditions. I remember the loud bilingual gatherings of my youth, my grandma and her sisters fighting, Carmelita's impossible to replicate empanadas, cousins I did not really know and those I loved. Now, I have a reputation to uphold about being salty on all occasions, but large family gatherings are a part of the fabric of my rearing and I hope to instill in Hunter his own little modern Dickens story, completed by the warm glow of a blue hued computer screen.

And a smile.