Christmas Traditions

Have you ever noticed that we tend to talk about a lot of traditions at Christmas that aren’t really traditions anyone follows?

For example, I have never seen real holly used as a decoration. I have never been on a sleigh ride. I have never kissed under the mistletoe (thankfully). In fact, I hadn’t even seen mistletoe hanging until this year, and I doubt it was authentic mistletoe. (Did you know that mistletoe is a parasite? I don’t think that’s very Christmassy.) I’ve never had plum pudding or figgy pudding. I haven’t had a real Christmas tree since I was five years old. I’ve never gone caroling door to door, nor have I had any carolers come to my door. I’ve never used a real sock for a stocking. I’ve never roasted chestnuts on a fire. I don’t even know what chestnuts are!

This year was the first time for me for many traditions. It was the first time I’d ever had real wassail. I had it at others’ houses this year, so this week I made my own. I’m accustomed to making spiced cider for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I just added some pineapple juice, orange juice, and nutmeg for wassail. This was the first year that I personally made gingerbread. And it was the first time I’ve ever had fruitcake. I was always surprised at all the jokes making fun of fruitcake—I think fruitcake jokes are more common than fruitcake actually is. After trying it, I can kind of understand why it gets such a bad rap. I found it really weird, and I don’t think I would eat it if it weren’t so closely associated with Christmas. Kind of like candy corn for Halloween and Thanksgiving, except that candy corn is better.

I suppose that as some traditions slowly fade away, it’s time for new traditions to come. But I don’t think the fad of “ugly sweater parties” is a tradition that should stay. It seems to me that ugly sweaters are kind of like fruitcake—there are more jokes and parties about them than there are actually sweaters. My North Salt Lake singles ward had an ugly sweater party this week. It was the first one I’d been to, but I know there are tons of them going on all the time. More than half of the people at the party weren’t wearing sweaters, including me. Of those who were, I only thought one sweater was actually ugly, and it wasn’t a Christmas sweater. I think a lot of the sweaters do have kind of an old lady feel to them, but I don’t think they were ugly. If I had a sweater like that, I would wear it, not even to an ugly sweater party. But then again, I wear holiday Snoopy T-shirts that are two sizes too big (I draw the line at three sizes too big—I just wear those to bed). The ugly sweater party was also a white elephant party. I like white elephant parties, even if I have no desire to keep a nerdy pirate card game.

A new tradition I think we should embrace is new Christmas music. I have often expressed my disdain for “Jingle Bell Rock.” I think the Davis County Clipper only hires ultra-conservative old fogies to write its columns. This week there was a columnist saying he didn’t like post-Nixon Christmas music. Which means he doesn’t like Paul’s wonderful Christmastimes or John’s happy war-is-over Christmases. Um, I think of those former Beatle songs as being too old and too overplayed. How can you possibly stand to listen to the same songs over and over again for FIFTY YEARS?!?!?

This week I was able to hear some good new Christmas music. My favorite singer, Cherie Call, was singing at the B 98.7 studios. This was a live mini concert, and I got to go. She’s great. She sang her non-holiday song “Holding On” with some added Christmas lyrics. She sang her poignant song “Gifts,” which is the title of her Christmas album. In response to the Connecticut tragedy, she sang her heartrendingly beautiful “Broken Hearts Like Mine.” She sang some non-Christmas songs, “Already a Butterfly” and “Big Yellow Moon.” I found out that she has recorded “Big Yellow Moon” but hasn’t released it yet, because she wants to release it with a video. That makes me excited, because I have loved that song from the first time I heard it. She sang the first song on her Christmas album, “Peace on Earth to Me.” She sang her own “I Just Knew,” which blows “Mary Did You Know” out of the water. She finished with “Silent Night.” After the show, she gave all of us in attendance (six of us, plus Todd and Erin, the radio personalities) a copy of her Christmas CD. I already had it, so I gave it to my mom. I think it was the fourth time I’ve seen her in person. I really think she’s underappreciated. You should go check out some of her stuff on cheriecall.com.

Despite the gingerbread, the wassail, the fruitcake, the candy canes, the hot chocolate, and the oranges, this isn’t going to be a very traditional Christmas. I am writing this in a Nevada hotel room because we are going to visit my brother’s family in California. We had a small Christmas yesterday since we wouldn’t be home. I got a new laptop, since I’ve had my current one for three years, and who knows how long my sister used it before that. I prefer to celebrate holidays at home, but it will be a new experience.

Merry Christmas!