The Five Senses of Christmas

Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday, but I've found that there are two parts to every holiday: the day itself, and the season leading up to the day.

In my mind, Thanksgiving steals the show for the day itself. A relaxing autumn day full of lots of food and gathering? Sign me up!

But as far as the season goes, Christmas blows every other holiday out of the water. You may get a few Irish concerts in March and corn mazes in October, but no other holiday has as many things going on as Christmas. Christmas has all the decorations. Christmas has multiple radio stations playing nothing but Christmas songs for a month (or more) straight. The next closest thing to that is you might hear "Thriller" or "The Monster Mash" the week leading to Halloween if you're lucky, but certainly not all day, let alone all month. I don't find myself with the same zeal for Christmas treats as I do for the other holidays, simply because they're so abundant that they're not as special. If I see a special Fourth of July candy, I will buy it, but I have too many choices at Christmas. (That said, peppermint and eggnog are probably my very favorite seasonal flavors. See the pumpkinundation roundup at the end of the post.)

And because Christmas is the best, fullest holiday season, it's a very sensory experience. (The next most sensory holiday I can think of is the Fourth of July, with its Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! and the scent of gunpowder.) I was able to experience Christmas through all five senses this week.

Touch. I guess this one's less memorable, but it has been cold, and I've touched plenty of cold things this week. Also, I love wearing wool sweaters.

Sight. We have many boxes of Christmas items, though we don't usually put up all of them. We should get rid of some. But we have lots of lights, and I love putting them up in windows and on trees. We have several trees, including one in my room, and it's so pleasant putting lights on them. I've been using the one in my room as a bedside lamp to write in my journal. I still have to put out our pink tree and some other lights and things.

Smell. This one has me the happiest! This week, I bought a real wreath. It's the first real wreath we've had since 2002. (Unless you count that fake one I made with some junky old branches on my mission, and it didn't even smell.) We hung it on the wall over our piano. It fills me with such joy to sit at the piano and plunk out Christmas tunes with the piney scent taking me back to Christmases of the past, visiting my grandparents with their real Christmas tree.

And then, I got even crazier. Even though we already have several artificial trees set up, I bought a real one! It's only like three feet tall, but it still smells like Christmas. We haven't had one in our house since 1993. (In 2013, my wannabe hipster roommate had a real tree set up in our apartment. He loved Christmas. But then he became too cool for us and quit talking to us. So my memories of him are tainted, even though he was great at Christmastime.) But I still have to decorate and set up this real tree.

Hearing. I collect music for every holiday, but I have way more for Christmas than for all the others combined. My master Christmas playlist is at more than 1,000 songs. (I've been pleasantly surprised with the Provo United Way Christmas CDs, the proceeds of which all go to charity. No, really, there's something for everyone on them.) But I was able to go to two live Christmas concerts this week.

On Friday, I went to see the Lower Lights. It was our third year going to their Christmas concert. They are a folk/bluegrass/other ensemble consisting of many local musicians who have individual music careers. Their shows are so fun. When the banjos, mandolins, and drums get going, there is a tremendous energy in the hall, and they have such an enjoyable stage presence. I highly recommend them. In 2014, our first year, their concert was in the Masonic temple, which was interesting but inconvenient. Kingsbury Hall is a much better venue. I got great seats, but I bought them back in August.

The second concert was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...and it wasn't as good.

Now, don't get me wrong, it was good quality and they put in a lot of work. The decorations were beautiful and the lifesize camel puppets were impressive. But choral music isn't the most exciting genre. Even worse, the guest artist, Rolando Villazon, is an opera singer. I think the only people who like opera are music snobs who have been told they should like it. No one else does. They're just afraid to say so because they don't want to seem unsophisticated. It's very much an Emperor's New Clothes situation. At least he was better than Deborah Voigt from 2013. Last year's was better, because the main artist (Laura Osnes) was a Broadway star, and the operatic guests sang Baroque songs. Operatic doesn't work well in the Great American Songbook, which these MoTab guests tend to do. Also, they always tell stories at these concerts, and they usually do true stories. This year was The Little Match Girl. I'm fine with fictional stories, I guess, but of all the fictional ones they could do, that's what they chose? Really?? A story where a girl has visions before freezing to death!?

Taste. Please see pumpkinundation roundup below.

In a little over a month, it will be the Valentine season. That's the emptiest of all holiday seasons. So I'm enjoying Christmas while I can.

***
As long as this roundup includes at least one pumpkin item, it's still pumpkinundation roundup.

 Kneaders gave me a cylops Kneaders gingerbread man. It was soft and spicy. I liked it. 5/5.

 This Karl Fazer Peppermint Crisp Milk Chocolate bar is a Finnish chocolate. Everyone raves about European chocolate, and while it is good, I'm an American, and I like American chocolate. European is good too, but I don't think it's better, just different. I got this at Pop'n'Sweets in City Creek; it was the only Christmassy item they had (and I don't think it was even meant for Christmas). There's a little bit of a crunch, but I don't find it terribly minty. 4/5.

 The See's Cinnamon Lollypops are made just for Christmas. They're a good offering, but not as good as the mint ones. 4/5.

 This is a Parsons Bakery gingerbread man. It's crisper and gingerier than the Kneaders one. Also cuter. 5/5.

 Baskin-Robbins eggnog ice cream is the yellowest eggnog item I've had. Also probably the tastiest. 5/5.

 This is a Chick-fil-A peppermint chocolate chip milkshake. They asked if I wanted whipped cream and a cherry on top, and I said yes, but they still didn't give it to me! I was ripped off! It's hard to do mint wrong, but this one was probably the best I've had. 5/5.

 Holiday Mint M&Ms have been part of my Christmas since elementary school, though they used to be called just "Mint M&Ms" and they were the size of regular M&Ms. I miss that size. Back then, these were the only seasonal M&M flavor. 5/5.

 Using Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook, I made gingerbread pancakes. They're pancakes with molasses and spices. Since they were made from scratch, the texture was amazing, and the flavor was subtle yet present. Definitely making these again. 5/5.

 My one pumpkin item: Atlantis Burger Pumpkin Spice Eggnog Shake. I've had these at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, going back as early as 2011. (Not every year and not for every holiday in the year.) I always feel guilty eating these before Christmas, though, because the flavor is all eggnog. I don't taste any pumpkin at all. But it's good as eggnog. 5/5.

 Then I had a Roxberry NogNog Smoothie. I had seen a picture earlier in the day that made me paranoid, since I had already had the previous shake, but I was fine. It tasted like eggnog, but in a smoothie. 5/5.

 Cranberry is a lesser-used Christmas flavor, so these Thomas Cranberry English Muffins are a refreshing change. I don't love cranberries or English Muffins, but together they're great for some reason. These are better than the pumpkin ones. They're soft, and there's just enough tartness with the sweet. 4/5.

And then I think of this Hershey's Candy Cane Bar when people ask me what my favorite candy bar is. It's a minty white chocolate with sprinkles in it. It's very good, way better than the candy corn one. 4.5/5.

Also, see my review of Andes Mint Cookie Crunch Thins.