If there was a video camera in my house set on time lapse by the front door, here are some of the snippets it would record leading up to Christmas (each frame would include either barking, yipping, tail-wagging dogs, or sleeping dogs underfoot):
12/11: John and I hauling in a freshly cut Christmas tree looking like drowned rats coming in from the rain. John and I hauling the tree back out to cut a few inches off the bottom, then hauling it in again.
12/12: John setting up three reindeer on the front lawn, (one that’s animated) and a Snoopy lit dog house, then throwing a net of Christmas lights on the rhodies out front.
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| The animated one is on the left. |
John with his suitcase leaving on a business trip to San Diego.
12/13: Me taking the Snoopy dog house down because it doesn’t fit in with the reindeer, and putting it on our back deck, but not hooking it up because I can’t find another outdoor extension cord.
Me in my pajamas at 12:30 in the morning looking outside to see if there was a tornado rampaging through the neighborhood because the winds were so high I was awakened by pine cones pelting our roof as if 20 professional pitchers were throwing them into our catcher’s mitt roof. The wind gusting through the centuries-old fir trees in our yard sounds like the ocean.
12/14: Me setting the animated reindeer up again because he blew down in the storm as did the unlit Snoopy doghouse.
Johnny and his girlfriend Sarah entering the house with long exhales, after a harrowing car trip home from WSU Pullman, Washington through a slippery, snowy mountain pass reporting that it’s the worst they’ve ever seen it. The news reporting that traction tires or 4-wheel drive is now required. Neither of them came through with either of those.
12/15: Me and girlfriend Sarah going out to dinner at Red Robin to celebrate our anniversaries together because Dec. 15 marked the 4th year of she and Johnny dating, and the 31st year of John and I being married. Johnny had a composition deadline, so he couldn’t go out. John was still in San Diego, so we couldn’t go out. Pulling out of the driveway, she noticed that the animated reindeer had fallen down again. I pulled back into the garage and uprighted him once again.
11:30 pm: John returns from his trip and confirms that the sun is still shining in Southern California, unlike here. Comforting to know.
12/16: Johnny and I leaving to take his composition to the printer. Johnny and I returning and assembling all 28 orchestra parts of his composition on the dining room table. Johnny and I leaving to overnight express mail it all to the Washington Idaho Symphony.
12/17: Johnny’s best friend Dave arrives from Gonzaga Spokane, Washington saying that when he came through Snoqualmie Pass it wasn’t bad. He has 4-wheel drive.
11:00 that night, Sarah coming home with John and me after we rendezvoused with her and her boyfriend Andy in the World Market parking lot in Bellevue. They’d also come from WSU Pullman. It was raining in the pass. Her boyfriend Andy headed north to his home in Snohomish.
Recurring scenes: Packages and Christmas cards, holiday catalogs, store fliers arriving en masse every day. Every weekday, John coming and going to work, and walking the dogs. Every other day, me leaving with a water bottle for Zumba and returning sweaty. Also scattered in here, are random trips with different family members to go shopping. Much returning with crinkly bags of gifts. Me shoving everything into the laundry room, then trying to organize it all while doing loads of laundry.
12/16: Me asking Johnny and Dave to put Christmas lights on the tree because they’re substantially taller than me. Johnny laughing outright. Dave saying he’d do it.
12/17: Me accepting a package from the mailman and asking him how long he’d be in the neighborhood. Mailman telling me that I was his last delivery today. Me explaining that I still needed to print the labels for my packages. Him saying he’d pick them up the next day.
Two hours later, me loading four packages into my car to drop off at the post office. Me returning with two large pizzas.
12/18: Me asking Sarah for suggestions of where to take our Christmas picture for our card since we were all finally together. Me wondering why we didn’t take the picture when we were all snowed in on Thanksgiving. Sarah reminding me that we took a family picture when we went to Hawaii on Spring Break. Me excitedly logging on to my laptop to look for the picture. My smile fading when I looked through ten pictures of us on the beach and realize that somebody has their eyes squinched closed, or hair whipping across their face, or looking pasty white in each photo.
Reindeer down again! Me telling John that maybe it’s time to retire the falling reindeer to the garage. Him saying he’ll look at it again.
12/19: While the kids sleep in, John and I jump in the car and go to two different malls to shop for the last few things.
Me noticing that it stopped raining, and calling girlfriend Sarah to ask if she can see Mt. Rainier from her house. Me rallying the troops, announcing that the mountain was out. Get up, get dressed! We’re taking the picture on Sarah’s deck with the mountain in the background. My Sarah suggesting an alternate location if that doesn’t work. Groans coming from everywhere in the house. Lots of blurred figures running up and down from the laundry room. Shoes, boots, scarves, jackets, antlers being thrown around. John and Johnny heading to the truck with the dogs. Sarah and I teetering on our boots into my car.
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| Our Christmas card for 2010: John holding T-Bone's leash, Laura holding Suzy, Sarah & Johnny. |
John putting the lights on the naked Christmas tree. John hauling footlockers of decorations up and down the stairs.
Me clearing the dining room table of Autumn place settings replacing it with a beautiful Christmas floral centerpiece sent by a friend. Me serving a delicious smoked turkey, also given to us by a friend, mashed potatoes and green beans to the family as a send off dinner for Dave.
Me sitting on the couch with Sarah K. reviewing the pictures we took on her deck which turned out pretty well even though the mountain didn’t show up at all, frustrating because we could see it, but to the camera it was invisible. Me taking my laptop around to get everyone’s opinion. Me ordering Christmas card photos from Costco online at 1:00 am.
12/20: Dave loading his SUV up to aim for Reno where his family has moved.
Me entering the house with the Christmas cards. Me taking them out and noticing that the caption I asked them to print on the card doesn’t show up at all, kind of like disappearing Mt. Rainer! Me looking for a silver, white, or gold pen that I can write over the “ghostly” caption with.
Me answering the phone. The half-decorated tree, the unbaked cookies, the unwritten blog, the unwritten Christmas letter to go with the photo cards, the unfinished sewn gift, the ever-falling reindeer, the disconnected Snoopy doghouse, the unwrapped presents, the last packages to be mailed all turn into background static. My father tells me that my mother needs double heart bypass surgery scheduled in two days.
Me calling my sister to figure out if I should fly to Hawaii to take care of my dad while mom’s in the hospital. Her telling me that she’s taking off from work. Me asking how Mom’s spirits are. Her telling me that my mom’s worried because before she left for the hospital, the kitchen sink was clogged, and she wants my father to call a plumber. My sister also tells me that if I go home, she’s not sure where I’ll sleep because Mom piled the “guest” bed with presents that need to be wrapped. I tell her that I’m perfectly capable of clearing the bed and wrapping presents. Sounds just like my house! The only difference is that my mom doesn’t have a laundry room to pile stuff in. My dad was calling my brother after he talked to me. My sister’s got to get more information from the hospital. She’ll call me tomorrow.
John checking his miles on three different airlines to see if I can get a free ticket to Hawaii. Me clicking around on Expedia.com searching for the lowest fares. We’re shy of any free tickets. John says that if I have to go, he thinks he can talk the airlines into a free ticket. The flights I’m looking at are booked solid. John goes to bed.
11:30: Johnny and Sarah K. come back from her house announcing that there’s a lunar eclipse. Sarah S. and I join them standing at the end of our driveway, craning our necks to watch it. Sarah K. goes back in the house to bundle Suzy the dachshund up in a blanket, and bring her out because she’s howling, and will wake John up. When I go to bed, out of the dark, John asks what Suzy was howling about.
12/21: While I wait to hear from my sister, I take the last packages to the post office and run to the bank. My Sarah’s boyfriend is driving down to see her, so I bake two batches of cookies, and prod her into putting some ornaments on the tree. After I finish this blog, I’ll start dividing up and wrapping the presents so that if I need to go, they’ll be ready. Then I’ll start working on the Christmas letter and the cards. That might not show up on the time lapse because I may be doing that on a west-bound flight to Hawaii.
Whatever gets done or gets left un-done doesn’t really matter. What I want for Christmas, can’t be wrapped. I know it’s a busy time of year, but please say a prayer for my mom. Merry Christmas!
Laura Keolanui Stark is a freelance writer/blogger. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.
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