Owl in a Natural Noble Fir Tree

Last Christmas we upset tradition. We abandoned our adult children, cold-shouldered Santa and slipped off to Barbados. Our escapade had the intended consequences. It pared the Christmas craziness down to zero. This year we are starting over; redefining traditions in more satisfying ways. We’ve trimmed the high calorie Christmas—the shopping spree, the 12 foot tree, the cooking and baking, the wrapping and mailing—to the small plate version, a main course and two sides.

Family is the main course. We’re doing a road show with our ninety-year-old grandma. Providing an adventure for a nonagenarian is a hoot! Her world is a small apartment in the Ozarks; her Christmas gift is a foray through the Sonoran desert, the Sierra foothills and the Seattle coast to see her family.

Heartfelt music and holiday entertainment pair nicely with a feast of family and friends. We’ve filled a pew at church to hear the Pine Cone Singers, filled our hearts with laughter at the antics of Sierra Rep players and filled up on popcorn and wonder, watching grandma pop on her 3-D Hobbit glasses to experience the adventures of Bilbo Baggins.

If you look, you will find the spirit of Christmas in the trappings. Songs about the baby Jesus, a hushed narration of the holy birth in the middle of a slapstick comedy, and Bilbo Baggins, leaving the comfort of his home to help a motley crew of dwarves recover the home they lost. Isn’t that what Jesus did for us?