Our family opened presents on Christmas morning and then we had a feast with visiting family members—that is, except for two memorable occasions. My stepfather had two weeks of vacation each year. On those two occasions, he took the last two weeks of the year and the first two weeks of the next year and combined them for a month-long vacation trip. My brother and I would sit on the car bed in the back seat of the ’57 Chevy (my first car when I turned Sweet Sixteen) while he drove to New Jersey to visit Mom’s family and Louisiana to visit Dad’s relatives. Driving in December must have been an adventure, especially the year he chose the northern route. We saw much of the country on those trips and I was hooked on traveling. I would retrace those routes years later in an RV.
As I grew older, I met other kids who opened their presents on Christmas Eve. I felt sorry for them when they had nothing to look forward to on Christmas Day.
My friend Robert invited me to his home for the second day of Hanukkah. That’s when I found out he got presents for eight days. Eight! Wow! And apples dipped in honey. And money. I wanted to be Jewish too.
I moved to Berkeley ten years ago and the neighbor on my left was a lovely Muslim woman from Ethiopia who observed Ramadan. She explained about fasting during the day but eating in the evening. I could get to like that too. (She never understood about the concept of RVing, however. In her country, people stayed indoors and out of the heat. They didn’t drive around and then camp for the evening. When I became a full-time RVer, she was baffled but happy for me).
The neighbor on my right observed the winter solstice with its festive welcome of the returning sun from the lowest point on the horizon on December 21. Holly, ivy and candles are part of the ritual. On solstice eve, she would go to the Buddhist temple and chant with them all night. That seemed to be a lovely, peaceful ritual.
The neighbor who lived downstairs under my apartment observed Kwanzaa. He told me about the seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. That seemed like a very positive, family-oriented holiday.
I like all the holiday rituals and events, especially those involving food and friends, so I thought, why not celebrate them all?
I decorate my RV with red poinsettias, holly, ivy, evergreen branches, candles, bells, a wreath, a menorah and a moose that poops brown mini-jelly beans. I listen to holiday music that spans Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops to Judy Collins, James Galway, Dave Brubeck and Maddy Prior. I watch “A Christmas Carol” and “A Christmas Story.”
Have fun: enjoy your own traditions and embrace another this year.
