Christmas at the Hop

I've already written my blog post for Christmas in 2020. But I forgot to mention a few things. For example.

If you live alone, or have a tolerant partner, you might consider spending part of your day at the Hop. Not the IHop, home of pancakes and carb lovers everywhere. The old fashioned Hop, where you take your shoes off and boogie.

The benefits are many. No critics to weigh in on your dance moves so no need to restrain yourself. Just put on your favourite Christmas dance music. But nothing slow or thoughtful. The last thing you need at the very end of 2020 is too much introspection. Don't live in your head. (Full disclosure: My whole life is in my head. But I'm trying.)

When my play list is ready, I dance. I prefer a combination of moves inspired by the sixties. The Pony, the Swim, the Twist, the Monkey, and a few Zumba elements that occasionally threaten the stability of my Christmas tree. It doesn't matter, really. All that counts is the celebratory feeling that accompanies any crazy movements of your choosing. And if you can't do Christmas all day long, you can still Charlie Brown it with hits from your past. Or your children's past. One of my favourites is an old CD I unearthed called Summer of 2009!!  

This is how you hold your weight gain at what I call the 'Manageable Covid 10' while keeping your spirits up. In fact, the very best time to dance is when you're feeling low, and you need your eye to ignore the100 proof  bottle of hooch gifted by a distant relative of your husband's. You resist by walking over to the mirror, or waking your slumbering partner,  and with a fierce look of determination, say, 'Not me. Not this time, Covid 19. I will not surrender to the lure of lying down and watching another Hallmark Christmas movie. I will dance!' 

Are there downsides to the Hop? Full disclosure, yes. A few of them. But you can prevent the one I call Blue Christmas (referring to the air, not your spirits) by moving your furniture just a bit out of your way, thus preventing toe stubbing and actual falls. Also, close the curtains at night time. Otherwise you'll experience a drive by where cars are parking outside your house even though you live on a busy street. The upside is that you've been someone's entertainment, and the story they get to tell over Christmas dinner. 'I saw the craziest thing!' etc.

All in all, I encourage you to join me in celebrating the fact that you're alive. If you're using a walker or crutches, you can still take part with a few spins and a lot of hip wiggling. However you do it, I promise you this. It will help you push away all thought of a nasty virus currently curtailing your seasonal celebration. And on a Christmas note, it will bring a lot of Joy to your World. 

Christmas in the Bipolar Vortex

For my parents and grandparents, there've been some tough Christmases. Two world wars with food rationing meant mystery meat and no sugar for pies. All those boys leaving the country. Many not returning. There was much anxiety over the future. How would things turn out? Would we still be us, or would future generations be required to heil Hitler? Happily, my generation has been spared that anxiety.

Covid is the first real challenge we Boomers have faced. Yes, there was polio back in the fifties, but that was our parent's problem. The sense of unreality that's come with this virus is mostly due to our fantastic luck. We got to cruise through life worrying about ordinary things. Mortgages. Parenting. Will our favourite team make it to the finals?

It's understandable that there'd be resentment over the arrival of a world wide pandemic. When the news first broke, I remember thinking, it's just a flu! What's all the fuss about? It didn't take long for the news to sink in that smugness does not confer immunity. And sadly, there are still many who think their grade eleven biology class and some online information means they know more than scientists and health professionals about the need for masks and a vaccine. Don't bother! they tell us. It's all a hoax! Okay, good to know. Thank God we have you on Facebook, educating the masses.

On the one hand, I've never felt so grateful. Because I've realized that the most important thing in my life is other people. And yet, other people can drive me crazy. And don't we all feel a little resentful that the rules apply to us? "Yes, please lock down those people over there. They're shopping, and visiting. And partying! But I'm not, so please let me see my family at Christmas. Allow ME to break the rules, because I've been so very good. 

In spite of my sadness that I am not exempt from the rules, I'm grateful. We haven't run out of toilet paper or food or electricity. I've certainly got time to read and watch television. I've been zooming a lot. I'd never even heard of zoom before the pandemic. I have coffee with friends on Whatsapp and Facetime. I own snowshoes. And use them. So, there are good things in my life. 

And yet, perhaps some of us nourish a tiny kernel of bitterness, believing this: 

1. Someone ate a wet bat and then coughed in a crowded restaurant. 

2.This is a scheme by foreign agents to take down the world. 

3. Donald Trump is to blame. (Well, isn't he? Doesn't it feel good to blame everything on him? I mean, he's just so awful.) 

4. We should have shut down our borders and isolated much sooner. 

5. We shouldn't have shut down. Save the economy! Let the weak die! 

Really, the opinions alone are enough to sink our spirits. But we don't let them, because we can't afford to. We need to keep our spirits up and soldier on. This is a war, dammit. Not wearing a mask and following isolation rules is like living in London during the blitz and not putting up blackout curtains. You're basically saying to the enemy, 'Come over here! I've got a live one for you!'

Most of us hoped we'd be done with this thing by the fall. All the Covid bugs around the world would high five each other on an excellent job and head off for a well deserved rest. That ain't happening. So we will eat our Christmas dinners in twos and threes, or groups of five for those lucky people with children still living at home. We'll buy tiny turkeys and remember to touch base with others by every means possible. We'll sing carols along with people online. We'll give ourselves permission to feel sad that everything isn't perfect. And remind ourselves that it never is, really. We just miss the main ingredient of Christmas, which is other people. We'll continue to wake up in the morning, push away the thought that it will be the same as every other day, and rejoice that this will hopefully be our last Christmas in the time of Covid. We'll remember what Charles Dickens said in 'A Tale of Two Cities,' 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

It's us in this bipolar vortex. And when it comes to an end, there'll be dancing in the streets. At least, there will be in Flin Flon, Manitoba, because that's just the way we roll. Merry Christmas, everyone. During this bipolar vortex of whirling emotions and longing, we're going to have the best, worst, happiest, saddest, most unusual day ever. And 2020? It's already in the rear view mirror. 

Here's a little something to celebrate with.

(4) Fifth Harmony - All I Want for Christmas Is You (Official Video) - YouTube