Monday, December 21, 2009

Over the mountains and through the woods

We're heading home for christmas break on Wednesday and I'm so excited! Knowing this trip was coming up got me through a weekend of homesickness a few weeks ago. Coming here I was braced for more nights of tears over being away from home, but it hadn't really happened until this one Saturday morning when all I wanted was to be around family, eat food I know I love and be surrounded with english. It's funny what can bring on the desire to be transported home - sometimes it is the lack of anything familiar, but sometimes it's the most familiar things that do it. Equally, what brings you out of the funk can be one of two opposites - adding or removing the familiarity. In my case, Jeremiah made me tofu scramble for brunch and we watched a favorite movie. I also made a few calls home.

As Christmas approaches we navigate incorporating new traditions with the old and making adjustments to fit our new home. This is big for me because I have been pretty rigid in my holiday traditions in the past. I think I've done a good job of loosening up in recent years but those things can run pretty deep and all this change just invites homesickness. I love this holiday - making cookies (bone of contention in our marriage, I say Santa likes sugar cookies, Jeremiah holds firm that he likes chocolate chip) and gingerbread houses, decorating the house and the tree, reading christmas stories the night before and eating cinnamon rolls in the morning. So, going home for christmas was a good call on Jeremiah's part - he knew I would need this. And in the meantime, we've got our artificial 1 foot tall tree complete with lights, favorite christmas movies and music.

One christmas song that comes on every once in awhile is To Heck With Ole Santa Claus. Very unchristmasy and Jeremiah balked at me when I asked him to play it. I can understand why, I mean, it doesn't exactly evoke feelings of cheer and happiness. So why do I like it? Because every time I hear it, I think of sitting in front of my grandpa's stereo system while he transferred the song from record to tape for my mom, sister and me. I remember singing it with him, along with a number of other funny songs at other times of the year ("sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you're the bug", "I'm married to a waitress, I don't even know her name"). This year when the song came on it was one of those instant homesick moments.

I'll leave you with the lyrics in case you've never experienced this doozy of a song.


TO HECK WITH OLE SANTA CLAUS
Loretta Lynn - 1966

(To heck with ole Santa Claus)
Last year I hung my stockings by the chimney
and ole Santa didn't bring me anything
Well I wrote a note and I told him what to bring me
But I didn't even hear his sleigh bells ring

So to heck with ole Santa Clause
When he goes dashin' through the snow I hope he falls
I like to hit him (ho ho ho) with a bunch of big snowballs
To heck with ole Santa Claus

(Instrumental Break)

This year I'll built a big fire in the fireplace
I'll be like a little pig I read about
If that big bad wolf in red comes down my chimney
He's a gonna scorch his whiskers there's no doubt

So to heck with ole Santa Clause
When he goes dashin' through the snow I hope he falls
I like to hit him (ho ho ho) with a bunch of big snowballs
To heck with ole Santa Claus

Yeah to heck with ole Santa Claus

3 comments:

  1. that song makes me cringe just reading the lyrics! and yes, everyone knows santa likes chocolate chip cookies more. it's ok.

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  2. Santa most definitely likes Chocolate Chip Cookies :-)

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