When I was a kid, we didn't say things like snow event.Someone would rush in announcing loudly, " it's snowing!"We didn't care about breakfast, or whether or not there would be school that day, we just got all excited, hurried around and got into our snowsuits,mittens, coats, boots and hats, and ran out to play in the snow! Our parents took care of things like shoveling the walks, getting the cars started, so they could warm up while they were being cleaned off, dug out, and the chains put on the tires. Meanwhile, in the house, someone would also be shoveling coal into the furnace, stringing lines in the basement for clothes to be hung to drip-dry, which would stay up the rest of the winter,for daily use after coming home after school, and after play, and for the laundry.A hearty breakfast was started by mother or grandmother, and everyone would come in from their outdoor labors all rosie-cheeked and cold and wet, but smiling, happy and cheerful, even while undoing our garb and changing into school clothes,because we knew that it would soon be Christmas! After all! It was snowing! Then, while every register in the house was surrounded by chairs upon which hung our snowsuits,coats and mittens and hats, or covered over by inverted boots,so they would be dry to go to school in, we would all sit down and eat and talk about plans for Christmas. Shopping for decorating, for gifts, for special foods, like the Turkey, and ribbon candy were decided upon,and then when we had eaten our fill, we children would then set about to re-dress for our trek to school, while our parents and grandmother sat at the table, talking low, having yet another cup of coffee,before mom and dad left for work.But whether we were upstairs getting dressed, or downstairs at the table, I suspect, the talk was the same. Amongst my brother, my sister and myself, we wondered if I would be getting a new pair of ice skates, my brother a new car for his Lionel train set, My sister the new Angora sweater she so wanted,but that was as far as we allowed our imaginations to carry us.Mom and Dad always came through with new clothes for Christmas,because we were still growing. What we didn't know was what that form those new clothes would take. Little did we know, that those particulars were being settled, at least in part, at that moment, downstairs in the dinning room, at that very moment.
The one thing it never crossed our minds to question,be we adults or children, was whether or not we would hear "Merry Christmas!" when we made our purchases. That was the whole reason for the season! That was the reason we had been rehearsing at school for weeks for the Christmas pageant. It was the reason we set out the nativity scene, and bought and decorated the tree.It was the reason we sang the songs we sang,and had such a wonderful light-hearted feeling! It was the whole reason we were buying and trading gifts in the first place.The notion that we would go to the store to buy Christmas gifts,and not hear Merry Christmas from other shoppers and from the cashier, but would hear instead, happy holidays,or seasons greetings was never entertained, and frankly, we would have been let down and shocked were that to occur.
There are some things from my childhood I am glad to say have changed.No longer having to stoke the furnace with shovels full of coal would be one, as are snow chains,wet clothes taking forever to dry on a rope in the basement,and morning breakfasts,where even simple things like toast frequently could be complicated( burnt black in the oven, and scraped in the sink to a beautiful golden brown)...making the whole meal take a long time to prepare.
But some things I do regret having lost from my childhood is the simplicity of It's snowing! Now passed over for A snow event, and Happy Holidays now replacing Merry Christmas.Both of which takes the spirit, the joy and total meaning of the original phrase and waters it down,deletes it of it's emotional impact,leaving it almost colorless, flavorless, and tasteless.Where I suppose that is appropriate for snow, when you think about it, It most certainly is not going to be tolerated by me for Christmas! I am calling stores ahead of my visit to be assured that should I choose to go there, I shall hear Merry Christmas at the check-out, or the cashier will find herself with an abandoned, unpaid for bag of stuff, long after I have declared her "Happy holidays" an outrage, and gone off in a huff!
Oh,by the way. Just in case you're wondering, BING CROSBY introduced the song,
"IT's beginning to look a lot like Christmas",naturally. Who else?
OUI?
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