How to make Christmas last forever (or at least until the end of January…)

A post from another dark winter, just as relevant now… “This year’s darkness hasn’t been due to the weather but many other things (including the news…)

As a native of more southerly latitudes, I had to learn to ignore Parisian weather to survive. If I had known before I moved here that my birthplace near Washington, DC, is comparable to Madrid and Rome in terms of sunlight, whereas Paris is comparable to Montreal, that lack of sunshine depresses the immune system and dampens the spirits… I may not have come. Then one day I was ranting about the gray skies to a French friend who said, “Il y a d’autres soleils à Paris” (There are other suns in Paris) and that was a turning point. I learned to love rain even when it falls every day for months as it has this winter, one of the darkest in 30 years.

Living in Paris has made me think that Christmas and Hanukkah lights are Northern Hemisphere responses to winter sun deprivation, and this year they are more vital than ever. So here are my strategies to make Christmas last forever, or at least until the end of January and the gradual approach of Spring…

• Virtual fireplace on flat screen TV (DVD’s available and now streaming on Netflix!)
• Epiphany galettes (King cakes) still on sale in the bakeries (collect prizes, wear crowns!)
• New Year’s cards can be sent until at least the end of the month (and received!)
• New Year’s resolutions boost energy and project us into the future, especially if updated and tracked
• Skype faraway friends and family to open presents they sent by mail
• Sort pictures, print some to send with New Year’s greetings
• Play with presents: make a list of who gave you what and what you will do with each one in the new year, include thank you’s in New Year’s cards
• Keep a log of good times over the holidays, in your appointment calendar, and relive them by journaling: funny things people said, conversations, realisations, issues to clear up?
• Food memories: recipes new and heirloom, to share in New Year’s messages
• Food continued: bake cookies and send to older and younger loved ones
• Keep the tree and decorations up even as the tree folds inward like a shriveled umbrella and begins to look like a biological equivalent of Miss Havisham’s wedding cake (in Great Expectations)
• Make un-decorating part of the holiday, set aside lots of time, enjoy treasured ornaments, as mementos and promises of future holiday celebrations
• Keep the music playing: all the oldies you didn’t listen to when it was really Christmas, laugh at Bob Dylan and Elvis holiday albums, discover Yuletide gems by Lynerd Skynerd, Louis Armstrong and the never-obsolete Frank Sinatra. If that’s too much, fall back on instrumental “Winter Solstice” and “Celtic Christmas” collections from Windham Hill and others…
• Recycle your tree in any of Paris’s parks until January 28th (and beyond), knowing it will become fragrant mulch for gorgeous spring landscaping…
• Hibernate without guilt, perhaps with the help of a carefully selected winter virus, just severe enough to keep you on the couch in front of the “fire” with herb teas and soups, but not requiring antibiotics or ER trips…
• Continue your creative and professional work when the fog clears
• Start thinking about Valentine’s day…”

Merry Christmas!