State Street Prophet

When I was younger I thought God lived in the mountains and made his home in the pine trees ~ I knew when I inhaled deeply and smelled that fragrant pine and could hear the crunch of the cones beneath my feet, that I was in his home.

Last December, with the chill in the air and the Christmas lights sparkling, God was walking down State Street. Michael and I had taken a spontaneous trip up to Santa Barbara to buy a piece of furniture we found on Craigslist. But with the holiday spirit beckoning us to stay in town a little longer, we decided to go have a drink. We entered the Canary Hotel ~ ended up at the Chase, dining on Chicken Piccata and Caesar salad. The streets were pretty empty being that it was a Monday night and colder than usual in Santa Barbara. But there was something magical and surreal about the night, you know, like a holiday Christmas movie. The only thing missing was a light snowfall.

We were walking back to our car and crossing the street when Michael saw something in the sky, high in the sky, bright red and green. He called to me to come and see it. I walked into the middle of the street not even looking to see if there were cars coming from either direction and looked up.  It was as if the world had stopped, everything was in slow motion.

I could see the bright colored object in the dark cold sky. All of a sudden we were joined by a man, a black man, Carl, who at first glance you would easily peg as homeless. He held a plastic bag in his hand and wore a bulky coat. He wanted to see what we were looking at. Of course, when he looked up into the sky it was gone. He laughed and accused Michael of trying to get us killed by a car. Accused him of looking for UFO’s.

As we walked back to the curb he came with us. He started saying to me that Michael was a keeper.  That he had a childlike way about him, that he was authentic and real. He told Michael to stay that way and informed him that that was one of the things I loved about him. He kept telling Michael how he was so real and authentic and was original with his childlike wonder. He reminded me again that he was a keeper. He told Michael that I was still analyzing him.

He then turned his attention to me and was quite insistent. “He is not them” he stressed “Quit testing him, he did not do it” ~ he told me over and over again. He went on to tell Michael that the men that had been in my life before had been intimidated by me and warned Michael not to control me. I burst into tears. He had hit a nerve. How did he know anything about us? And how did he know anything about my past or present relationships?

Carl kept saying he had to go, as if he were in a hurry, like he had somewhere important to be. But as soon as he would start to cross the street he would turn and come walking back to tell us “just one more thing.” And one of those things was that he was delivering this message from God. Carl might have made me a believer.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

What the flock were we thinking? The holidays had barely been laid to rest, just a mere three weeks ago, and already visions of sugar plums began dancing in our next years heads.

I have no money, or at least not money that I need to be spending on fake flocked Christmas trees in the month of January. But what are you going to do when leaving Nordstrom you are besieged by the post holiday prop sale? Right outside of Nordstrom on our innocent walk back to the car, there they were, right on the sidewalk. Christmas trees, garlands, fake reindeer heads, birdhouses, backdrops and LED lit branches. Marked down to just about nothing, they were practically giving them away! Practically.

Panic almost ensued as other women walked by, did a double take, turning their heads in our direction and spilling those words that can bond a woman to a woman faster than Zsa Zsa's husband can bond his eyes together, "Are those things for sale?" Yes, yes! Woman were on their cell phones calling their husbands in for backup. "Bring the pickup honey", we've got trees for days. And husbands obediently showed up and without so much as a question, quietly began lifting and loading the trucks.

Now my sister Pam and I kind of wavered as to whether or not we should make any purchases. Back and forth, really, should we be spending what little cash we had on Christmas trees? Fake Christmas trees in January? Especially since her husband Steve had been working for the past two days cleaning out the garage, packing and stacking Christmas items up in the rafters, and complaining about how much "stuff" they had. Just a week ago he had reminded Pam that she shouldn't be spending, they needed to save up for their summer trip to Germany. But the tinsel and glitter got the better of us. So, I guess we wouldn't be calling Steve to bring down the truck. In fact, if things went according to our soon to be devised plan, we would hopefully get home, he'd be busy watching the 49er game, we'd kill the motor as we pulled into the driveway, almost as quietly unload, place the trees and garlands somewhere in the garage and if he noticed them later, act like they had been there for years! Yes, that will work!

Well, it didn't work. The trees were heavy and as we carried them out of the car they lost much of their flocking and lots of their berries. Our clothing was covered in flocking, the back of the car was covered in flocking, the sidewalk, the carpet, the evidence was everywhere. But luckily he was a good sport. Maybe because the game was on and the 49ers were winning.

Remember the song "1999" by Prince? "Two thousand zero zero party over, whoops, out of time ~ so tonight we're gonna party like it' s 1999" ~

Well, as we all know, the world didn't end, the year 2000 came in with nothing more than a whimper, and we were all still here. And now we have the Mayan calendar predicting the end of the world on 12/21/2012. Now we know Prince wasn't right and it is likely that the Mayan's won't be right either. But. . . what if they are? What does that really mean? For one thing it means that we wouldn't have another Christmas to celebrate (party over, whoops, out of time) but we would have the month leading up to it. Twenty one days to be exact. Twenty one days of pure Christmas bliss, lights, candy canes, gift wrap, sugar cookies, and trees! So this will not be a wasted purchase, in fact it is more like a necessary purchase. Bring on the lights, the berries, the LED branches with their little birds and birdhouses ~and if the world doesn't end in 2012, I am definitely getting an unflocked tree in 2013.

All is calm ~ All is bright

Driving up to Portland last week, my fourth trip up here this year, and again, with 10 hours in a car by yourself, it is amazing where you will travel. The actual physical destination is just one of the many places you will go on your road/mind trip. I thought back to last year at this very time. My life was falling apart but I put my best Mrs. Santa Claus foot forward and tried to act jolly even if a bit tired, somewhat overwhelmed, irritated with my partner (I know Santa's work lasts all year, but around this time Mrs. Claus has to be seriously one eggnog away from packing it up and moving south). Still, I managed to feign affection for this sometimes challenging time of year.

I arrived in Portland around 5:30 Friday evening, lots of traffic coming into the city. Holiday time, weekends and rush hour aren't usually a great mix. The city looked beautiful, with snowflakes hanging, and even though it was a bit foggy, I could see the city lights reflected in the water as I drove up I-5.

When I made it downtown, parked in a parking garage and started walking down Washington Street, the city looked magical. All the trees were lit with what looked like very pale green lights (they could have been white, not really sure), people were out everywhere, walking briskly in their scarves and hats on what I am guessing to be a rather unseasonably warm Portland evening in December. There was life all around me, it was vibrant. It felt like Christmas, the type of Christmas I always dream of. Those dreams include; cold weather, bustling city shoppers, lots of lights, Christmas carols off in the distance, and a feeling of calm even in the sometimes hectic-ness of all it.

I was here last year at this time too. This will be my third year in a row to come to Portland to spend Christmas with my daughter and it always brings home the true spirit of Christmas. Home is where your heart is. So I guess your "home" can be many places at the same time. It comes down to people, people you love, people you care about, maybe just as Barbra Streisand has said, people who need people.

For this one season it seems we put our financial worries, our health worries, our general life worries on the back burner long enough to put a batch of gingerbread men in the oven instead. Not so much denial about what is going on around us, but more a time out to appreciate all that is good. And hopefully we all have some good. There is a softness to the season that prevails even as the commercialism and the in your face adverts try to sink you. There is one thing we all have in common, the one thing that lives in all of us, a spirit of hope, that never-ending hope that things can always get better, that love is alive, that life is worth living.

I don't think I've heard a more beautiful quote about Christmas than the one made famous by Agnes M. Pharo, which I have used many times before but it bears repeating;

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." Agnes M. Pharo

Merry Christmas everyone :-)