Christmas Writing Prompts

In Spirit

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Word of the Day Challenge: MAGI

I joined some Christmas pages at Facebook because the posts on these pages featured things like pictures of  Christmas trees and snapshots of winter scenes and all kinds of decorations.  There were also the usual Baby Jesus in a manager  with the  the Christmas star hanging over head prints. Krampus was starting to show up too.

I am fond  of the vintage Santa pictures. They’re festive. I’m also fond of Krampus.

Of course some posts hit the religious aspects pretty hard, and by hitting it hard I mean that Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus didn’t look like they came from the Middle East and in one memorable meme Mary had a Farrah Fawcett hairdo.  Those posts were relentless. I get it, I get it, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus were as pure and white as the driven snow. They weren’t brown, they weren’t even slightly beige. They were white. White, white white…alright we get it already.

To be honest, I don’t care what color people want to paint the holy family, it’s really not important in the grand scheme of things. The birth of Jesus is a story about hope and I love stories about hope.

Just as a historical sidenote- the Wisemen who were from the East- they were Kings( as the story goes ) Kings didn’t ride camels, they would have rode on horseback and if that isn’t a powerful image, I don’t know what is.

Leopold Kupelwieser, The Three Kings riding to Bethlehem:  Whenever you see movies about this time period, the actors are riding on camels. However, people in northern Arabia typically only rode Arabian horses. At the time of Christ’s birth, camels were used as pack animals, but wealthy travelers used the more comfortable and swift hors

But then along with Mary looking like Farah Fawcett, the the ones of Santa kneeling at Baby Jesus’ cradle started to pop up.

Like I said,  I could understand the need for some people to put forth the image of Mary being pure and pristine with her Farrah Fawcett hairdo, I didn’t understand why anyone felt the need to force Santa- who we can agree on is a fictional character-  to his knees and for him to then humble himself like this:

I suppose this is Christian Extremists’ way of reminding us WHO Christmas really ‘belongs’ too (spoiler alert, it ain’t  really Jesus to his biggest supporters,  Sports Fans ) and in that- if you know what’s good for you you’ll admit it TO THEM that you agree and you will do it while you are on your knees.

The thing about that boot on the back of the neck thing- it just begs for someone or a lot of ‘someones’  to rebel.

I’m willing to hang around to see what form  that movement takes , but given Krampus is becoming a thing for Christmas now I think it’s already started.

The Yule Cat and Krampus
AKA The Perfect Storm

The Scrap Heap

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Christmas Journal Prompt#7

I only give Christmas gifts to my dog, Hamish and my Granddaughter Jemma.

Everyone else gets gift cards.

I used to buy presents until I found out most of the gifts I gave sucked so bad and so hard that they were never even re gifted.

That included the ones I made, or baked or spent hours shopping for.

I always- without exception- got the gift thing wrong

EVERY

SINGLE

TIME.

So now when people start doing the ‘ ho ho ho and what do you want for Christmas thing, I say  ‘to be taller and blond’.

I actually mean that.

I am happy to report that most of the people who told me my gifts were meaningless and stupid are no longer in my life, which I suppose is a gift in itself.

One that I can honestly say I cherish.

Photo By Anita Moscoso
Upside Down House
Dells, Wisconsin
October 2024

The News Story

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Holidailies Prompt: Describe your best or worst memory from this past year.

Artist Unknown

Back in November a woman died on the railroad tracks near my warehouse.

The initial news-reports were not correct.

I was working at my desk when I heard a train breaking hard- hard enough that I noticed it- after years and years of working in the warehouse I don’t really heard the trains anymore.

I put it out of my mind and finished my work.

When I went to catch my train I saw people streaming up from the train platform so I knew there was a problem.

So this is what happened-  a woman jumped or fell from the bridge above the tracks- which is really a street and a sidewalk-  and just as she did a freight train came from the tunnel under the bridge and she landed on top  the Engine car and died.

The place where she was reported as being hit is where the train stopped.

There wasn’t any followup so the news story was not corrected. I hated that. It’s like her tragedy didn’t matter- and it did. She did matter.

 

On my train ride home that night I remember people being more quiet then usual- and by that I mean when someone is hit by a train on the ride home after the incident  people are animated and they talk really loud.

It’s a reaction to death- like if you talk loud enough death will stay away from you.

This time someone said, ” the holidays do that to some people.”

I’m pretty sure they meant the death that had just taken place behind us a few hours before.

I’m not sure how I feel about the holidays this year, but I think I’d rather think of it as something to look forward too instead of fearing.

Artist Unknown

 

 

The Yuletide Hits The Shore

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RDP Prompt: YULETIDE

Photographer Unknown

I really did try to find inspiration in the Christmas season.

I left myself open to holiday cheer, to watching a couple of those Hallmark Christmas movies so that I could try to wrap my brain around what made them ‘fun’. I even went and did a little Christmas shopping instead of ordering everything on line. I even did the meaningful stuff like giving to charity and smiling to people instead of nodding when I greeted them on my dog walks or when I got on the train.

I enjoyed being with my family and  participating in Christmas festivities, I really enjoyed seeing how much fun my Granddaughter was having. Hands down, seeing her enthusiasm really was the best part of the Christmas season.

But in the end all I wanted to do was to get through it.

Bat World Sanctuary- batworld.org

Right before Christmas we had an ice storm and by Christmas day it was near 50 degrees out and I had all of my windows open. That cool fresh air felt great after being locked up in dry heat for the better part of a week.

Dare I say? I felt a little cheerful.

After my family had eaten our fill, opened the presents, played some games and told some stories,  this little voice whispered in my ear, ” go on- kill the tree-stuff it in the garbage. You know you want too. It’s an old fake tree. Nobody will miss it. Just wait until everyone is gone and do it.”

That evening after everyone had gone home, I went to get the storage box for the decorations and I got ready to take the tree down and toss it.

I thought- you know it IS sort of pretty because it’s a little faded and crooked. It’s not a perfect tree but it’s charming in it’s way.  Plus for his own reasons Hamish Macbeth wasn’t going out of his way to stand next to the tree and wag his tail so that he could watch the ornaments fly off the tree and he could chase after them.

So that night I left the tree up and when I got up in the morning the lights were still on. Hamish was laying next to it the way he used to when his Cat brothers were alive and with us.

That’s when I decided I’ll wait a few more days before I take it down. What’s the rush? It’s just there in my living room looking warm and festive and that’s not such a bad thing to have around.

I think I’ve found it to be a little inspirational.

Hamish and Krampus
December 25th 2022
Photo: A.M. Moscoso