Tales from the Hood: But Wait! Christmas Ain't Over Yet!

I get in trouble when I let warm, fuzzy family holidays go undocumented for more than a month. I'm already irrevocably in the doghouse for Halloween and Thanksgiving, so no point in trying to plea-bargain those, but I might be able to secure probation if I post Christmas pictures before Valentine's Day. The judge is pretty strict about these things though.

Our Christmas traditions follow a pretty predictable cycle year in and year out. Variety may be the spice of life and the genesis for good stories, but in many cultures spice is regarded with suspicion and malice. Some folks look askance at spice -- "Away, you foul up-heaver of consistency!" Salt and pepper are twice as much spice as some need. Our spice-challenged traditions have always involved a Christmas Eve trip to Burbank to visit Stacy's grandparents, followed by the long haul to Agua Dulce for the annual Christmas Eve tamale party. At least it has always been thus. Why should the end of 2011 be any different? (Well, Stacy's grandparents aren't in Burbank any more, for one thing. They are both now in a nursing facility, but it's in Glendale, so that's probably close enough for our purposes.)

Stacy's brother Kyle had a pretty cool idea for a Christmas gift for Bunny and Lefty (a.k.a. GGMa and GGPa). They have established themselves as the sweethearts of the nursing home they are in and have quite the reputation. The staff dote on them and the residents, at least those of them who can remember who they are past breakfast, love them. They are the octogenarian version of the varsity quarterback and his head cheerleader girl. Kyle thought it would be cool to put together a picture book of all their old glory-days pictures to show their friends at the home. He enlisted his scrap-booking fanatic sister to help pull the book together and on Christmas Eve we brought the printed version up to give to Bunny and Lefty. It was really sweet to see Bunny light up as she looked through the book, pointing out certain pictures and giving a play-by-play. Lefty hung over her bed, unsteadily following along, smiling and grunting his concurrence with the Queen Bee's descriptions. I think he learned a long time ago to let Bunny tell the stories. GGMa tires out quickly so we didn't stay long, but it was a nice visit and satisfying to see Bunny with some measure of energy and Lefty unusually clear headed. It was good that we went that Christmas Eve afternoon because Christmas day would bring Bunny's fall that would throw everything into that chaos that is still raging strong.

In previous years our Burbank trip was also Stacy's chance to catch up with all the neighbors on Buena Vista Street. Stacy grew up in a house across the street from Bunny and Lefty, so even when she left the neighborhood to take up with a questionable Southlander like me, she still kept abreast of all the Burbank news. On Christmas Eve, after the stop at Bunny and Lefty's we would usually pop over to Grandma Helen and Grampa Dick's (a.k.a. Mr. and Mrs. Wahler), and then on to see Stacy's childhood across-the-street friend, Chad Becken and his family. Tradition might vary a tiny bit from year to year with visits to Mrs. Shirley Hartenstein, Paul and Madelyn Thompkins, Noreen Mackentie, and Karen Gilbert, depending who was around. The crew has thinned out considerably over the last few years, but Stacy can't imagine a trip to the area without a stop on Buena Vista, even if Bunny and Lefty aren't there any more themselves. So after we left the nursing home we made our Buena Vista pilgrimage, dropping in on the perennially cheerful Helen and belovedly grouchy Dick, and giving our Wassail to Chad and the Beckens another door down.

On Christmas Eve we try to make it up to Agua Dulce before sunset so we can get a hike in over at Vasquez Rocks State Park before they close. This year we dragged our heels and it was full-on twilight by the time we got there. Probably for the best. I always manage to inflict damage on my marriage in Vasquez Rocks.

Of course all the usual suspects gather in A. D. - Grandma, Papa, Kyle, Aunt Claudia, Uncle Brian and Aunt Janet -- but the tamale party is really one of the best opps to catch up with some of the further flung branches of the Harris clan. Gene and Shanna Garno always come in all the way from Diamond Bar - Shanna is Kirk's cousin and she and Stacy are very close. We get to see sweet Helen and Cathy Mires (Aunt Janet's Mom and sister-in-law respectively) who are both always so friendly and thoughtful, and there's usually a fair smattering of cousins in town - this year it was Julie Galan and her daughter G, and the blushing bride Laura Harris, with her fiancee Allan. Kyle's girlfriend Sera was there, and this year even brought Aunt Wendy and Uncle Don from Venture in a rare Christmas sighting.

Cousin G in from Denver. (That's one heck of a horse.)

The second cousin brigade.

N scores some holiday jingle.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, our usual yule morning routine was warped somewhat by our standard church schedule. Never fear - there was plenty of time to overload the kid's rooms with more gifts than we can possibly store.

Some gifts self-destructed after opening them.

As has been our Christmas practice for at least the last two years, the big family dinner was held at our house. There was the four of us, plus Kirk and Lynne, Aunt Claudia, Aunt Joyce and Mr. Jay, Kyle and Sera. We forsook the turkey and ham, going for a seafood menu. Stacy made a really taste cioppino and I grilled a huge salmon steak, ignoring its cries for mercy, until it was dry mealy slab of orange cardboard. Everyone seemed to want seconds of the cioppino. The salmon, not so much.