Sunday, December 3, 2017

It's not quite time to decorate

We live in an RV resort in Tucson in the winter. Many of our neighbors have put up their Christmas lights already. White and multicolored strings wind around palm trees and garnish deck railings. On 3rd Street every park model and RV has outside lights of some kind, and we're encouraged to drive the street after dark to see and admire them. Holiday events have already begun: concerts and dances and other special events. My handbell group played "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" last week at the nondenominational church service.

Art and I have not begun yet at our place. We agreed last week we would wait until December 10 to decorate, and that we would keep it simple this year.

We are not Scrooge or the Grinch. We are just waiting.

In the meantime, here's what happened this week:
  • I am learning my lines for a one-act play called Guess Who's Coming to Lunch? (or Just Desserts). It's one of two one-acts being performed the second week in March (my husband Art is in the other one). First I made index cards with a prompt on one side and my line on the other. Then, this week, I read it into an app on my phone. Now I listen to it several times a day. I'll feel better about this new undertaking of mine when I have my 63 lines learned. I haven't been in a play in nearly 50 years.
  • Tuesday evening I went to a panel discussion of the IRC (International Rescue Committee), which assists refugees in their resettlement in the US. One of the panel members was Noor, a man from Afghanistan. I talked with him afterwards and told him how glad I was that he has been successful in obtaining asylum here. We shared our thoughts about the current situation in Afghanistan and the difficulties its people have when they leave the country to find a safer place to live. Like I got to see "the other end" of the process after spending time with Afghans still in limbo at a refugee camp in Greece.
  •  My friend Martha teaches classes in Native American flute. Thursday afternoon she came over to see if I know enough - from a few classes four years ago - to join the beginner class in its fifth week. I do. The class was Saturday. Martha is a good teacher and I am sufficiently motivated to practice.
  • I spent a couple of hours yesterday observing a Keep Tucson Together immigration clinic at a local church. The volunteers work with people seeking asylum. It looks like a good fit for me, with relatively similar experiences this year at the Oinofyta camp. I want to be of service in the greater Tucson community for the five months I live here each year. The story I heard from the Guatemalan woman being helped sounded quite similar to stories I heard from Afghans. I told the coordinator I would be back in two weeks for the next clinic.
  • I worked on my Spanish with Rosetta Stone every day.
  • I found a Tucson church that feels like home.
A week from today I will put up our small tree and write a holiday letter. In that letter I will talk mostly about gratitude. 

Tis the Season!

7 comments:

Olga said...

You are busy and the decorations are better left for a while. I find that I get tired of them if I put them up too early. I have scaled back to what feels right for me.

DJan said...

Oh, I have to say it: break a leg, Linda! You will be so well prepared you'll be loving every minute of the play. And your volunteer work is perfect for you. Your full schedule sounds awfully good to me! :-)

joeh said...

I'm getting lazy at Christmas. When there were little children I lit the place up, now I hang something green on the front door and call it a day.

Linda Reeder said...

We are still all in for Christmas. While we were sitting in the cold on the sidelines at my grandson's soccer game this afternoon, I told my granddaughter that I was still working on decorating our tree. She told me I needed to get with the spirit! I am. We finished with the big tree this evening, but now we decided we need another little tree because we have too many ornaments.
It does make a difference when you have kids around, but then I have always loved Christmas and all of it's trimmings. So I am still "with the spirit".
You, on the other hand, are doing so much that I admire. The spirit of giving is well fixed within you.

Arkansas Patti said...

Your plate is always so full, can see putting off decorating for a bit. Good luck with the play and know you will rock it. The local refugee organization will benefit from your experience. I guess as much as we despair about our countries current discord, we have to realize that many people still see us as a safe haven full of opportunities.

Tom said...

We begin decorating on Nov. 30, which is the day after my son's birthday. Have fun with the flute ... there's nothing quite like playing music!

Dee said...

Dear Linda, always you inspire me. you just keep opening your mind and heart to new happenings and possibilities and people. peace.