I was still holding my own protest about listening to holiday music on the radio, until Friday, as my refusal to acknowledge anything that remotely pertains to the yuletide season does not start until the commencement of the month in which it is celebrated. I recently saw a post on social media, complaining that the 'Spirit has come and gone, and didn't stay very long'. I commented that it was still November and anything remotely noel-like felt within that month, or months preceding, were like 'braxton hicks contractions', during pregnancy. They were false! No doubt I am being called all sorts of names, and declared a heathen, but if you start preparing for something too early, it starts to lose its appeal before it happens! (I would add that I am not remotely suggesting that anyone's belief or faith is not relevant, but am referring to the commercialism!) This is my opinion only, and postcards with rude gestures are not required!
Monday night was a challenge, albeit not one of large proportion. We drove into our complex after leaving work a little late, and our orange bags were once again adorning our neighbourhood. Everyone participates in putting out the orange bags, despite no one (perhaps I speak out of turn when I say 'no') really seeing the festiveness of said bags. It has become our own private joke!
I sent a picture to Samantha, and within a few seconds I received a video call from her and Edward, wowing over the decorations, for which they have been waiting in anticipation, apparently! After several minutes of painful, exaggerated enthusiasm, we hung up!
My own rule was compromised as I drove across town to Joe's on Wednesday as most radio stations were playing 'seasonal' songs, and I do like company when on the road!
However, despite my 'humbug' attitude, Friday did arrive, and I was able to sing along to the tunes on the radio, for the three minutes we were in the car on the way to the office.
The plan for the weekend was simple. It was the first week in December, and a tree was awaiting our arrival so that we could adorn it with silver and gold. The said tree was along the highway, but we had not decided which one to choose, despite there being many vying for our attention! During the period between Thanksgiving and this weekend, there had been a lot of activity along the '360 highway' corridor, and sparkles were visible on quite a few shrubs.
Saturday took us to Sam's and Costco, where there were giant snowmen, sparkling snowmen, inflatable, plastic and even bejeweled snowmen. Snowmen with wives, snowmen with children and snowmen with dogs took up a vast amount of space. Snowmen with their own snow machines (because we are unlikely to see temperatures drop to below jacket wearing weather) helped accentuate the 'spirit of the season' which had been dulled down due to it starting in July! We purchased some of our wares, but not our decorations, and continued on to the next stop.
Walmart was rather busy. Children were running up and down aisles, shouting to their parents that they wanted this toy, or that. Parents were ignoring pleas, pouts and tantrums. Eight foot snowmen were looking down from above, with smiles, no doubt delighted that their off springs had no ability to make a noise! We purchased some of our wares, but not our decorations, and continued to the next stop.
The Dollar Tree was as busy as the previous stores. However, the children were not as demanding. There was not the variety of superhero spacecraft, nor electronic spacemen to pilot them. There were, however, decorations, and lots of them! We bought tinsel and baubles , with a bell and some bows. Our tree was going to be sparkly, and rather inexpensively adorned!
Instead of choosing one on the flat, we chose to climb the opposite side to where Dana and I climbed last week. The ridges that lead to a flat surface, where the vista is spectacular, are quite a bit steeper and the summit higher than that of its partner. We parked the car and started our ascent to the first ridge, where we found a small tree, and started to decorate. However, it was somewhat impossible to get any amount of decoration facing the road, without climbing gear and grappling hooks! The part facing inwards and not visible to those passing, looked spectacular! We undressed the little tree, and headed up to the top of the rock!
"Decorating a tree?", asked a lady, who had been admiring the view from the peak. "Yes, but trying not to fall off the edge is a challenge!", I replied. She said something to the young man that was by her side, and then commented, "Good for you!"
After some deliberation, we found another small shrub, which looked rather lonely and in need of attention. We perceived that if we could get the decorations to wrap around the part facing the road, we would not only have exposure to the highway, but also to the opposite rock, and the back would be visible by climbers, as it was on the path. Perfect! I was very brave. Due to my inability to keep my balance on high planes, it was not easy for me to help with the wrapping around of the tinsel, but I pushed myself to my limit, and even managed to affix some bows to the front! I had to steady myself a few times, and was satisfied that should I slip, the ten foot drop would not have been as bad as the thirty foot drop from the previous location which we had abandoned!
With bells, bows and baubles in place, we stood back, on the path, and admired the back of the tree. "Can I take a snap chat?" asked the lady who had commended us for keeping up the tradition earlier. We agreed to the request, and she took some pictures, and voiced over, "This is how we decorate trees in Austin!" The young man with her said that he was from out of town, and despite the fact she was from Austin, she seemed to get more joy from the experience.
After we had collected our rubbish, we handed it to a good Samaritan who had taken it upon herself to clear up other people's mess. She had requested the brown bag in which we carried our decorations, so that she could transport the trash to a dumpster, and I obliged. We then crossed the road to take pictures of our tree from the ground level. It was quite high up and no doubt better seen from an eye level perspective, but as we had climbed up and down the rock on one side of the road, we did not feel energetic enough to climb up the other side. It had started to get a little hot, and even the inflatable snowmen would have had trouble keeping upright!
Satisfied that we had fulfilled our mission, both by keeping up the Austin tradition, and making this a new one for us, (as it was our second year, we feel we can refer to it as a 'tradition',) we went back to the car and headed home.
Dana and I climbed the hill to the top of our complex on Sunday morning, and looked over at the beautiful views that adorn our neighbourhood. This week has seen a slight enough change in the temperature to finally turn the leaves a different colour. We are no 'New England in the fall', but the colours are just as spectacular! Browns, reds, golds and still a hint of green make up the most wonderful sight. The hill was no mountain, and the trees were not decorated (not even with our orange bags) but they needed not adorning, due to their natural beauty.
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