Of Christmas, Fava Beans, and a Nice Chianti by CoreyBlack
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Description
"Christmas? Bah,humbug!"
--Ebenezer Scrooge in Scrooge by Charles Dickens.
"Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate you know."
--Lucy Van Pelt in A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles Schultz.
Christmas. What do you say about say about Christmas? Seeing as how I'm a natural born cynic I tend to agree with the above quotes. Unlike some cynics, however, I'm not bitter, and I try to keep an open mind. I believe that Christmas, like most things in life, is how you approach it. If somebody enjoys the holiday and all the annoying things it entails, I say more power to them. Personally, I try my best to ignore it. Of course, you can't actually ignore it, so I try to sift the good from the bad. I dodge the guilt, stress and disapointment by ignoring the most odious part of the holiday: I haven't given or received gifts in over 10 years. I honor the spirit of good will by sending Christmas cards( which I didn't manage to do this year )and giving to charity.
At the risk of sounding sappy during the sappiest time of the year, I count my blessings. I'm thankful. Thankful for my life and all the wonderful people in it. And I wish them all good health and much happiness in the coming year.
And now Chip and I are going to begin our usual Christmas ritual: we're going to watch The Silence of the Lambs and get drunk.
This picture was made on December 5, 2010, in that most American of places: a concrete planter in the parking lot of a shopping mall in suburban Chicago.
Comments (17)
Chipka
What a shot. I have a similar shot. I think Kate does too...hmm...we should ALL post our different views of this parking lot planter. I love the colors and the contrasts, and that red is very, very intense. Marvelous. It's funny, I actually planned on posting a similar shot yesterday, but settled on a couple of shadowy Czech guys sitting beneath a rather alien looking light fixture. Oh well...at least YOU posted this shot and it's a goody...so seasonal and elegant without any of the schmultz often associated with the more ludicrously commercial aspects of the holiday. Happy Yule to you, Merry Christmas and all of that, and since you're on the other side of the room, I'm gonna just stop typing and let you read this comment, while I step out to the vuh-ran-duh for a smoke.
whaleman
I like the idea of "Silence of the Lambs" and a few drinks! My daughter and grandson are here from Texas for the holidays and we (6 of us) went to see a live performance of "A Christmas Carol" with Richard McMillan playing the part of Scrooge to perfection. He was in my memory from many years ago for his masterful performance of Poo-Bah in the Mikado. We had a great meal before the show and it turned out to be an excellent time. I did not foresee it turning out this well. Fortunately my Ex had better foresight than I did as she was the one who organized it. My point? Well, you never know how something may turn out and though I do not engage in any religious aspects of this season, it does usually bring the unexpected and so far it has been quite pleasant. I always make a large donation to the Salvation Army at Christmas time because this was the only organization that consistantly helped my alcoholic uncle before he died. They still do good work here.
beachzz
You're exactly right, Christmas is exactly what you make of it. We just watched "It's A Wonderful Life", with all kinds of comments and kibbitzing and adlibbing, a great deal of wine and tequila and other friendly spirits. All in all, a great evening. I'm glad you and Chip are hanging out. Oh yeah, love this shot, and that blast of red!
blinkings
Lol that's made my day! It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets NO PRESENTS! I'm still laughing at the contrast between 'It's a Wonderful Life' and 'The Silence of the Lambs'!
ragouc
Very good colour contrast and shot.
KarmaSong
Very beautiful! •:¨¨:•~Have a happy merry Christmas !•~:-°•:¨¨:•
durleybeachbum
Have a great time. and I hope you can remember if you did!
flavia49
fabulous colors!! Happy Holidays
KateBlack10
Okay Corey and Chip, you both topped our White Christmas and Blue Moon :) We got to watch Bing sing and Danny dance and got a little snockered. I agree with the whole sentiment thing - one big fat check to a donation of your choice (where I work is my choice - hint...hint...)and plenty of booze. ha! Loved, loved, loved the title, narrative and photo. Chip is right, I do have a shot of this one too - I would post it but already used up by "1 upload" for the day.
TECHNISTRATIONS
Hope the hangover wasn't too bad! Have a great New Years!
sandra46
EXCELLENT!
Season's Greetings Cards
More Happy New Year Scraps
KatesFriend
God that is a beautiful shot, really captures the colours of the season. After 47 years of life the most important material aspect of Christmas is colour - at least for me. It is the only time of year when us westerners finally take that oversized but smooth pickle out of our backsides and decorate right. Coloured lights and evergreens in the home. You can imagine how I just go crazy for Van Gogh and Monet. When back-to-basics types talk about 'not really needing a tree' to celebrate Christmas I want to remind them that the lighted tree is merely a surrogate for the ancient Christian tradition of burning heretics. When they want to put an angel on top of said tree as opposed to a 'pagan' star I ask them, isn't the act of shoving the spire of a full grown pine tree up the skirts of a divine entity a tad disrespectful? There is only one thing worse than the bastardization of Christmas, that's the people who keep trying to do something about it. And you call yourself a cynic. Merry Christmas. Hugs. "If you're paying for cable and not watching TV, you're losing money. It's just simple economics." - Stew, the Meat Man
auntietk
I get better at ignoring it every year! :D Love the red berries against the snow. A classic seasonal/holiday shot which avoids both religion and materialism. Nicely done!
anahata.c
a delightful shot for any season, and the way you got the ice on the berries is wonderful. (A clean 'sheen' around them & the branches.) You'd never know this was a parking lot, it's all a world to itself. Fine work, Corey, and very bright & uplifting. As for your choice to count your blessings & to give to charity, etc, you couldn't do something more germane. Christmas---I assume you know this, but just in case---was assigned to the end of dec to compete with the old Solstice holidays. And the solstice (about light inside of darkness) is etched into all our souls, no matter what we celebrate or where we come from. This is a solstice image, and your acts at christmastime are about light in darkness: So you got the spirit of the holiday down pat. As for the scrooge-y part, here's a famous & silly antidote that I always hear when the commercial parts of the holiday get too thick. It's Eric Idle's (of MPython fame) christmas song (here). If you know it, well you can hear it again, lol. A fine new year to you, and hope your night with Hopkins slurping blood and with your family the next day was splendid! Happy Holidays, friend! And I wish you many more.
npauling
Super contrasts in this excellent capture and it has a really festive air to it. I hope you enjoy your evening of drink and movies and then have a happy new year.
danapommet
Beautiful capture and super contrast. Dana
lick.a.witch
I might not celebrate christmas, but I do rather like the colours of this time of year. Only in nature does red and green look so in tune, but add the white of snow and it's doubly so. ^=^ Smashing shot! ^=^