Why I don't have a Christmas Tree

Life Imitates Art.
Here's the art;

Here's the life:


What's  this new thing?



So what am I to do with this?





Hmmmm Doesn't taste too good..Hard



Don't like this!



Destroy!



Why I don’t travel in December

Here we are entering the Holiday season. Festivities are gearing up and along with dreams of Sugar Plums, many are dreaming of balmy breezes and drinks with little umbrellas while sitting on a beach at a sun kissed island hideaway, or Caribbean cruise or African Safari or where ever you want to be. Sometimes it’s just an over the river and through the woods jaunt to Grandma’s house. But no matter what, there are hazards of traveling this time of year.

The obstacles to travel around the holidays are so pronounced that they have even written songs about it. Where do you think Grandma got run over by a Reindeer came from. Undoubtedly someone had a bad experience at one of the petting zoos around this time of year while visiting Santa.

I used to drive to my old home town on the holidays. Between here and there is a mountain range called the Berkshires. They are old mountains, well eroded and round. Not the least like the Rockies or Cascade range and there’s a highway through them. Should be an easy drive. It didn’t take me too many years before I realized that the Snow Gods do not want me going home for the holidays. It didn’t matter if I went on Thanksgiving or Christmas, or if we had just had record high temps for the time of year, there was going to be a storm if I decided to drive over. It might not be on the way over , it might be on the way back, but one way or another I always got stuck in snow, sleet and freezing rain at some point during that drive.

Then there’s the traffic. I have spent 4-5 hours just getting to Worcester! Bumper to bumper until we get to the split for 91 south to Connecticut when traffic starts to lighten up a little. Coming back was just as bad. I’m not sure which was more stressful…getting stuck like that at the beginning of the drive when you know everyone is waiting for you to arrive or coming to a stop on a “super” highway on your way home when you’re tired and all you want to do is drag yourself in the house and collapse on the couch.. In any event, I don’t “go home” for the holidays anymore, I “stay home”.
Let’s have Christmas in July if you want me to come over !

One year the family decided to go to Florida to see the Mouse for Christmas. Disney World is gorgeous during the Holidays so it sounded like a great idea. As I recall we made it down in one piece. No major headaches but Disney World was packed! I mean you could not move without bumping someone. The lines for the rides seemed endless and the crowds for the parades were 10 people deep. Never again! When it came time to leave I had one flight and the others were taking a different flight. Guess what…it snowed in the northeast, which was where we wanted to go. A regular blizzard.! (What did I tell you about the Snow Gods?)

The New York contingent decided to try to make it to Albany so they hopped on their plane out of Orlando. They got routed to Cincinnati or Detroit or some such place where they had to cope with finding accommodations for the night. With all the flights grounded there wasn’t much to chose from. Not an adventure I’d want with children in tow. I’m not sure what , if any, compensation they got from the airline but I am sure it wasn’t fun.

I, on the other hand, gave up my seat in exchange for a flight to Boston the next day and a room at a Best Western. I know I got the best part of that trip but I was lucky. I didn’t have to be back for work that day so had some leeway. I don’t think my work would have taken too kindly if I had to call out because I was “stuck in Florida”. Especially while they were digging out from under 3 feet of snow.

Then there are the pets. I have 2 cats and have had cats for many years. By coincidence not by plan, the two I have now have never been alone. In the past I would leave food out and go away for a day or two but life styles change and when these cats were young I had a roommate so one of us was always there when the other one traveled. One of my cats can get into tons of trouble when I’m around so I would hate to think what I would come home to if he were left alone.

So now that I am living alone, I have to consider what to do when I want to travel. Normal vacation travel isn’t too much trouble. I have a wonderful and reliable cat sitter who also happens to be a Vet Tech and works for my cats’ vet. The cost to have her come to the house is equivalent to boarding them and less stressful for the cats. But during the Holidays I prefer not to impose on her. I want her to be able to enjoy her festivities without having to leave to take care of my cats so that is another reason to put off any travel.

And finally and probably one of the biggest reasons I avoid traveling this time of year, cost! Airlines, after all, are businesses and they are no dummies. They know there are going to be many seasonal travelers that want to be home for the holidays so they raise their fares. Don’t believe me? You say there are always specials? Well, take a look. I tracked some flights on some of the travel web sites one year. October was the cheapest month. After that the closer you got to a Holiday the more the flight. Even the special holiday fares were more than the regular fare in October. And then there’s the crowds in the airport, the lines to get through security, the packed planes, more crying babies than normal as families try to travel. No thank you. I’ll wait until January and avoid the rush.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to travel and to see new places and sights but travel can be stressful at the best of times and when you add in the extra crowds, time constraints and regular holiday stress, for me it was time to rethink how I spent my time. So now, my cats and I enjoy a stress free holiday at home. If that makes me a crazy cat lady, then so be it. I’m safe and sound and unstressed!

Oh and I almost forgot. There’s an added benefit for those of you who do chose to travel…there’s one less person adding to the crowd! Have a safe and pleasant travel experience and may the Snow Gods ignore you, unless you’re heading to Vail for a Ski get-away.
　
　
　

The Mayflower II

Wow here we are in December already and I still want to tell you about the Mayflower II before we get into the stuff to do in December.

When I posted last I was in Pilgrim Memorial State Park in downtown Plymouth. I’d checked out Plymouth Rock and explored some of the audio trail and the history of Massasoit in Plymouth. All that was left for this visit was to board the Mayflower II.

The Mayflower II is a reproduction of the original Mayflower.

The Mayflower II is a 240 ton barque-rigged ship. 240 tons sounds so big to me but it’s so tiny compared to today’s huge ocean going ships. It was built in Devonshire , England. The keel was laid on July 27, 1955. Not quite 2 years later the completed Mayflower II began her voyage across the Atlantic in April 1957.
The Captain of the Mayflower II took a different route across the Atlantic than the original Mayflower. He chose to take a more southerly path to avoid the worst of the North Atlantic storms that had plagued the first Mayflower. The crossing took only 55 days with the ship arriving in Provincetown on June 12, 1957.
I found it interesting to note that both the Mayflower and the Mayflower II made landfall at Provincetown, Ma at the tip of Cape Cod before continuing on to Plymouth, MA.

The original Mayflower was supposed to be going to the mouth of the Hudson River in what is now New York but they were blown off course during the crossing. Their permission for a settlement in The New World was granted by The Virginia Company of London but since they were not in the right location, that became null and void. In order to create a legal entity and avoid further strife among the passengers who were becoming increasingly disgruntled, the settlers wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact.

The Mayflower was supposed to be one of 2 ships that were bringing settlers and supplies to the New World. The 2^nd ship, the Speedwell, developed a leak and was sent on to Dartmouth, England to be refitted. On the 2^nd attempt, the Speedwell again had to be returned because of leaks so the Mayflower continued on alone. Subsequent investigation revealed that there was nothing wrong with the Speedwell. It is surmised that the problems were due to sabotage because the crew wanted to escape the year long commitment. The Mayflower was only supposed to drop of the colonists and turn around and return to England. Because of the defection of the Speedwell the Mayflower had to stay on until the spring of 1621 to allow the colonists time to build shelters and get settled.

No one knows what happened to the original Mayflower. What is known is that she did return to England and her value was last assessed in 1624.

I followed a family onto the ship. Immediately one of the children started trying to ring the ship’s bell. A role playing sailor came over and stopped the child but he did it in a really nice way. He went on to explain the bell and then he assigned each child in the family a chance to ring it with the mallet he was holding. But before he would let them ring it he had them line up and call out to the passengers on the lower deck “Mind your ears!” It was very cute. The he passed the mallet around while each child took a turn. One of the smaller children was grinning ear to ear. He turned to the sailor and said clearly and loudly “Thank you, Sir”. I think every adult on board wanted to give him a hug it was just so cute! Tiny Tim had nothing on this little guy. I am sure it did his mother’s heart proud.

On the lower deck I entered the forward cabin which I was told was the captain’s quarters. I commented on the short bunks and the staff member said that they actually slept sitting up. The belief at that time was it “eased breathing”. There is certainly something to that as anyone who has had bronchitis can attest to.
It was getting late and starting to sprinkle so I wrapped up my visit with a quick walk through of the remaining exhibits. It was a really enjoyable day and as I said to one of the staffers, I learned something today.

I am guilty of relying on the fairy tale stories taught in grade school. The truth is so much more detailed and often “white washed” for little ears. I never thought about what happened to the Mayflower. The Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620 and stepped on Plymouth Rock. They came over on the Mayflower. That was the extent of my “knowledge”.

I am glad that I explored this attraction in my back yard because my eyes were opened to a whole new reality in the story of the First Thanksgiving.

There is also a walking tour offered by a Native American Guide. I missed it this year but hope to have a chance to take it next year. The only information I have on at the moment is : Native Plymouth Tours774-454-7792
Daily at 5:30 pm through November
　
http://www.nativeplymouthtours.com/