Hosive

its that time of year again…the most wonderful time of the year….

i’ve been telling theresa all year that christmas is coming…and i was right….its here…along with our christmas traditions….including getting a tree and decorating it….

we love us some real christmas…and some fake christmas….

we bought the tree and gave it a day or two to breathe and spread out….then we gathered some of our city traveling companions…our nyc ‘party machine’

i like this current edition of the party machine(renamed club vision to redeem the moniker and the reputation)because there are members from every era and edition. in every city, there is a group of folks who travel in the city with us as we live life together. we called ourselves self deprecatingly and adoringly the party machine…self mockingly because c’mon, who calls themselves that seriously? worshipfully as a tribute to the snl skit janet reno’s party machine that mocked nia peeple’s party machine. friendship, joy and laughter are the marks of our gatherings.

the 2008/2009 lineup includes these members from past pm’s….weiling from the efc/chicago days, jeremy from the cbc/maryland era, debby from all the incarnations…as well as nyc members only: steph, angie, norman. then there’s me and t…theresa has been part of the md and nyc days…and i’ve been there since the start. the group reminds me of god’s goodness and provision over the past two decades.

our trimming party always has food galore including sweets and savories, breads, meats, fruit, a lil lambic framboise, quiche, fish stew, candies, juices…mostly finger food throughout the night.

after eating, most watch me and steph decorate the tree. just kidding. sorta.

for the most part, it was actually steph…but a few others helped. i primarily directed and put on the finishing touches.

Finally, the last tradition at our christmas tree trimmings: we finish the night watching a u2 concert together. last year, we watched something vintage 1989 from the joshua tree days. this year was 1983ish from red rocks and the war, pre-unforgettable fire era. some strange traditions but they are ours.

and here we are in all our glory. here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore. faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more. through the years, we’ll always be together, if the fates allow. hang a shinning star upon the highest bough. and have yourselves a merry little christmas…now. Let your heart be light. from now on, our troubles will be out of sight. make the Yule-tide gay, from now on,
our troubles will be miles away. and have yourselves a merry little christmas…now.