What foul spirits blow hither and near, blustering at the cold spirit of winters breath. Is this a line from a holiday production or the reality of our turning weather?
The answer is both. The holiday season officially starts for retailers the day after Thanksgiving on Black Friday, but for the area theaters it starts in August, well before the leaves of summer have started to turn.
Auditions and preparations began months ago for the big North End productions include “Scrooge, the Musical” from KCMT in Poulsbo and “A Christmas Carol” from the Kingston Rep Theater. Both open and run this month giving audiences a theatrical look into the coming season. My family is involved in the Kingston production, in its second year at Wolfle Elementary. Some of the best parts are the traditional carols peppered throughout the show.
Family traditions can begin for new families or grow this time of year for seasoned ones. For some, a trip to the tree farm kicks off the season by picking out the perfect tree.
My family alternates every year: We have a fake tree year and a farm tree year. This is our farm tree year, so we are going medieval on this tree. It is being decorated with wooden ornaments, candles (the fake kind), nuts and all things handmade. Our first ‘salt-dough’ party is coming up soon.
Our gifting is also from the handmade genre. The kids will be creating some crafts to give to family and friends. The adults will be handmaking wreaths. We have a table wreath machine at home, but at the local nursery you can get the greens and use its machines.
It was a little intimidating at first, but after a few prong twists and several cups of cider, the cedar started to fly. There are so many greens options available, just wait for a wind storm and nature provides all the materials needed.
Songs have captured the essence of the season as the most memorable time of the year, and it is this time when many reflect on the year and start planning for the next turn of the calendar. It can be frantic for some, especially with crazy deadlines and social schedules.
The challenge right now is to find that stride that allows for a memory to be made, a moment to be endured, whether it is a look at a loved one, a laugh with a friend or accidentally mistaking the salt dough for cookie dough when sneaking a fork taste.
As a last line, I borrow from the Dickens Classic: “I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round … as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: The only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their hearts freely … .”
Brad Camp is a staff photographer for Sound Publishing, the parent company for the Kingston Community News.
