The danger inherent in my Virgo desire for order and structure and scheduled itineraries is when things don’t work out according to plan. No matter how perfectly-tailored one’s strategy may be, disruptions and last-minute reworkings are a requirement in today’s whirligig world. I kept that in mind when loosely plotting out my Holiday Stroll with Kira.

It is one of my favorite holiday traditions, and for the first couple of years we weren’t even sure what we were doing. As we walked into the Boston Public Garden on a snowy Saturday in December, I simply declared, half-jokingly, that this would be our Holiday Stroll. Kira had no idea what I was talking about, but she went with it, and after promenading through the park (in a ridiculous hat and boots) a new tradition was born. Since that time, we’ve done five or six of them – and they still mainly consist of walking around Boston, doing some holiday shopping, pausing for food and drink breaks, and hanging out in the condo with a Christmas movie. It’s become a thing, and a very happy one at that.

This year, we decided to go back to basics. With the Red Line to Cambridge out of weekend commission, we planned on omitting the Porter Square to Harvard walk/shop route, and keeping things closer to home. All that to come, but first a look back at some of our previous Holiday Strolls:

• Holiday Stroll 2011
• Holiday Stroll 2012
• Holiday Stroll 2013 ~ Part 1, Part 2
• Holiday Stroll 2014
• Holiday Stroll 2015 ~ Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Holiday Stroll 2016

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,

Jack Frost nipping at your nose,

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,

And folks dressed up like Eskimos.

This weekend marks my Holiday Stroll with Kira – a tradition we’ve managed to keep intact since 2011 or 2012. It’s grown into something entirely too structured and planned-out, a notion I realized last year when my elaborate itinerary, printed out of thick green yardstick, fell completely by the wayside and we ended up doing perhaps two out of ten things. This year, I have no formal schedule (though I may make a loose one – a life wholly lacking planning or foresight is a life not worth living). We shall play it largely by ear. The only definite is that I’ll be cooking dinner for Kira in a double-purpose evening (celebrating the season and her much-belated birthday). Cross your fingers that I can manage a roasted chicken. 

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe,

Help to make the season bright,

Tiny tots with their eyes all a-glow,

Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

They know that Santa’s on his way

He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh,

And ev’ry mother’s child is gonna spy,

To see if reindeer really know how to fly.

We will also, at some point, watch ‘The Man Who Came To Dinner’ and pause it during the ice-skating scene to enjoy (or force down) a couple of baked sweet potatoes (see the movie for the reference). The general goal of this year’s holiday stroll weekend is to keep things closer to home, finding a way of slowing down and relaxing at the condo rather than bustling about when the weather can be so changeable. Kira and I haven’t seen each other since early fall, so quality quiet time will not be a bad thing. The condo is already done up in its holiday garb (the decorations extend into the bathroom this year) so all we need to do it show up and enjoy. (See, planning pays off.)

And so I’m offering this simple phrase,

To kids from one to ninety-two,

Although it’s been said

Many times, Many ways

Merry Christmas to you.

Enjoy this first weekend of December. We’ll regroup and rehash how it all went in a little while.