It turns out there is even an official day for this. That day is today, the 6th of January, which is the Feast of The Epiphany or the twelfth day of Christmas. This is the day that tradition says the Magi arrived to give gifts to the infant Jesus. It is apparently also sometimes called "Little Christmas," a term which I had never heard of until now, though I had heard of Epiphany.
And so, we made plans to have our Little Christmas celebration on January 6th. Yesterday we went to El Centro to do some shopping and found an interesting 99 cent store. It wasn't until we got to the register that I figured out that really everything is priced at four decimal places instead of 2, so that a 99 cent item is really only 1/10th of a cent less than a dollar, and when they ring you up, they charge you that tenth of a cent anyway, so you end up spending a dollar. So it's just another dollar store, but with the tricky psychological ploy that makes you focus on that fraction of a penny you think you are saving. I think you'd have to spend a hundred bucks there to save that one cent.
On the other hand, they have things in there for less than a dollar, unlike the Dollar Tree, and they had a lot of name brand items and a striking variety of foods, including fresh produce and a dairy and frozen foods section. With careful shopping, you actually could get good value there, especially if you only need or want small sizes of things, like if you are in an RV with limited storage space. My BFF camp mate loves a bargain and turns unerringly into any dollar store she sees. This one was next door to another store we were shopping at, so we went in there to do some "Little Christmas" shopping. That's become another tradition with us: most of the gifts we give each other come from the dollar store.
At the Slabs, where a lot of people are on fixed and/or severely limited income (or no income), the dollar store is a shopping hub. Even people who can afford to shop at the better stores spend time at the dollar store. At the campfire each night people tell each other about what good bargains they've found there. This is good information, since you can sometimes find out that a certain sketchy-looking brand of canned strawberries, for example, are really very good. Or you can learn they have the boxed, shelf-stable 2% milk, which is almost impossible to find anywhere else and which is very useful here in off-grid land where not everybody has refrigeration.
Dollar stores down here appear to be better stocked than the ones at home. It's probably because people depend on them so much more and so the bigger customer base supports and demands the better selection.
We did our Little Christmas Eve shopping, then headed home to begin preparations.
I have to say, this has probably been the most efficient, stress-free, orderly, and in some ways satisfying Christmas I've ever had, Little or otherwise. In the space of about an hour and a half, I'd cleaned up the house (trailer), put up the tree and the decorations, wrapped presents, set the table, and cooked Christmas dinner.
Here is the tree and (somewhat abbreviated) "Christmas Village," all lit up and ready for a special and festive evening.
A lighted tree and lighted house with it's own little forest of trees, rabbits in the pines and deer grazing in the snow, presents piled up around. It sets on top of something Shasta described in their sales brochure as a "built-in dresser," which always cracks me up. KD had the optional furnace installed, which takes up all but the top drawer of the "dresser". But it provides more table space and serves as a kind of end table for the couch, and it makes the perfect place to set up the tree. There is a mirror mounted on the wall behind, which is why it looks like there are two trees. All the lights are LEDs powered by batteries.
Here is our table, set with cheery red dishes (bought just for KD), in which the salad is served.
Dinner was chicken quarters brought to us today by a campmate who got more than he could use himself at the commodities giveaway in town. This food distribution helps folks who have a hard time putting food on the table, which includes a lot of Slabbers. But without a freezer, fresh meat like chicken has to be cooked fast, so it is usually shared out with neighbors and friends. I browned them in olive oil in the pressure cooker, then cooked them under pressure for 7 minutes in stock and some Pinot Grigio donated by another camper who left it along with a magnum of Shiraz as a parting gift before leaving the Slabs. It was savory and good, with baby carrots, tender red potatoes, and onion.
Dessert was peppermint ambrosia made with canned pineapple, coconut, Cool Whip and peppermint marshmallows, and a no-bake creamy dessert cake with chocolate cookie crumb crust, both made by my BFF camp mate. We served it on some snappy red gingham paper plates picked up at, you guessed it, the Dollar Tree! KD says she is on a mission to find out just how many versions of red plaid she can fit insider herself (check picture of my bed in a previous post). There was freshly made fudge too, but we were too stuffed to eat it.
It was a good Christmas, little or big, early or late. I'm grateful for my many blessings. Things in KD are writ small, but less is more, as I'm still engaged in learning, and it is still possible to have a very merry yuletide season even after the official day, and even after seeming misfortune takes away the skeleton on which I once tried to hang my ideal Christmas. It's all a state of mind, anyway. Here's another view of the tree display.
And here are hand-painted ornaments given to me by a friend at work, who crafted them herself.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!
Merry Christmas !
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