Celebrating Christmas (etc!!)

Christmas has come quickly yet again. It's going to be our first Christmas spent away from family members. (Not counting each other, of course!) I think we're going to get to be with them vicariously thanks to technology. Skype: the next best thing to being there!

On Sunday we had a small gathering with some of the other campers here. There are 2 couples who are here for extended periods. One of them suggested we have a small carry-in. We were able to use the Cliffhouse so we didn't have to cram ourselves into someone's camper. It was quite enjoyable and fun to get to know some of our "neighbors" a little better. The lady who organized it is from Colorado. She said she doesn't really celebrate Christmas, but likes to celebrate solstice so she brought a poem about it which she read for us. I also tried my hand at fixing a vegetarian soup option for one of the guests. I used tempeh for the first time, and I think the result was pretty tasty. I'm still eating the leftovers!! Asheville is definitely a diverse place, which I can find somewhat annoying at times, but I'm a lot more laid back than I used to be.

Here's a picture of our little Christmas/Solstice group in front of the cozy fireplace......

We had way more food than we could eat and even some home made wine that was quite delicious! Our group, from left to right is David & Sandra from GA, myself with the bulbous head (and body,) Tim & Krista (who are both almost completely overshadowed by my bulbous-ness, they're from CO) Steve (my Ohio co-hort,) Garret, and his grandparents, Barbara and Michael who all live several hours from here, but I can't remember exactly where. They were a fun group and stayed and visited for several hours after stuffing ourselves.

Getting back to the "diversity" of Asheville. I believe I feel a tangent coming on. Here are a few observations of things I've noticed about Asheville and its residents.

For one thing, there seem to be very few actual, full-time residents. Many folks seem to have vacation homes here and only reside here temporarily. There seems to be an extremely high number of people from Florida and among these, are a high number of people originally from NYC. I dunno what's up with that.

And those who are truly "locals" (as in living full-time in the area) most are generally not natives. Again, there's a large number of NYC/Florida people who have chosen to live here for some reason. I've met very few people who actually grew up anywhere in NC, let alone Asheville!

The car of choice down here is the Subaru. (At least we fit in somewhere!) Unfortunately, we still stand out because we don't have the back of our car plastered with bumper stickers. The Bumper Sticker Phenomena is worthy of mentioning as it's extremely prevalent down here. The most common BS sighting right now would be various forms of "Pro-Obama" stickers. Second on the list would be the anti-war stickers followed by various envirnonmental and "buy local" type of stickers, followed by all kinds of new-age, athiestic, and finally incoherent ramblings. There is a mini-pick-up down here with the front hood and fenders completely plastered with "Ron Paul for President" bumper stickers.

People down here seem to enjoy proclaiming whatever is important to them, whether on a bumper sticker, a t-shirt, a sign, a form of dress, or any combination of the aforementioned. I came across the perfect t-shirt, which I may have mentioned in a previous post that said, "If you're too werid for Asheville, you're too weird." I've also spotted a bumpersticker proclaiming ..."Asheville, where weird is normal and normal is weird." That pretty much sums it up for me!

It does keep things interesting!!

This is also one of the most pet-friendly areas I've visited! Dogs are allowed almost everywhere. Some of the restaurants allow patrons who are dining outside to have their dogs with them. I guess the health department down here doesn't consider themselves to be the self-appointed Nazis of public health like they do in Miami and Darke Co. Ohio!

I hope I don't sound overly cynical; I think it's been a good experience for me to see what it feels like to be somewhat of a "minority." I suppose that being stared at incredulously when I was the only person in my pottery class to turn down the offer of a free Obama pin doesn't really qualify me to classify myself as down-trodden. It could be rightly argued that what little I've experienced down here is NOTHING in comparison with what the member of a true minority is subjected to, but at least it's caused me to think about things I say a little more carefully. Maybe on occassion I'll weigh whether or not a careless comment I make might actually offend someone or hurt their feelings. I'm sure I'll still manage to be offensive to someone, but maybe I'll begin to becom a little more aware of my speech and actions, maybe I'll leave a better impression than I would have before.

I do find it somewhat ironic that even though the people here seem to think of themselves as progressive, diverse, open-minded and forward thinking, you might find yourself in heap o' trouble if they discover you happen to be a right-wing evangelical. I suppose it could be argued that this fear (which is basically a form of peer pressure) might make me so self-conscious of what I say, that I actually water down my beliefs to the point that I'm afraid to stand up for the things I do believe in. That's a legitimate concern also. Is there such thing as striking some kind of balance between having a belief system that you're not afraid to live out, but not shoving it down other people's throats? It's a question I constantly 'rassle with!

My, this has become a rather deep, rambling post. I think I had better sign off for today!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukuh, Joyous Solstice, Merry Kwanza, don't forget that Dec. 27 is National Fruitcake Day!! Here's a link to a daily holiday guide for the month of December. Enjoy!!