December 26, 2023 - Grinches, Stories, Luminaria, Socks

On the Night Before Christmas, the Grinch put on his camp socks and lit up the neighborhood.

Nuggets of Information: Get Thee to a Cardiologist, Mr. Grinch

This week’s Boo’s N.E.W.S. is focused on holidays, tradition and family. Whatever you believe or celebrate, I hope your year ends with family, food, rest and happiness! Our family is part of Team Christmas, and we have traditions aplenty. We have the Atlanta Boohers (pictured above), my dad Jim, my sister Blythe and her husband Rick, and my sister Bridget and her daughter Ella. This is the third Christmas since my mom Mary passed away, and her presence is felt everywhere.  

Each year, Lisa comes up with a fun pajama/t-shirt design, which she then creates in her workshop. This year, we have a Grinch theme. I love these shirts – totally a year-round garment. Great for St. Patrick’s Day too!  

Most people are familiar with the Grinch’s story, where a reclusive green ... creature lives in isolation, cursing the citizens of Whoville for their undying cheer and happiness. As Christmas approaches, his increasing anger leads him to devise a nefarious plan to steal all the Christmas decorations, presents and even food. His plan is mostly successful – he takes every last sign of Christmas – but his expectations of a town filled with despair are dashed when he hears the citizens of Whoville all come together to sing a holiday song. His heart grows three sizes bigger, and all is good in the world.  

This seems wonderful, but if your heart grew three sizes bigger, you may want to seek medical attention immediately. David Kass, Professor of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, initially diagnosed the Grinch’s condition as heart failure.  

“We see lots of heart failure patients, heart failure patients often have very large hearts, they’re weak. BUT—if you have heart failure, you’re not going to feel good, you’re not going to be smiling, you’re not going to be lifting your sled, as I understand he did, you’re not going to be handing out lots of presents and being cheerful. At least not usually,” Kass explains. 

“You’re going to be short of breath, you’re going to feel pretty lousy, you’re not going to really be up even crossing the room, let alone sledding down a hill. So, that part didn’t really fit so much and I thought, ‘All right, so what else do you have?'” 

The next possible cause of an enlarged heart is a ruptured valve, which often comes from drug abuse. Since the Grinch doesn’t seem to have that habit, and is comfortable with the physical activities of sledding and stealing, Kass ruled that out.  

He then pondered the Grinch’s greenness, along with the growing & shrinking heart, and came to believe the Grinch is a snake – likely a python. 

“We know he’s a snake—he’s a snaky-like kind of guy,” Kass says. “Now whether it was triggered, in this case, by a meal, I can speculate. 

“As I recall, he goes down to Whoville, and he’s going to stop Christmas so he’s getting all the presents, like reverse Santa Claus. But he gets all the food, too,” Kass says. “He gets that roast beast and I don’t think he just threw it in his bag, so maybe like our python, that turned out to be a rather big meal. And sure enough, as he’s going back up, the heart starts getting really big.” 

I hope that as Whoville welcomes the Grinch into their fold, they convince him to pay better attention to his diet & exercise, maybe recommend a statin, and encourage him to explore meditation.  

Enrichment: Threw Up the Sash 

When it comes to Christmas traditions, my favorite happens on Christmas Eve, when, after dinner, my dad reads Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas. My dad adds his own unique pronunciations and embellishments throughout, and even though I have heard it 54 times in my life, and know every silly pun or adjustment, it never fails to entertain.  

“He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.” - Dad contorts himself awkwardly.  

“Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash.” - Dad pretends to throw up.  

It is silly but sentimental, tradition filled with whimsy. Every year dad suggests other people read it. Every year, we decline his offer. No one does it better than Jim Booher. This year had a funny twist. My sister Bridget had found these fun light-up angel halos, and we all wore them. My dad’s slipped down in front of his face, but framed it perfectly – maybe even helping him see the dark text even better? He kept it that way the entire time, and nailed the story-reading. (see picture above) 

I mentioned in the opening article about how this is the third Christmas since mom died. There is one line in the story that takes on new meaning now: 

“And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap.” 

Each year, Mary would sit, in her ‘kerchief, listening to the story. But we knew her attention wasn’t on the words, or the plot, or even my dad’s silly artistic liberties. Her greatest joy in life was having her family all there – under one roof, whether listening to The Night Before Christmas, or enjoying an incredible meal around the dining room table, or waking us all up on Christmas morning with “I think he’s been here!”

Mom isn’t with us anymore, but in a way, she is with us even more now. Her presence, and warmth, and grace are what make our house a home. Traditions can become even more meaningful when those you shared them with are gone.  

Workshop: Luminaria 

Back in the early 80’s, my parents started a Christmas Eve tradition on our street where we put out luminaria, dubbing them “Santa’s Landing Lights.” This tradition continued to grow, and now most of the neighborhoods around us participate - hundreds of houses. Each home has about a dozen wax-lined paper bags, each with a couple inches of cat litter or sand in the bottom with a small votive candle placed right in the middle. They are spaced out about every ten feet, and once it is sufficiently dark, we light them, and all the way down our street you see the beautiful glow of these paper bags. 

According to the Wikipedia article on luminaria:  

Also known as a farolito, it is a traditional Christmas decoration in the Southwestern United States, particularly New Mexico, where it is a cultural hallmark of the Pueblos and Hispanos of New Mexico and a part of the state's distinct heritage. Luminarias are usually placed in rows along walls, roofs, and walkways to form a holiday display, especially on Christmas Eve. 

The name of the decoration is a long-running item of contention among some New Mexicans, with written accounts indicating it was already a familiar topic of debate as far back as the 1940s. In Northern New Mexico, the term luminaria is reserved for a small festival or vigil bonfire, a usage which dates back to the Spanish colonial period, and the paper lantern decorations are called farolitos. Many traditionalists insist that the use of luminaria to mean a paper lantern is not correct. However, this distinction is not commonly made outside of northern New Mexico. In other areas where the decorations are used, they are generally referred to as luminarias. 

Farolito, the preferred term in northern New Mexico, is a diminutive of the Spanish word farol, meaning "lantern". According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, farolito "apparently is a purely New Mexico word". 

As far as I know, my parents are not from New Mexico, nor have they ever even been there. But they introduced this tradition to south Florida, and new families have helped preserve it and will grow it for generations to come.  

Selected Content: All I Want For Christmas... 

Lisa and I have this habit where throughout November and December, one of us will say “All I want for Christmas this year is _____”. This usually happens in a moment of frustration during our daily routine. “All I want for Christmas is to have the sofas professionally cleaned.” “All I want for Christmas is to have our study/office clean.” This is usually in response to some mess, or uncompleted project.  

These statements typically happen after the recipient of said statement has already purchased or made multiple, thoughtful gifts. This year, I said “All I want for Christmas is to take a nap and watch football on Christmas Day and write Boo’s N.E.W.S..” Good news – my wish came true!  

Additional gifts I was delighted to receive include a belly button lint cleaner (surprisingly I didn’t own one before), Amish popcorn (love the different colors), a sweet Emory hoodie and a gift certificate to Georgia Swing Shack (Lisa coordinated this with the wives of my golf buddies, so we can all go together).  

It isn’t about what you receive, but what you give. My favorite gift I ever gave was to my mom. When I was a kid, I went to summer camp, and my mom wrote my name with an indelible marker on every piece of clothing, so after laundry day I would get back what was mine. Years later, I was home from Atlanta for Christmas, and saw my mom wearing an old pair of tube socks with my name written on the toes. I asked her why she was wearing my old socks. “My feet get cold on the marble floors, and your socks are perfect for keeping them warm!” The next day I went out to a sporting goods store, bought an 8-pack of women’s tube socks in my mom’s size, and wrote her name across the toes with an indelible marker. When she opened them, she was confused at first, probably trying to figure out how to graciously and sincerely thank me for what must have seemed to be a lame gift. But when she saw her own name on the toes, she laughed, and cried. I used to say that if a gift to my mom could make her cry, it was a good gift.  Personalized tube socks + crying mom = good gift!  

As always, thanks for reading and sharing! We’ll be back in your inbox in 2024!