‘Tis the season of complications. Drag out the decorations and the emotional baggage. Open gifts and anxiety.

Jiminy Christmas!

I love the holidays even if they are not all peace and light.

It’s odd what we remember from childhood, isn’t it? What childhood holiday memories stay with you? For whatever reason, I remember the Christmas when my step-sister I had matching, cream-colored dresses and we danced and sang together in front of the fireplace, spinning and laughing like all eleven years old ought to be able to do. Mostly those years were terrible and crazy-making. But as anyone who comes from a difficult childhood knows, not every minute is awful. In fact, much of that Christmas was no fun at all. It ended with my step-mother throwing most of the gifts, unopened, into the trash along with a freshly made, uneaten, pineapple upside down cake. But before everything went to hell, my step-sister and I sang 1979 pop songs and danced.

These days are very different. I have a family of my own that is blessedly free of drama. I’m the only one who dances, but I still do when a good pop song plays. Maybe my former step-sister does too. Maybe.

If you are holiday shopping, I’m selling my wares, so to speak. I have original artwork and prints here: martapelrinebacon.sqaurespace.com. And then I have some of my work on handy-dandy things like coffee mugs and notebooks here: Redbubble.

Thank you as ever for your support!

May these last few madcap weeks of the year be good to you.

Thanks for reading.

M-