Breaking the Holiday Music Seal

Usually, I am a very strict "no holiday music until after Thanksgiving" person. Much of this is because I enjoy Thanksgiving so much and want it to have its own space and time and energy without getting absorbed into the end of year holiday bonanza. We don't do anything really big for Thanksgiving; it's usually just me, my husband, and our son stuffing ourselves silly with a big meal. But I love planning the dinner, finding fun new recipes to try, and mapping out the logistics! What I can make the day before, what can be made in a slow cooker or our air fryer, when this goes in the oven, when that starts on the stove top.

But this year we don't have a kitchen. Where once I had a sink, a stove, and all kinds of cooking countertops, I now have an empty space barricaded with containment sheeting. So I was feeling the need for the trappings of The Season since I won't be doing my usual weekend before meal gaming and prepping. I started with Lindsey Stirling and Tori Amos and Sting and a curated playlist of personal and family faves, mostly songs that don't get a whole lot of airtime out of my little bubble. I haven't turned to any curated lists or channels yet because I am not quite ready for Wham! and Mariah Carey or the nostalgia waves from Bing Crosby and Johnny Mathis. Maybe that's what will wait until Black Friday.

I grew up in the military. I'm used to non-traditional holidays in odd places with found family or friends or even just coworkers. It's been nice having a long run of "normal" as an adult around the holidays, but we'll find our way through this odd space this season, even if it means we shimmy around some older rules and traditions that are inaccessible or just not serving us in our current circumstances.