Abby Quillen

Freelance Content Marketing Writer and Editor

Holidays

Powering down : Field notes from TV turn-off week

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In honor of TV turn-off week, I moved the TV to the closet on Monday morning. I like the room so much better without it, and I love that we can’t just mindlessly switch it on. I think we might have found a new home-base for it. My real challenge wasn’t dumping the TV though, since it’s hardly ever on. Unplugging the computer, on the other hand, was a bit more of a mêlée.

Actually, it was a wonderfully relaxing week. It didn’t hurt that the weather was near-perfect, and the magnolias, rhododendrons, lilacs, and cherry blossoms exploded into aromatic splendor. Instead of gazing at a screen and click-clacking away at a keyboard, I:

  • Played and read with my baby.
  • Made bread the old-fashioned way (I’d forgotten what a workout kneading is!)
  • Read The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen; Herbal Tea Gardens by Marietta Marcin; Spunk and Bite: A writer’s guide to Punchier, More Engaging Style by Arthur Plotnik; and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin.
  • Laid on the grass and watched the birches and poplars sway.
  • Brewed the first herbal sun teas of the summer.
  • Took afternoon and after-dinner walks.
  • Tended to our newest housemates – four adorable fluff balls (aka chicks).
  • Relished long, still afternoons – just like the ones I remember from childhood.
  • Indulged in naps snuggled next to my baby

Okay, so, yes, I might have replaced my computer time with lots of relaxing. It’s probably no wonder that I enjoyed the week. It was liberating to put my endless blogging and writing to-do list aside for several days. But, I did miss writing. I even found myself reading a book on word choice, a sure sign that one’s obsessed (or hopelessly geeky?).

The week’s lesson is that I need to unplug myself more often. So I’ve resolved to:

  1. Take one screen-free day a week.
  2. Only check my email once a day and look at Facebook even less.
  3. Avoid the computer during family time.

I’m ashamed to admit that before TV turn-off week, I was checking my email three, four, even (ahem) six times a day. I’d be typing my password before I was even aware what I was doing. I felt jittery sometimes when I couldn’t check in, and I was always at least a tiny bit disappointed when my inbox was empty. Email and Facebook had become a way for me to procrastinate, to distract myself, to be mindless. Even worse, Internet-time had been getting in the way of things that are more important to me – quality time with my family, writing, reading, and creative projects. When I switched the computer off for a few days, that habit (okay, addiction) dissolved, and I felt so much more relaxed.

Even though it’s been nice to catch up on my emails and my favorite blogs today, I’m already looking forward to the next TV turn-off week (September 20-26). Last week, my house and backyard became like a retreat, and I so delighted in the long, quiet days.

If you feel like you need a vacation, but can’t get away, you might just try a few days without the screens. It could restore you.

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Welcome spring!

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Observe the equinox to help kids connect with nature, learn about other cultures, value tradition, and have fun doing it.

In the stretch of years between childhood and childbearing, my husband and I got lazy about celebrating holidays. Why bother with all the decorating, cooking, baking, and buying when it was just us? We rolled out of bed late on Christmas morning, went for a leisurely hike, exchanged a couple of gifts, and cooked dinner together – and that was the sum of our celebrating for the year. I felt a vague longing for tradition, but it all seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

Then we had a baby, and overnight, holidays took on new importance. I want my kids to experience the thrill I once did for Easter egg hunts, Santa Claus, and packages under the Christmas tree – even if I never understand those peculiar traditions in the first place. What did the oversize egg-laying bunny have to do with the resurrection of Jesus? What did that jolly Christmas-eve visitor with a flair for cherry velour have to do with the birth of Christ? And what did the gaudily-decorated juniper decaying in the living room have to do with anything? It didn’t help that my family didn’t attend church or worship much of anything for most of the year, so it always felt a bit strange to celebrate Christian holidays.

I felt lost. What kind of traditions would I pass down to my kids? Then it occurred to me – why not celebrate the first day of each season? Wasn’t that the reason the early Christians celebrated Christ’s birth near the winter solstice and resurrection near the vernal equinox in the first place – because ancient cultures were already feasting and merry-making for the seasonal shifts?

Benefits of seasonal celebrations

I’m so delighted with my family’s new traditions that I wish my husband and I had started celebrating the seasons years ago. It’s nice to take a time-out from the clock’s relentless march forward to appreciate what’s happening in the natural world on a certain day – what the sky looks like; what the local wildlife are up to; which birds are hanging out at the neighborhood pond; whether the leaves are budding, falling, or mulching the gardens. And it’s impossible not to reflect on the lessons each season imparts. Fall teaches us about the inevitability of loss. Winter shows us the importance of dormancy, darkness, and stillness. Spring shows the possibility of rebirth. And the bounties of summer are endless – light, warmth, and lush crops.

We’re not into pagan goddesses, rites, sacred purifications, sabbats, or handfastings, so don’t think you have to be an earth goddess or Wiccan warlock to celebrate the shifting seasons. That’s the best part – anyone can partake, no matter what religion you adhere or don’t adhere to.

A few of the upshots of observing the winter solstice, spring equinox, summer solstice, and autumn equinox include:

  • Noting the cyclical changes in the soil, sky, trees, plants, and wildlife grounds you in the natural world.
  • Reflecting on the uniqueness of a particular season for just a day makes the entire season more enjoyable – yes, even that long, cold, dark one.
  • Learning the significance behind the odd customs most Americans practice makes them even more fun. For instance, that strange egg-laying bunny is a symbol for fertility – not surprising since no animal’s known for her fruitfulness as much as the bunny. Also, in Germany, nocturnal hares start coming out during daylight in March to mate, so it’s not hard to see how they would come to symbolize spring. As for those early morning egg hunts – in traditional societies, people  probably had to forage wild fowl eggs in March, because their winter food stores would have been running low.
  • Reading about different celebrations around the world exemplifies the similarities and diversity of human cultures.
  • Seasonal celebrations are affordable, nature-based, and as easy or elaborate as you want them to be.
  • And best of all, you just can’t celebrate the changing of the seasons without reflecting on the magic and mystery of living on Planet Earth. It invariably makes you grateful for the gifts of food, family, and friendship.

Create some spring traditions this year!

The first day of spring is on March 20 – less than a week away. What better time to start some new family traditions? Pick activities that you’ll want to do year after year, ones that will make the day relaxing and special for you and your kids. Here are a few ideas:

  • Sow seeds. Each family member can pick a favorite flower or plant to sow in honor of the first day of spring. Designate a special garden, and make a ceremony of it.
  • Establish a table-top, shelf, or mantel to display a seasonal tableau. On the first day of spring, replace the winter decorations with spring flowers, cherry buds, egg shells, a bird’s nest, or whatever symbolizes springtime in your family.
  • Collect books about the seasons at yard sales, used-book stores, and thrift shops year-round. Choose a special basket or shelf for them, and change them out on the first day of each season. Or take a trip to the library a few days before your celebration. Some of my family’s favorite spring picture-books are: Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schur, Spring by Ron Hirschi, and Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. The Spring Equinox: Celebrating the Greening of the Earth by Ellen Jackson is a great book to read aloud as a family on the first day of spring.
  • Place a bouquet of crocuses, daffodils, tulips, or dandelions in your kids’ bedrooms while they sleep, so they wake up to fresh spring flowers.
  • Go on a hike and identify wildflowers if some are already sprouting in your area.
  • Visit a local farm and see if you can get a glimpse of calves, lambs, or chicks in the barnyard. What better symbol of spring?
  • Make dandelion or clover chains, if those “weeds” are emerging in your area. Wear them as spring crowns.
  • Make a spring feast with the first crops of the season. Dandelion leaves, steamed nettles, and asparagus are delicious spring greens. Other traditional spring foods include eggs, ham, and sweets.
  • Eat by candlelight. Powering down is usually a hit with younger kids.
  • Eat outside if weather permits, or have a picnic on a blanket in the living room.
  • Decorate hard-boiled eggs with natural dyes. Try beets, cranberries, blackberries, or raspberries for red; yellow-onion skins or turmeric for yellow; parsley, spinach, or red-onion skins for green; blueberries for blue; and coffee, pecan hulls, or black-walnut hulls for brown. Or experiment – try whatever’s coming up in your backyard. Together: Creating Family Traditions by Davis and Oakes explains how to make natural egg dyes. They even provide a color chart showing what you can expect from different natural materials.

Or, powwow with your family, and create your own traditions to welcome spring this March 20. I hope you’ll be celebrating for years to come.

Mark your 2009 Calendars

Summer Solstice   –    June 21
Autumn Equinox  – September 22
Winter Equinox – December 21

Resources:

The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays by Anthony F. Aveni

Ceremonies of the Seasons by Jennifer Cole

The Spring Equinox: Celebrate the Greening of the Earth by Ellen Jackson

Together: Creating Family Traditions by Rondi Hillstrom Davis and Janell Sewall Oakes

The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule