Whirlwind Christmas visiting

Seniors share the understanding that an invitation to visit out-of -town grandchildren means a time of whirlwind activities.

Holiday travel is a special challenge with the unpredictable weather conditions and consequently the need to carry clothes for every possible climate. We cannot board a flight unless we are laden down with shopping bags and gift wrap.

Because I am old and slow, I walk last to the baggage area. Even the weight of the carry-on is too much for me now, I will check this bag through on my return flight home.

My Vancouver daughter is waiting for me with the new Lincoln Navigator. Fortunately this great car has everything (heated seats and steering wheel) including a GPS system that will be essential when we are driving around Granville trying to find the new Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre. Finding 162 W. 1st and getting parked is no small feat.

We drive to the tiny house on Dunbar. We park on the street and I settle in while the girls arrive home from school and my media daughter prepares for a party with her co-workers.

Back in the day, office parties were a time of much festivity and debauchery. Today the gathering is intimate and small by comparison.

My son-in-law is a great cook and has prepared a salmon dish with a soy baste that is out of this world, so while Erin is out, my granddaughters and I share a dinner party of our own.

Later we snuggle up for Survivor. From Fiji, host Jeff Probst introduces the three tribes of Heroes versus Healers versus Hustlers to see who will outlast the others.

Honestly, I can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys but we all enjoy the show, then fall promptly into bed.

Saturday morning, I join the breakfast table to find my daughter and her longtime friends from UVic days already returned from a hike on the nearby Pacific Spirit Regional Park trails.

My oldest granddaughter goes out to a basketball practice and I book time to take both girls to shop for Christmas at Nordstrom’s.

I should have planned on a whole day to look at dresses and shoes.

The girls’ department features miniature cocktail frocks with lots of bling and sequins.

I don’t like to see young children dressed in black but then I am from back in the day when lace collars, smocking and cotton plaid was the style of choice. Just a few hours in the dressing rooms was entertainment enough for me and we leave with one new look for each girl for the holidays. No time for fresh underwear or dress-up shoes; maybe next year.

Steve looks forward to the city’s celebration of whisky at the Hopscotch Festival. He looks so handsome all duded up to meet his friends for a night out.

My son-in-law remembers the street food that Chef Juno Kim featured, Koreaninspired hotdogs, and describes the event to us the following morning.

We girls dress up for a night of The Day Before Christmas, starring Jennifer Copping Alex.

My granddaughters (11 and 14) say they would recommend the play to friends their age, but there were few children in the audience.

The plot line depicts a modern mother’s descent into near madness trying to “get it right” making special memories for her family.

I would describe the play as yet one more tale of “surviving the perfect holiday disaster.” A surprise Christmas gift can be heard barking from the pantry as the curtain falls.

Sunday morning, we attend the beautiful St. Mary’s Kerrisdale service and afterward, create advent wreaths in the church activity room.

We all contributed greens and ribbons to the candle centrepiece and that wreath is now proudly on display on the dining room table.

I finally start to relax on the afternoon flight home. I am reminded that this season is really more than the gifts, the tree, even more than the glorious food.

Seniors know this season is a time to be with the ones you love and what matters most is spending time together.

And here is the best part, we don’t have to get up and put the turkey in the oven and wait for something to explode.

Even to you who loathe the holiday season I extend greetings for a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Jeanette Dunagan has lived in Kelowna for more than 40 years. Email her at jd2399@telus.net.