tis the season

{source: pinterest}

To anyone living north of the Mason-Dixon line, what I am about to say will sound like pure poppycock; it's getting cold here in Nicosia.  Not freezing or anything, but definitely chilly.  While we're too cheap to turn the heat on in the apartment (that's what the oven and baking are for, not that I can bake without my pans, but we do have frozen pizzas) the little rental car has the kind of heater dreams are made of.  You turn it on and you just feel the warmth surrounding you.  It still hasn't been used a great deal this season, so you can smell the dust heat up and be blown out of the vents.  I love that smell.  It smells like cozy warmth.  But really, it smells like the Christmas season.

Growing up, we had radiator heat.  (That will only make sense to people living in Europe or in a house pre-1950)  You could hear the water gurgling and coming to life in the pipes, promising to offer warm air through the long winter months.  My first experience with the smell of heat was at university, where the heat would kick on about this time every year.  I would sit hunched at my computer writing feverishly about the Vikings or Shakespeare, knowing full well that the burning dust meant I got to go home soon.  Make it through one more paper and another exam, and there was a plane waiting to take me to my family.

This is the first year I'll be away from "home" for Christmas, but that doesn't mean the smell of the heater is less enticing.  As the weeks go by, my plate is covered with more activities indicative of the holiday season.  Yesterday, I think, was the kick off, with a Thanksgiving luncheon with a local club for ex-pat women.  If you have ever lived abroad, you will know how glorious it is to have cranberries, applesauce, and sweet potatoes cover your plate.  These American staples are rarities and I savored every mouthful.

Mr. F and I are cooking the turkey for the church Christmas party (okay, let's be honest, he's doing it.  I have no idea what to do with a turkey.)  Then I'm in charge of the musical program on Christmas Sunday (ahh!!!) with a work party,  the traditional Christmas Eve smogasbord, and a birthday in between.  Plus I need to get some pieces and cards together for a market at a Christmas tea as well.  And our stuff should be coming!!

I'm slightly melancholy as I think about our families gathering this next week for Thanksgiving while we're on the other side of the world, but I am so excited to be starting new traditions with Mr. F.  It's a full docket, but the smell of Christmas still lingers and I am ready for the merriment to begin!