I keep forgetting Christmas is this week. We've done absolutely nothing for it. Christmas used to be such a big deal for us. Back in 2007, when things started to look a little shaky, we scaled it back dramatically. By 2008, we were in free fall and forwent any gift giving. Same with last year. But through it all, we still managed to decorate. Even last year, when we'd only been here weeks. But with the house and the pending move, we didn't so much as break out a wreath. And in Bakersfield, that appears to be the norm.
If you're a Scrooge type of personality, than Bako is your kind of place. You'd be hard pressed to find somewhere else with even less civic holiday spirit. Considering the overtly evangelical nature of the place you'd be surprised at how quietly Christmas passes here.
The city does pretty much nothing, as far as I've seen. Where I come from even Van Nuys threw up street decorations, and it's even more of a dump than here (but not by much). The merchants seem content with badly painted windows that will no doubt be quickly and easily hosed off come Monday. I'm sure the bunker-like mall did the same as last year, but I haven't been back since that depressing visit.
And the locals don't seem particularly into the holiday spirit either. Our neighborhood seems sparsely decorated, even worse than last year. And the ones that have decorated gave it a half hearted effort. A lot of people who put up lights didn't even bother to ring the house, just tacking up a single string over the garage like a Christmas band-aid. There were a lot of Home Depot inflatables at the start of the month but everyone seems to have grown bored with them and they don't even bother to inflate them anymore. Several front yards look the aftermath of a horrible skydiving accident.
But by far, the biggest disappointment has been Jim. Up until last Sunday he'd done absolutely nothing, and then a few random ornaments appeared in his front tree. That's about it. No inflatables, no Circuit Party Santa.
I was in the front yard of the new house on Monday, checking on the drainage during a light lull in all the rain. I saw Jim across the street giving a friendly wave. I waved back and he started to walk over to chat. We stood in our front yard and he was admiring the work we'd already done. He was holding a highball glass of scotch. On the rocks.
It was 10:30am.
"You haven't done much with your house this Christmas" I said.
"Yup. Just not into this year" he replied. "I only hung the ornaments because my dad was giving me a hard time."
Well, that solves one mystery. I was always curious how Jim supported himself since he obviously doesn't work. And the answer is, he doesn't. Dad does.
"Just not into it this year" he repeated.
Well, that makes two of us.
