From the Bloggings of MSI Press Author, Dr. Geri Henderson: Christmas in Nebraska 2022

 





Christmas in Nebraska, 2022

 

…also known as “fly-over country.” I have lived, most recently, in Germany and that is the starting point for my Christmas journey each year to Nebraska. If you want to find the real “spirit of Christmas,” remaining in Germany would be self-evident. For many weeks ahead, each town, each city, opens the town square every weekend for Christmas markets. More than anything, it’s a chance for local artisans to fill the charming booths with their wares and for the church and secular choirs to provide music. People wander around, sipping on Glühwein, munching on cookies, greeting each other, and adding to an overall atmosphere of gemütlichkeit—conviviality, comfort, and friendliness that is almost impossible to replicate in any other setting. My work as a professor means that I must finish my work before I leave for Nebraska, missing some of the biggest, busiest, most beautiful markets.

 

I’ve spent Christmas in many places: once in the Hagia Sophia of Istanbul, once or twice in Jordan, and growing up in Jamaica. Clearly, cold weather doesn’t make much difference in the celebration of Christmas. In Jamaica, it was about Jamaican Christmas (rum and fruit) pudding, 5 am Christmas morning service, fireworks, and the local Jonkonnu characters, dancing for money.   (https://www.about-jamaica.com/john-canoe/)

 

 

We usually ended up in a cottage on the beach in the holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s, with yet more fireworks! It was said that if the minister did not complete his final prayer by 6 am sharp, the congregation would never hear it for the loud explosions everywhere.

 

With all this culture, color, and commotion in other parts of the world, what can one expect from a Christmas in Nebraska?  No matter where I’ve lived, Christmas celebrations are both ubiquitous and varied. Compared with other places, what Nebraska can offer is very low key but much more important to the essence of the season, no matter where we live. Nebraska is where my family settled when they had their own families and I’m drawn to return for the holiday as often as I can.

 

When I first moved here, I often said, “Nebraska is the absence of everything! No oceans, no mountains, nothing!” Of course, that is not true. Dramatic geography, such as I enjoyed in Jamaica and in Lebanon, where the Caribbean Sea was never more than an hour away or the Mediterranean was almost always within view, held in place by the mountains right behind it, is impossible to experience in Nebraska. Nebraska sits in the middle of a huge expanse of prairie, big sky country and, admittedly, that has its own, unique drama and beauty. Even if I can’t fully appreciate it, I know it is powerful with a horizon that never ends.  

 

What is really important to me is the fact that the prairie is home to some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met, anywhere in the world. I can’t say for certain, but here it is an accepted fact that the harsh winters and hard work required on the family farms around here have created a population of resilience, loyalty, resolve, and support of one another that is only found here, in the middle of the North American continent. The same could be said of the people like those in the Dakotas, Kansas, Wyoming, Iowa, and a few others that have remained mostly rural. The difference between them and Nebraskans is just one thing. Nebraska is the place where my friends and family live.

 

In other words, the beauty of the landscape, the charm of the cultural celebrations, or the power of the sacred liturgies practiced are never going to have as strong a pull for me as who it is I can celebrate with each year. There is an overwhelming gratitude I have for every opportunity to return to family and friends. I understand that it is a privilege that not everyone has but it is an experience that can be shared with others.

 

For more posts by and about Geri and her books, click HERE.



Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter

Follow MSI Press on TwitterFace Book, and Instagram. 

Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?
Check out information on how to submit a proposal.

Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book
 in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book?
Contact editor@msipress.com.

Want an author-signed copy of this book?
Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25)
and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

In Memoriam: Carl Don Leaver

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Book Marketing vs Book Promotion