The Grinch (me) that stole Christmas

As you all know Christmas has been my favourite holiday ever since I was a small child. Each year I have gone all out to decorate, to bake, to send out a huge number of Christmas cards.
I have always maintained the tradition of my childhood, celebrating St. Nicholas Day on the 6th of December, having an Advent wreath, decorating the house but not putting up the tree until Christmas Eve and taking everything down on the 12th day of Christmas.

Since I have lived in different countries, I added a few touches to commemorate times spent in them. As the family grew, I made sure to pass the traditions down to my kids and grandkids. They all received Advent calendars well into their teens.

Three of my granddaughters and one grandson began helping me with the baking of favourite cakes and cookies and continued to do so until I retired to Grenada. When we left, the girls took over some of my recipe books.

When we settled in in Grenada, I asked a friend to get me a Christmas tree and ship it down here. Since we packed up and brought down all the ornaments and house decorations, the tradition continued here, including the baking. The latter needed some adjustments as the tropical climate is not kind to some of the cookies, baked with lots of butter.
 
When family came down to visit, all was as it had been in Chicago. But this year, the grinch showed up. 

We had a nightmare of a termite infestation, with a huge nest the size of a watermelon in the storage room. We had to remove everything from the shelves and floor in preparation for the exterminators. As we unpacked boxes, we discovered that the termites had gotten inside the boxes and destroyed 2/3rds of all our Christmas decorations. 

As St. Nicholas day drew near, I realized that what was left would barely allow us to decorate. With the realization came a decision to get rid of our 7-foot Christmas tree and the antique ornaments. The small tree we had left would suffice. As for baking, the only thing I managed to bake was the traditional Christmas fruit cake.

By now all Christmas spirit was gone. I just could not get into it, no matter how hard I tried. The only concession was baking a duck Hungarian style for our Christmas day dinner and taking down  a few of my Christmas dishes.

The one bright spot is that my big Christmas tree and the ornaments found a happy home with a dear friend. Bah humbug, next year has to be better.