Traditionally Unconventional

It's funny how living in lots of new places during the holidays makes you less loyal to maintaining traditions. I know people who have an annual obligation for every day of the week leading up to and the week following a holiday. It becomes overly ritualistic and though I have a handful of promises I keep to myself for events from year to year, lately I have really embraced the freedom of knowing that I really don't "have" to do anything the same this year as I did last. When I think about it, I have spent the last three Thanksgivings in unconventional ways:

2009 - Austin, TX  - Matt and I went to Fredericksburg and stayed at a B&B, ate at Rather Sweet bakery twice, watched movies, rode a tandem bike around (how hipster of us - I know) and then hiked Enchanted Rock.

2010 - Edinburgh, UK - Ran on the Chariot's of Fire beach, explored St Andrews and ate fish and chips with Matt and my mum, as it were.

2011 - Denver, CO - Did a crazy holiday workout with the Jeffco Aquatic Master's swim team in the am, enjoyed a heaping bowl of Pho at one of the many Vietnamese places in town, made and ate Maple Pecan Pie and watched The Outsiders.

The one aspect of this phenomenon that is proving to be a bit painful is that each year I am pining for past experiences. Perhaps this is how traditions start. A tradition is the closest, the next best, thing to making sure you get to relive all that was great and memorable from the year before. When every year offers something different, that means there is something to miss. There's the rub. Still, I imagine that future eras of my life will offer the same-ness, the tradition moreso than my life does now. In the meantime, I am going to collect a heap of limited time only experiences that add to all that I have to be grateful for the next year. I believe that would be under the umbrella of "grateful for such a fulfilling and opportunity filled life".