‘Make yourself happy.’ Christmas trees go up earlier than ever as Chicagoans seek a mood boost amid coronavirus restrictions.
Who gets to say when a Christmas tree is placed too early?
Typically, Jessica Cabe would decorate her tree in late November. A few roommates had politely requested she wait until Thanksgiving, so she agreed.
This year, she is in her own apartment for the first time. So she knew she could indulge herself and put it up as early as she wanted. She planned for the week before Thanksgiving.
But as the 2020 stress mounted, she caved.
“I would have done it earlier, but I love Halloween, so I decided to be somewhat responsible,” the Avondale resident said. The day after, she got to work.
Cabe put on Christmas music and switched her throw pillows to Christmas pillows. She dug out the festive dish towels. She got out an ornament shaped like a merman holding two cats. She made multiple trips to Target.
“In my defense, Target had everything already, so what was I to do?” she said.
Seeking to distract herself from the stressors of the global pandemic and a controversial election, she bought a stocking for herself, with a J, and for her cat Gene, with a G. She bought new lights. She bought a new tree, slim enough to shine in her new space.
“I spent my Sunday listening to Mariah Carey’s Christmas album and just sort of going nuts,” she said.
She even found an Advent calendar.
“Whatever we have control over, make yourself happy,” she said.
Cabe is not alone.
In hopes of a mood boost, many Chicagoans have put up their Christmas tree earlier than usual. Even if it required digging out boxes or getting a fake tree delivered, people said they wanted to lighten a dark year by adding twinkling lights and a festive vibe.
For Jackson Doran, COVID-19 was the catalyst for their Christmas tree’s debut. The East Irving Park family learned they had been exposed to the virus, and they were quarantining at home with their two small children. His daughter Louise, 3, brought up the subject.
“She was sort of trying to kill the morning, as you do when you have small children, and she just said, ‘Let’s put up the Christmas tree,’ and we laughed and said OK,” he said.
Not only did it fill a few hours, it now is the gift that keeps giving, as their 1-year-old, Harriet, keeps taking ornaments off and putting them back. “So it’s really like repeating the process every day,” he said.
An unforeseen consequence? Daily questions of when Santa is coming.
Usually, he said, his wife, Anne, is eager to begin Christmas festivities.
“She waited until I left town last year; right after Thanksgiving, I came home and the whole house was Christmas-ified,” said Doran, who is a member of The Q Brothers Collective and typically participates in dozens of performances during the holiday season. This tends to exhaust his holiday spirit, he said.
“I push as late as possible. She usually tries to sneak it in right before Thanksgiving. So we’re ... early.”
Facing what might be a bleaker Thanksgiving as officials encourage Chicagoans to limit holiday gatherings, some are opting to decorate earlier to seek comfort.
“If there was any time that I needed a little extra warmth and coziness, it was spending Thanksgiving by myself,” said Jaclyn Jermyn.
Usually, she waits until after Thanksgiving, maybe the first week of December, to welcome Christmas.
This time, as an extra punch, she bought a metallic pink tree. For a feel of home in her Ravenswood apartment, she has a stocking that her grandmother made and asked her mother to send childhood ornaments.
“It’s like having family here without them actually being here,” she said. “I think a little bit of comfort in this time is just so essential.”
Cabe has no regrets, sitting in an apartment surrounded by silver ornaments, twinkling lights and even some wrapped gifts under the tree. In fact, she’s doubled down. Last week, she watched her first holiday movie — “Noelle,” starring Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader.
“I feel great,” she said.
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