Yes, we can. We just move off-planet to the Space Frontier. There are no shopping malls out there—at least not for the next few decades. While interplanetary people could still shop online, they won’t be making purchases from amazon.com or other such retailers because the cost of shipping will be many times more expensive than the cost of the item purchased. Besides the prohibitive cost of shipping, there is also the fact that homes in space settlements will not have the extra square footage to store tons of stuff.
Does no Christmas shopping mean no Christmas? Not, at all. If we look back to the days of our great-great-great grandparents, we can see how well they celebrated Christmas without being overwhelmed with shopping lists and crowds of people crammed in stores as well as being crushed with credit card debt. At that time, most people went home to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with their family, either immediate or extended. They put the children to bed on Christmas Eve and then brought in the Christmas tree and decorated it simply. Early—very early—on Christmas morning, the children dashed downstairs before daylight trying to catch Santa Claus putting their gifts under the tree or in their stockings or shoes by the fireplace. This was the one and only time of the year they ever saw Santa and the first time they saw the Christmas tree. Their excitement woke up the adults who sleepily joined the children as Santa left. The adults lit the candles on the tree for a few minutes while everyone sang a Christmas carol. Then the adults lit the kerosene lamps and extinguished the candles. Grandpa or Grandma handed out Santa’s gifts to the children who were breathless with anticipation. Each child received one gift from Santa. He or she eagerly hoped that the gift would be what each one had asked for in a hand-written letter to Santa weeks earlier. Once opened, the gift was cherished and enjoyed not only for the rest of the day, but also for the rest of the coming years.
Then everyone enjoyed a huge, delicious, homemade breakfast followed by more Christmas carols, probably at church, and then the adults played card games and/or checkers. A magnificent Christmas dinner crowned the day. The celebrations continued for several days with families visiting at each other’s homes, making music and playing games. It was wintertime and the farming was finished for the year, except for the daily chores, which were dispatched quickly with care.
Space people will probably celebrate Christmas in a way similar to that just described. They will borrow one-and-a-half-meter tall, living evergreen trees from the Agricultural Complex of their settlement on Christmas Eve and decorate them simply. (They will keep the Christmas trees in their homes for only a few days before returning them to their “outdoor” environment in the Ag Complex to keep them alive and well for next year.) The children will place their space boots by the airlock hatch with care for treats from Santa before they are ushered off to bed.
On Christmas morning, there will be one gift per child from Santa—a gift that was homemade or secretly manufactured locally. Parents will exchange single gifts. There will be Christmas music at home or in the Christian assemblies or both. Everyone will enjoy eating the traditional foods and treats of Christmas, except chocolate ones. Growing cacao plants in the Ag Complex will be difficult and the settlement’s survival will limit crops to the essential ones for delicious, nutritious, greatly diversified and well-balanced meals. Upporting chocolate from Earth will be too expensive. Instead of over-indulging on chocolate, people will enjoy music and games and parties.
The more I think about Christmas in space, the better it looks. It sounds more fun and festive than the current ordeal endured by so many people on Earth, who after being bombarded by seemingly unceasing Christmas commercials and TV Christmas specials, struggle with long shopping lists for gifts and then with wrapping and delivering all of them while wondering if the gifts will be liked, if they’re the right size and kind, if they’ll be duplicated, etc. etc., and then finally paying for all of them. On the Space Frontier, the main focus will be celebrating with family and friends who share food and fun. I can hardly wait to be part of it.
