Holiday Story: Shining Stars in Space Revealed to Be Feline Companions
Category Is: Dark Skies
It started at the Swig. No—it started before then. In January of 2022 I read the book called In the Quick by Kate Hope Day. The cover took my breath away. I don’t know why the concept of a woman astronaut had never struck me before, but this novel captivated me and the cover art remained with me.
“Informally, as by astronauts: the final minutes of life before total oxygen deprivation: in the quick.”
— Kate Hope Day
Then it was about the Swig. My sister (no, not that one—the other one) became obsessed with Swig. When she was in town we went every day for a week. There was a sticker on the window.
The thing about astronauts is that they live amongst the stars. So many holiday card depictions show earthlings sitting below the stars or the one newest star. It’s a lovely visual of an astronomical trope—that peace and guidance come from the stars (in more than one culture).
And our daily lives center on a civilization in the quick. I couldn’t help thinking about a holiday message of peace contrasted with the war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022.
Bring these elements together, and they could tell multiple stories depending on your reference point. Are we cold and dying? Are we experiencing rebirth? Are we surrounded by promises of peace? Has our form of religion brought us peace? When we look at the night sky, what do we see?
Ring Out Wild Bells
Since most of my holiday stories tie back in to music, I also kept referencing the Tennyson poem, set to music, and such a hauntingly lovely celebration of letting go of the old and welcoming in the new. Find all the verses to this lovely poem.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Because I use humor to deal with most situations, I thought this story might say something visually like “…the year is dying; we are in the quick. But here lies sparkle and shine and a hope for peace.” And then, since you expected to see us as the astronauts, SURPRISE—it’s peace for cats only.
The Bedazzling
Yes, to answer what you most want to know, I may have spent 15 hours bedazzling the helmets. (Thanks to Julie for finishing the last three inches when I couldn’t do anymore.) The total time investment was 25 hours in costume production. (Not that I’m obsessed with tracking and data points and all that jazz.)
We ordered two dark blue coveralls and began acquiring sparklies to apply. The plan was to place emphasis on the sparkling things and have the rest of our forms be background.
We couldn’t decide on lighting. I ordered a ridiculous extra-sparkly, made-in-China light and it shone that year for peace. It worked magic.
Then Jaelynn opened one of her photo editing apps and added some enhancements. I opened Photoshop and added another twist to the holiday story—or maybe nothing new for those of you who know that we are just guardians for two strange beings.
The Finale
And then things really spun out of control as I madly collected enough blue and silver sparklies to cover a tree in a space-themed orgasm of maximalism. (Jaelynn even consented later that it looked better than she thought it would.)
And it brought me joy.