Christmas
It’s Christmas.
Okay, you knew I couldn’t resist. You knew there was no way I could let a big holiday go by without saying something more than “Yay!” Deal with it.
It’s Christmas, almost. All the telltale signs are there, from the Salvation Army Santas to the shopping day countdowns. (I would say store décor, but I don’t consider Halloween to be Christmas season.) Heck, there’s even snow on the ground ... or there was, until yesterday.
A bunch of our neighbors have their lights up now … We’re starting to look like the neighborhood Scrooges. I will no longer judge those houses that aren’t decorated – they might be poor college students.
I enjoy the season. I’ve said this before, and it’s worth restating. Despite the knowledge that it’s a temporary thing, that in a month it will all be forgotten, that there are so many people just “faking it” for a while … despite the knowledge that I live in a land where a holy holiday can become a marketing bonanza … I choose to enjoy it.
Maybe I’m an idealist. Maybe I’m just naïve. Or maybe there’s something to the idea that things can change.
A blog I frequent was using a quote from “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” – namely, the part where the Grinch comes to the realization that Christmas wasn’t about the material stuff. Something in me wonders what would happen to Christmas if, suddenly, gifts were no longer a part of it. Would it still be celebrated? Would it pass by unnoticed? Would it still be a time of no classes and no work and large family get-togethers?
Things would certainly change. The standard American department store wouldn’t care so much. They might have a Christmas sale, much like the Veteran’s Day sales that are out there, but they wouldn’t be decked out for two solid months before. It’s entirely possible that there wouldn’t be Christmas music, or special food, and there would be no use for Santa anymore.
(Wow, Christmas without Santa…)
Or what if it was a more strictly religious holiday? What if people who were NOT Christian didn’t celebrate it? And what if those who were spent the day in remembrance of why they were celebrating?
There’s my wake-up-call for the day. Do you remember, Ashley? Do you stop during the day and think about why you’re celebrating in the first place?
Instead, that seems to get pushed to Easter. I spend the day helping Mom cook and opening presents and eating and playing cards. (Mostly the cooking and eating, really.) Sure, I remember, but somehow the day doesn’t get paused at any point to really think about things. There are other holidays for that – Christmas is for action!
Somehow it seems I need to do some rethinking about that one.
In any case, I’m looking forward to Christmas, especially the large number of people that I haven’t seen in awhile that will be at our house for dinner. 16 at least (including myself), 23 at most. I think. (Mom just read that and wondered who I added to get 23.)
Hmm… I think I know why I don’t usually get comments on my rants. They’re too long. To those of you who made it this far – thanks!
Okay, that's all I can handle right now. Bye.
Okay, you knew I couldn’t resist. You knew there was no way I could let a big holiday go by without saying something more than “Yay!” Deal with it.
It’s Christmas, almost. All the telltale signs are there, from the Salvation Army Santas to the shopping day countdowns. (I would say store décor, but I don’t consider Halloween to be Christmas season.) Heck, there’s even snow on the ground ... or there was, until yesterday.
A bunch of our neighbors have their lights up now … We’re starting to look like the neighborhood Scrooges. I will no longer judge those houses that aren’t decorated – they might be poor college students.
I enjoy the season. I’ve said this before, and it’s worth restating. Despite the knowledge that it’s a temporary thing, that in a month it will all be forgotten, that there are so many people just “faking it” for a while … despite the knowledge that I live in a land where a holy holiday can become a marketing bonanza … I choose to enjoy it.
Maybe I’m an idealist. Maybe I’m just naïve. Or maybe there’s something to the idea that things can change.
A blog I frequent was using a quote from “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” – namely, the part where the Grinch comes to the realization that Christmas wasn’t about the material stuff. Something in me wonders what would happen to Christmas if, suddenly, gifts were no longer a part of it. Would it still be celebrated? Would it pass by unnoticed? Would it still be a time of no classes and no work and large family get-togethers?
Things would certainly change. The standard American department store wouldn’t care so much. They might have a Christmas sale, much like the Veteran’s Day sales that are out there, but they wouldn’t be decked out for two solid months before. It’s entirely possible that there wouldn’t be Christmas music, or special food, and there would be no use for Santa anymore.
(Wow, Christmas without Santa…)
Or what if it was a more strictly religious holiday? What if people who were NOT Christian didn’t celebrate it? And what if those who were spent the day in remembrance of why they were celebrating?
There’s my wake-up-call for the day. Do you remember, Ashley? Do you stop during the day and think about why you’re celebrating in the first place?
Instead, that seems to get pushed to Easter. I spend the day helping Mom cook and opening presents and eating and playing cards. (Mostly the cooking and eating, really.) Sure, I remember, but somehow the day doesn’t get paused at any point to really think about things. There are other holidays for that – Christmas is for action!
Somehow it seems I need to do some rethinking about that one.
In any case, I’m looking forward to Christmas, especially the large number of people that I haven’t seen in awhile that will be at our house for dinner. 16 at least (including myself), 23 at most. I think. (Mom just read that and wondered who I added to get 23.)
Hmm… I think I know why I don’t usually get comments on my rants. They’re too long. To those of you who made it this far – thanks!
Okay, that's all I can handle right now. Bye.
Comments
i'm actually starting to dislike xmas. way to commercialized now. oh wait we talked about that on messenger already. oh well