The Two-Month Birthday Party

When I was young, my parents bought, erected, and decorated our real Christmas tree all on the same day, Christmas Eve. December 24^th was a busy day. My Dad took my brothers and I to a matinee while Mom did her thing. I wasn't there to see what Mom's thing was, but along with cleaning and decorating, I'm sure it included an extra cup of coffee and a few thankful sighs ... that the house was empty and quiet.

This year, a local department store had an extensive Christmas Tree display up by the end of October, just in time to fill shoppers' post-Halloween minds with visions of plastic evergreens and overpriced glitterati. I'd heard Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song on the radio probably 10 times before the middle of November. It's not even December yet, and I'm Holiday'd out. No wonder people feel pressure to exchange "perfect" gifts and entertain like the pre-incarcerated Martha Stewart. They had two months to plan for it!

I vote for reinventing Christmas as a one-day affair.

A Time That Time Cannot Erase

I have entered the era of hand salve.