Merry Christmas

I’m not going to let the birth of a savior and the word mass get in the way of my Christmas spirit. Strictly speaking, I’m more of a winter solstice/festivus kinda gal, but there are still many things about the Christmas season that I truly enjoy. I’ve already discussed my live tree fetish. But there are other aspects I love, besides buying myself presents as a by-product of buying others gifts, such as Christmas music. Right now I’m listening to Vince Guaraldi’s score and nothing makes me think of snow falling quite as much as the piano from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Christmas magic when the weather is unseasonably warm is just a CD away.

Christmas magic also in the batch of Russian tea cookies that my hostess has made and covered in fluffy powdered sugar. In the basement, there’s a tree standing in a sea of gift packages; we visit it and reel at the careful wrapping and the colorful bows. I’m not sure that the emphasis should be on the gifts, though I like a sea of potential joy as embodied by the piles of big and little boxes of bright patterned paper.

Plus, in an odd turn of events, I think I might have met Santa Claus yesterday. I dropped a box off at UPS around 3pm yesterday in Harrisburg, and today my sister in law says it arrived in Boston that afternoon.
I mean, I paid for the Tuesday shipping. New Year’s gifts are good enough.
But it traveled to Boston, not just the same day, but within a few hours. There’s either a time warp, some reindeer, elves, or a real Santa Claus hanging around the UPS store by the mall.

With or without proof of Santa, I’m all about candlelight and time together.

I just wanted to write this post to wish everyone a merry Christmas, a merry day with people they love, a merry bunch of presents, a merry meal or two, and a merry bunch of music, or Chinese food and a movie, whatever your idea of a seasonable celebration looks like at this time.

Merry Merry.