December 9, 2008
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1 I'm still pretty amazed at how fast Christmas got here this year.
2 Yeah, I know; it's not officially here yet.
3 But it's certainly closer than I had thought, or figured.
4 For years I used to be a world-class Scrooge.
5 I was a world-class Scrooge because I always seemed to be out of money at Christmas. It traditionally goes fast, and right when you think you've done a really good job of being careful, you go look for gift wrap.
6 $300 later you have bows on top of your head, Scotch tape hanging off your lip, and To: From: stickers with misspelled names all over the room.
7 And TRY to find the scissors.
8 And there's always that one expensive present you want to get for someone but it costs $150. But you KNOW they'd love it, so you spend all but the thirty-two cents you need to stretch into January.
9 I used to jokingly sing, "It's the most miserable time of the year!"
10 And of course I'd get sad. I don't know why that is, but every Christmas I get sad at strange intervals. A nostalgic song might come on the radio, and the rain will start to plip on the windshield. I'll sigh and look out the window. I'll have a moment.
11 And then some Jackass in a monster truck will pull right up on my tail and start blinking his lights at me.
12 Or I'll turn it into a parking lot and see the multitudes all out for themselves.
13 Beastly!
14 It's almost like putting on a show, really. You're in a massive hurry to get your shopping done and every time you get in a line, the guy in front of you has something going on that requires a manager. That usually happens when you switch lines because the guy has one item...AND a receipt.
15 Ah, it's the most wonderful time of the year.
16 I'm not turning into a Scrooge again, fear not.
17 Moving on, sort of: I've gotten better in my advanced age. I realize it's going to be a wait most places. But I don't have Show deadlines any more. On Saturday it occurred to me that if I were still directing, it would have been closing night.
18 It even looked and felt like a closing night. This past Saturday night had a beautiful sunset going on, and the weather was pleasant. Hues of peach and a twilight blue saturated the sky.
19 All was calm; all was bright.
20 I've decided to really appreciate Christmas these days. It's a time that people are home, and chimneys are going. The pollution level is nostalgically toxic, and for some reason I don't mind.
21 People have fires when it's seventy degrees out. But who cares? How politically incorrect is THAT?
22 I guess I've mellowed about all that. It is what it is.
23 It is what it is.
24 I wonder who made that one up? It is what it is.
25 It works.
26 Well, that's about all we have time for this fine morning.
27 I'm thinking of taking up smoking a pipe.
28 Peace.
~H~
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