I hope Santa Claus is happy! He's probably home at the North Pole, sitting in a high backed armchair with his feet up on an ottoman in front of a cheery blaze in the fireplace, sipping on a hot drink while he thinks, "Ah, it's over for another year."But is it?
January, February, March for me are spent pulling all of the costs of the December extravaganza together and trying to get a start on paying for the presents Santa delivered on Christmas Eve (Someone has to foot the bill). These 3 months are also spent in efforts to maximize our tax return and then waiting for the return to arrive and give some relief from the expenses of the Holiday Season. These months also have their own holidays and family birthday's with which me must contend.
April, May, June and July are spent in relative peace without much thought of Christmas except that I have to start saving for the next installment of the event coming at the end of the year.
June marks the anniversary of our marriage and I turn a year older each July. Those events are more at the forefront of my thoughts when it happens than worrying about Santa, slaving away at the North Pole manufacturing toys, clothing and candy.
August, September, October, and November are months when my wife commences to collect the necessary family gifts to be given to our four children, their spouses, our 12 grandchildren and her numerous friends on December 25th. The stress is on. "Guess what I just got for..." is the beginning of a sentence I will hear more and more as the month of December approaches. Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Holiday Season.
DECEMBER is an all out sprint toward the finish line:
1. The tree is decorated and the house is festooned with holiday trinkets.
2. Church and family parties are held.
3. My wife shifts into serious shopping gear and begins in earnest to find the "right" gifts for each family member.
4. The number of items on her lists of things she has to accomplish increases exponentially and she is often overpowered by the planning and work it all represents.
5. Now is the time for me to assume my grinch-like persona just to provide some balance to the euphoria of schmaltzy Christmas music, unrealistic holiday happiness, and hightened expectations the season engenders.
6. Like the slaves in a Roman war ship we row faster and faster to the beat of the timing drum. As December progresses we rise to ramming speed and plow full bore into Christmas Eve.
The calm of Christmas afternoon feels like the only true respet from the process which will resume the following morning as we return the gifts we can't use or that don't fit.
The phrase, One eternal round, comes to mind.
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