It's December already! Yay! Since I can't really get out and enjoy it, I no longer appreciate winter at all! You can't ride a power wheelchair in the slush and the grit, so I stay indoors. It's too cold for my shattered thermometer anyway.
Dec. 1st however always reminds me that in only three short weeks the days will start getting longer. How's that as a cause for celebration? Within a few days of Christmas I expect you'll notice the days starting to feel longer (for my readers in the northern hemisphere anyway).
So I sit at the window and watch as the season unfolds, and for my money the faster the better!
In the meantime Christmas is unfolding all around us. Music on the radio here abruptly changed to Christmas music this morning, 100%. I think they have a box of Christmas music someplace in the basement that they drag out each year. And the way pop singers can mangle a traditional Christmas song is appalling!
There is shopping to be done, traffic and crowds to cope with, presents to decide upon, and then they have to be wrapped and sent out by the Post Office deadline. For me, getting out to shop is almost impossible, and I'm left with a distinctly inadequate feeling for not getting great gifts that are a surprise. I have to come up with a surreptitious way to acquire a surprise gift or two this year.
I find myself wondering though, how many shoppers remember where the tradition of gift-giving at Christmas originated. Just what is the Christmas season all about?
Sending out Christmas cards does remain meaningful to me. It's a chance to stay in touch with friends and relatives at least once a year, though I always know it should be more often. And I know I should write a more meaningful, personalized message in each card. My best effort will just have to do.
I hope you can cope with the rush of December, and I hope that spring arrives soon!
Even now, the traffic, and crowded street parking has arrived. Sunshine today, and as you celebrate the longer sunshine hours, we will be on the downward slope! I have found online browsing helps so much, rather than treading the crowded aisles, then making sure the store has the item I want. slush and mud, not great for your travels, but spring will arrive soon.
ReplyDeleteWe have a pretty laid back Christmas and don't get carried away with all the commercialism.
ReplyDeleteI too enjoy sending out Christmas cards though the list has gotten smaller.
I do look forward to the longer days as well. The short days are hard especially when it cloudy and gray as it has seemed to be much of this winter. I can understand your desire for the days to pass quickly.
ReplyDeleteThis year I'll be sending out Christmas cards and letters after a hiatus for a couple of years.
Good luck with the shopping - perhaps on-line and home delivery is the best way to sneak a few things in....just tell Mrs. FG not to read the labels!
I'm waiting anxiously for spring too as I hate these short grey days. Getting the Christmas decorations out helps and I think I will send more cards this year. It is nice to get real mail.
ReplyDeleteI too am anxious to get this wintery weather behind us. Maybe, with any luck we'll have a real nice January thaw for a change and hopefully an early Spring. Gosh, can Ground Hog day be that far away..
ReplyDeleteI while heartedly agree about how appalling it is to hear the traditional Christmas Carols changed by today's entertainers. Blech! Leave them the way they were meant to be sung.
ReplyDeleteYou could perhaps order online and surprise Mrs. F. G. That way.
I don’t generally listen to radio music. I do have my own accumulated playlist if I am in the mood.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your confinement.
I look forward to the return of the light too! These next three weeks are dark days indeed! Hope springs eternal is so true!
ReplyDeleteNever have I liked the time between Thanksgiving (down here) and Christmas -- short days, sort of cold, little (if any) snow -- Bah Humbug! Down here the radio begins playing Christmas songs in mid-November to get people in the mood for spending money on gifts -- Bah Humbug! But we do rejoice in getting together with widely scattered family and seeing lots of birds at the feeders.
ReplyDeleteSpring will be more welcome when it arrives, and there will be less complaints about the summer heat, or at least that’s what we say every year when winter approaches.
ReplyDeleteDeb