Christmas Videos

Click Player to Start

When You Can't Feel the Christmas Magic and Merriment

For those who celebrate this holiday and the season surrounding it, Christmas brings the expectation of a sense of magic and wonder. We grow up hearing that the Christmas season is "the most wonderful time of the year".

This holiday that has for centuries been centered around the birth of Jesus Christ, but that also has roots associated with brightening the dark Winter, today celebrates any combination of meaningful things (depending on who is celebrating). A sense of magic, miracles, wonder, and the shared and heartfelt wish for peace-on-Earth are what we expect of this special time of year. Alas, life does not always give us the luxury of a season of nothing but joy and wonder. With its apparently relentless "commitment" to things not-so-magical and merry, real life can sometimes throw some very large monkey wrenches into that sense of magic and merriment we're all expected to experience. That isn't to say that magic and wonder are not parts of real life, but sometimes real life (and our oh-so-real troubled hearts) can have a way of making sure we're denied those things at least for a while. On those Christmases when magic and merriment can't possibly be ours, each time we are wished, "Merry Christmas", it can seem as if we are reminded that ours cannot be. On those years when Christmas cannot possibly merry, we are usually almost accustomed to not having merriment; but, oh, how - no matter what difficulties we face - we so often do long for some Christmas magic.


Christmas time can be darkened when, for example, we have recently lost a loved one. Illness in the family, money troubles, being separated from loved ones, family discord, or recent divorce are other realities that have the potential of dampening Christmas spirit. In fact, there can be those Christmas seasons during which more than one of these difficult circumstances can exist together, and have the potential of robbing us of every last shred of Christmas magic. More difficult and challenging is the fact that life can bring us whole strings of Christmases in a row for which finding magic and wonder can seem impossible. An often overlooked group of people in the "can't-find-the-magic club" are teens and young adults who may generally be happy people, but who are too old for the "Santa magic" for themselves but too young to see and feel that magic through the eyes of their own children.


There can be times when we'd like to completely ignore the whole holiday season and Christmas day, itself but the world won't seem to let us.  It may be our responsibility to make other family members' Christmases magical (particularly children), or at least not to make others' holiday even more gloomy. Unless our circumstances are particularly fresh and extreme, we usually choose to go through the motions.


Christmas music we hear everywhere can just be irritating. We may remain immune to the lights on the town common that, for others, brighten the long December nights. "Getting out the Christmas decorations" can turn into "dragging out all the Christmas junk", and putting them up is nothing but "yet more work for no good reason". When our lack of magic is shared by family and friends they aren't necessarily much help. When we seem to be the only one in our circle of family and friends who can't find any magic we must choose whether to remain silent (and feel isolated) or inflict our gloom upon others' Christmas.


I don't happen to recall whether it was the Charlie Brown (Charles Schultz) Easter special or Christmas special in which Linus remarks to Charlie Brown that Charlie is the only one Linus knows who can manage to turn something nice like Christmas (or Easter) into a problem. That is one of the most memorable lines among the Charlie Brown holiday specials, because whether we feel the magic or not Christmas is, as Linus described it, "a nice thing". We just need to learn not to expect too much from it, particularly when it comes at a time when we're not really in the mood for it.


The Christmas season is a time when so many people try to create magic and beauty everywhere. That shared aim, alone, is something to view as just a little magical and miraculous. Millions of people in any number of places across the world decide to decorate homes and streets and cities with lights, ribbons, wreaths, and decorated trees - all in an effort to brighten the season. This holiday that is centered around being with family and friends, peace on Earth, and the beautiful story of a baby born to humble circumstances who grew up to try to bring peace to the hearts of so many is, again as Linus said, a nice thing.


Some Christmases are better for us than others. Sometimes we need to look a little harder to find just a little magic. While (particularly when we're children) Christmases in the past may have felt like one, big, season of magic-everywhere; we may find that the magic can only be felt in small doses (if any at all). Sometimes it can help if we do make the extra effort to put up some particularly nice decorations or make it a point to listen to some particularly beautiful or cheerful Christmas music. Sometimes it can help if we stay up long past when everyone else has gone to sleep, and spend a little "alone time" by the light of the Christmas tree and allowing our tired hearts to just enjoy a brief respite. In other words, sometimes we have to settle for the quiet but warming moments of appreciating the beauty of Christmas, along with those people and things we do have in this life. Letting a troubled or broken heart take a rest from its woes isn't a shallow thing to do. Even the most troubled hearts need a rest; and even those who are in the ugliest of circumstances can benefit from seemingly tiny moments of beauty.


There are, of course, those Christmas seasons in which there won't even be any fleeting moments of beauty when the magic is too hard to come by. There will always (at least for most people) be those times when there is no point in even trying to find Christmas spirit, and that's when we need to lower our expectations. There are times when those lights on the town common or the lighting-of-the-giant-Christmas-tree ceremonies just don't elicit a shred of magic for us. Christmas dinner may be ignored, spent alone, or spent seated among a group of family members who feel equally as without magic as we do.


When we're having one of those years lowering the expectation of finding magic to an expectation of appreciating those we have and what we have, as well as any Christmas beauty that does exist around us, is the only thing we can do to prevent disappointment. We can't live in the grips of a tough (or at least less-than-magical) reality all year round and then expect that reality to "lift" or turn to magic in December. Much of the disenchantment many of us can feel at Christmas has less to do with not being able to find any magic, than with our expectation that we may miraculously feel magic at Christmas. We need to know that it sometimes has to be enough to find ways to celebrate a less-than-magical Christmas. Magic, after all, is not something we can always create for ourselves or others; and it isn't something that automatically appears to us because we, or the calendar, decide it should.


As children, we often felt the magic of leaving cookies out in the anticipation of Santa's visit and finding only crumbs on the plate Christmas morning. As grown-ups, we may feel that hint of magic when we see those lights on the town common or attend a Christmas performance. There are times when we won't. Still, there are always miracles to be seen around us. Those miracles may seen in children. They may be seen in loved ones who have against all odds remained with us for another year. They may be seen in families who managed to stay together and whole in spite of an awful lot of things that can seem to try to pull them apart. Miracles may be seen in the survivors of terrible storms, and they may be seen in the fact that the human heart and spirit regardless of how broken somehow and so often seem to heal and feel magic again.


In life we usually learn that there is no Santa who comes to eat the cookies, and that "every-year-without-fail" kind of magic is for children. We learn, when we grow up, that magic doesn't always come at Christmas time. Sometimes it comes at other times during the year. We learn, too, that we often have to work to create our own sense of magic and wonder, and sometimes we need to look a little harder to find some. There are, of course, those times when life is being kind and when Christmas magic just happens for us, as it did when we were children.


When it is clear that Christmas time is fast approaching and that it may well be a year of no magic for us, we sometimes need to realize that such Christmases do happen and that we need to celebrate what we do have in ways that may not be magical; but that are, nonetheless, rare and treasured gifts. We need to realize that feeling magic is not something we can or should expect. After all, it wouldn't be "magic" if it were.

Halloween - A Historical and Personal Perspective

I'm writing this in response to the question (asked elsewhere online), "What does Halloween really stand for?"  For me, that question has a two-part response:

My first instinct, of course, was to think of the historical roots of the Halloween; which are believed to date back to ancient Germanic and Celtic societies, which celebrated the festival of Samhain.  The festival of Samhain marked the end of the year these ancient societies viewed as the "light half" of the year (Spring and Summer).  Autumn and Winter were viewed as the "dark half" of the year, and this half of the year had been associated with death.  It is believed that the time of harvest, which marked the end of growing plants on which people survived (as well as the beginning of the seasons less suitable for animals kept in pastures), may have led to the association of death and "the dark half" of the year.

Samhain was celebrated with fires, around which people danced, in the hopes of encouraging the sun not to disappear.  It was believed that this was a day on which the spirits of the dead were most likely close by, and on this "Day of the Dead" everyone, including the spirits of deceased loved ones, was encouraged to dance and try to encourage the sun to remain.  Animals were "sacrificed".  (What would have happened to them if left to live outside without sufficient food could possibly have played at least some role in this practice; although, of course, 21st Century logic cannot always be applied to ancient civilizations that believed they could encourage the sun to change how it did things.)  Historians believe that people left open their doors in order to invite in the spirits of loved ones who had died.   The practices of wearing costumes and serving candied apples are believed to date back to Samhain.

Later, as Christianity spread throughout the world, the holiday became "Christianized" and linked to "All Saints Day" (All Hallows Day), which is celebrated on November 1.  With the eve of November 1 being October 31, that date became known as "All Hallows Eve" (or "Halloween").

And now, having addressed the historical origins of Halloween, here is (as far as I'm concerned) the REAL meaning of the day (at least for me):

It is generally known that as Christianity spread throughout the world pagan holidays were either adopted and adapted to fit Christianity, or else were abandoned.  That's the thing about holidays - they can be adapted to suit the beliefs of those who choose to celebrate them.  Throughout history, holidays have, more often than not, changed as mankind has changed.  Depending on the perceived importance of any holiday (Christmas is, of course, the first to come to mind), there are varying degrees to which today's people even think about the origins of it.  

Christians, of course, will be averse to any pagan, historical, roots of a holiday; while non-Christians will be averse to any Christian meaning placed on it.  In the meantime, and among all the disdain and resentment that can be present, we have Easter eggs and bunnies associated with Easter and Santa Claus and Christmas tree angels associated with Christmas.  Heck - we have chocolate candy and flowers associated with Valentine's Day (although my father, who knew I didn't like candy when I was a kid, would give me a Vogue Ginny doll each Valentine's Day).  People in Canada don't link their Thanksgiving to the folks that landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.  

I was born a very long time after those ancient Germanic and Celtic people lived and relatively close to 2000 years after Jesus Christ was born (give or take a few decades).  Somewhere between the time when I was a child and the time I grew up, I had heard about "what Halloween USED TO mean".  I saw it, though, as a matter of "that-was-then/this-is-now".

For me, Halloween was having my mother bring me to the store to select "this year's" Trick-or-Treat bag.  (I hated the way many of the bags had the writing, "Trick O' Treat".  I wanted the word, "or", spelled out properly.)  Halloween, to me, was putting on my store-bought, Ben Cooper costume.  For two years in a row I was Little Red Riding Hood, and the costumes back then were made of a kind of "netting" fabric that was scratchy.  The masks were softer than their plastic successors, but they could also be a little scratchy.  My older sister would make her own costume, and I enjoyed the excitement of all the preparations.

Each year my mother would make popcorn in a giant pot.  (There was no microwave popcorn at that time.)  Each year, she would buy lots of Halloween candy for the kids who would be coming, pack it into little bags (or sometimes tie it into particularly cute napkins), and leave the rows of little packages on the dining room table, waiting to be handed out once the doorbell began ringing.   Although my brother was a baby when I was Trick-or-Treating, my older sister would bring me to the homes of six neighbors in the immediate vicinity, where I'd muster up the courage to say, "Trick-or-Treat" to friendly, smiling, grown-ups who told me how great my costume was.  It was fun to be out in the dark, wearing my costume, and with just my sister.  Kids were everywhere.  Doors were open.  Happy chatter broke the quiet of the night, and it was just a fun thing for all involved.

My mother would say how when she had been a girl Halloween was more about kids playing pranks, and she, herself, didn't particularly like the holiday.  My father, a faithful Catholic and someone who usually participated in holidays, "kept a low profile" on Halloween.  (He was probably the first to tell me what Halloween "used to" mean.)   I was happy to have been born in a era when Halloween pranks had primarily been reduced to the inevitable smashing of pumpkins, but was otherwise about Trick-or-Treating, popcorn, and the school Halloween party. (Remember carefully wrapping those uneaten, heavily frosted, school-party, cupcakes in napkins - as if they'd really survive the trip from school to home?)

By the time I had children of my own, Halloween pranks had (at least in the areas where I've lived) become primarily a thing of the past.  The occasional door-step pumpkin may not be spared, but more and more of them were surviving to the point of turning to pumpkin soup.   Like my mother, and like "all" the neighbors who had small kids, I aimed to make a fun Halloween for my children and the neighborhood kids.   People in our neighborhood (as with in most middle-class American neighborhoods) enjoyed taking children out to join other kids in the neighborhood in the event.  One neighbor, with grown kids, always made popcorn and candy apples for the kids.  (It was a tradition, and we all knew there was nothing horrible in the apples.).  My home would be decorated with cute little Halloween items, and I'd pack up particularly special little bags of candy and line them up on the dining room table (as my mother had).

I have two sons and daughter, and when they were little I would place emphasis on the cheerful and bright side of Halloween - cute pumpkins, cute Halloween kittens with hats, cute-faced "ghosties", ribbons, candy corn, and the color, orange.  When my sons got to a certain age, of course, they seemed to prefer werewolf costumes (although as one got yet a little older he began to lean to costumes such as an absent-minded professor).  So, for a few years I did find myself, on Halloween night, walking with a "princess" or a" Puffalump" and a couple of "monsters" (previously "Care Bears" or generic animals of one kind of another).

The day of the school Halloween party was another exciting part of Halloween.  It was sometimes a lot of work to figure out how to make some costumes portable enough to still "be good" at the school party.  There was always the thinking up of some fun treat to send in for the party, and there were always the happy children who returned home from school and unpacked any number of Halloween projects and party foods left over.


My children are grown now, so my Halloween's are a matter of trying to make things nice for the children who show up at my door, Trick-or-Treating.  Since I'm not obligated to decorate with the kind of "monster stuff" elementary-school-aged boys tend to prefer, I no longer need to have anything but the happy, cheerful, kind of Halloween decorations.  I try to make my front walk and porch seem very "Halloween-y" but very bright and cheerful.  There are, of course, my big pots of mums and a few pumpkins that have no faces cut in or drawn on; but for Halloween I'll add extra lights, a particularly happy Jack O' Lantern that lights up, and a few "accents" along the walk.

I enjoy making up what I like to think are particularly special little Trick-or-Treat bags.  Usually, I'll make some just for the tiniest of children (being careful to add healthier and safer treats).  There are a few kids in the neighborhood that I know particularly well, and sometimes I'll make up a particularly cute package for them.  My aim is always to make the bags just special enough to be a little bit of a surprise to the kids.  As for my own personal enjoyment of the evening, I turn down my lights, light some scented candles, and make a pot of coffee and some popcorn (for any of my relatives who happen to be there).

Anyone looking for skeltons and witches aren't going to find them at my house on Halloween.  Ceramic pumpkins (with or without a cheerful, cute, face), pumpkin-spice potpourri, and Fall flower arrangements are part of the Halloween I put together for myself and my adult family members.  Other than that, I pretty much put all the focus on the Trick-or-Treaters' visit to a pleasant-and-yet-"Halloweeny" home. I know there are the 5'8" 14-year-olds who enjoy the irony of being so "old" and still showing up for candy, but I'd rather see kids that age enjoying themselves and getting candy than either getting in trouble or being depressed about being "too old" to go out for candy.

  Ten or fifteen years after my own children were still Trick-or-Treating, I've noticed that it is a very rare doorstep pumpkin that doesn't survive to the point of turning to soup.  Once smiling Jack-O-Lanterns often do, with age, turn quite saggy and dour looking; but as with people, that's nothing more the normal aging process.  Time changes everything - pumpkins, people, societies, and holidays.

Every year I wait until Halloween is only days away before I add Halloween decorations to my mums and pumpkins outside.  A few days before Halloween, I'll hang put up the smiling pumpkin and a couple of other cute things, but I wait for Halloween day before putting up some the decorations that are aimed specifically at Trick-or-Treaters.  There's a cute little pumpkin on a cord that I hang on my post-lantern (right near the hanging, flowering, basket) just before Trick-or-Treating is to begin.  (It wouldn't stand up to any rain, and its eyes are lighted by battery power; so it can't go out earlier than that.)

Every year, as I run out at the last minute and hang the little pumpkin that has become a tradition for me, I imagine how the little Trick-or-Treaters will think he's cute as they reach my front walk.  Each year, after completing that one last preparation for Halloween, I'll run back in the house, get that fresh cup of coffee, get the scented candles and potpourri going, and settle near the door to listen to for the sound of happy little voices in the darkness of the October evening.  

I enjoy thinking about the fact that I still like Halloween, even though my own children are grown.  With thoughts of how, maybe in some small way, I will contribute to the Halloween fun of other people's young children, I generally don't think back to the days when I, myself, was Little Red Hood or whatever else I once "was".  Even though one might think I'd be thinking of when my own children were of Trick-or-Treating age, I don't think of that either.   As I wait for the parade of princesses, robots, and non-descript-whatevers to show up, I'm thinking about whether I've put together enough bags, whether I should make a few more, and how I'll only give out the bags with the green lollipops after all the ones with orange lollipops have been given away first.  (Sometimes a person has to add a lollipop in a color that doesn't go as well with the picture on the candy bags.)

Societies change, people change, holidays change, and even the smiliest of Jack-O'Lantern pumpkins turn dour. Still, it occurs to me that when it comes to Halloween, I still pretty much see it the same way that I saw it back in those Red-Riding-Hood days.

I recall, as a small child, standing on the sidewalk in front on our home and feeling the sun's heat on my hair.  It was a day when the sky was bright blue, and the clouds were pure white and fluffy; and I felt as if the sun's light on my head was "God's way" of letting me know how blessed I was.   At the one moment, and more than at any other time in my life, I just felt pretty certain that God was there, watching out for me. Of course, I grew up to learn about what the sun really is and also to, at one time or another, question the existence of God.

Thousands of years after those Celtic and Germanic people celebrated Samhain in hopes of convincing the sun to continue to shine brightly and shower the Earth with its warmth; and long, long, after a Christian church re-defined the holiday to include the matter of saints and souls; I realize that maybe my own interpretation of what Halloween should be is my own version of trying to "fight off" some form or "darkness" and, instead, trying to add a little extra sunlight to life.

At that time of year when the beautiful Fall foliage has pretty much turned brown and fallen from the trees, and when we've turned the clocks back after a Summer of daylight savings time, there can be just a hint of a depressing mood for those of us who live in places like New England.  Although November may bring the occasional warm day, the end of October generally marks the end of the beautiful Autumn weather.  Those of us who live in places like New England generally think of the months of November, December, and January as "gray" months.

  Halloween, to me, is nothing more than that one day at the end of October, when children (and more and more these days, adults as well) dress up, have parties, get candy, and generally just have innocent fun.  If the sun could think it might marvel at the way humans - regardless of the time in which they live - seem to find ways to keep light and warmth in the world.  If the saints are somehow "out there", watching our Halloweens, I somehow suspect they'd delight in the ways we try to bring a little cheer to childhood (and/or the sometimes drearier days the grown-up years bring).

I'm too "modern" to think I can dance and make the sun stay a "Summer sun" through the Winter; and I've lived too long to think that all the praying in the world will make God always keep away the darker, stormier, aspects of life.  Even the most faithful among us realize that religion or spirituality don't stop the Winter winds from blowing.  They only, sometimes, help some people deal with them.   I'm not even someone who spends a lot of time thinking about souls and spirits, other than my own soul and spirit - both of which do appreciate the need for a little more sunshine and laughter in life, especially for children.

As for spirits and souls:  Spirit is what we decide to have when we choose to brighten the cold, Autumn, nights of others.   The only real "soul" that matters is our own, and mine tells me that there is something very positive about those lovingly frosted cupcakes served at school Halloween parties, and the packaging up of candies and treats just because it's kind of fun for kids to dress up and get candy.

  Thousands of years after people danced around giant fires in the hopes of encouraging the sun to stay in the sky, life continues to require us to find ways to deal with sadness, illness, natural disasters, death, and people who commit evil.   If happy-hearted little princesses, witches, and monsters roam our streets one evening a year, and get to feel as if the whole world of adults is working together to create a wonderful experience for them - I think celebrating Halloween is a pretty positive thing.
 

 

 

The Santa Claus Lie

The Beautiful Truth About Some Fantasy

Not long ago someone raised the issue of "The Big Santa Claus Lie". The person raising this issue stated that there is no Santa Claus, and he asked whether parents should tell that lie to their children. I did tell that lie to my children, who - now grown - continue to trust me and believe, as I did, that believing in Santa for just a while is a nice part of childhood.

This is my answer to those who see the Santa Claus story as nothing but a lie that should not be told:

When I was four years old I tried to engage the dull little boy next door in some imaginary play. I thought I was starting the "story" for both us when I told him I had a horse in my basement, and there was also a train small enough for children to ride in the basement as well. This unimaginative little kid didn't get my attempt to engage him in fantasy (even though I didn't have the word for it at the time), and he went and asked my father if we really had a horse and a train. It was then "established" that I had told giant lies, and I was lectured about not lying.

At four years old I didn't really have understanding and words needed to explain that I had been trying to engage this little dullard in fantasy, so I just let my parents think I was a big liar. Once I got older I realized that my lie was just a good natured attempt to get some play started.

Children love magic and fantasy. They understand it much younger than people think they can. While young children believe Santa is real (when they're told about him) and get to feel that magical feeling, older children who know better usually understand the concept of engaging someone else in fantasy - for no reason other than offering a little magic and imagination in a world that, without fantasy, wouldn't have much of those things.

Kids are smarter and more understanding than many people give them credit for. As a former Santa-believer, sibling of other Santa-believers, and mother of three former Santa-believers, I've found that most former believers just kind of understand that their parents wanted them to share in something make-believe and special when children are young and magic makes such nice memories. Most kids understand the different between fantasy and a pattern of deceit. Most don't get older and ask what else their parents lied about. They understand the difference and understand that all their parents wanted to do was give them something nice before they got too old and too cynical for that type of thing.

Most parents helps children transition from believing to not believing by talking about the spirit behind the Santa story, and talking about how even if Santa doesn't reall come down the chimney the spirit of magic at Christmas is in the hearts of those who want it to be.

When my kids were little, after they were asleep and the gifts were out, I'd take a few minutes to go out on my front lawn at around midnight or even two a.m. I'd stand on my high suburban lawn and look at the lights that were still on in some houses. Of course, that time of night in December in New England is cold and silent and crisp - and I would stand and listen to the silence, look at the stars, and imagine that somewhere out in that expanse of black sky maybe Santa's sleigh was soaring by.

With the feeling of having finished all my shopping, decorating, and putting out the "Santa" things while worrying that a child would wake up, I would enjoy this moment in the cold Winter night, knowing all had been done but the Christmas dinner. A season of work had ended, and there behind the bedroom windows of my home slept my greatest gifts.

The mind is a funny thing, and I am not making this up for the purposes of this post, but I would actually kind of hear distant sleighbells off in the distance. The world is full of lies and people who cannot imagine up a little magic. Children can pretty much sort out lies from fantasy, and they can usually can understand that parents' wish to create a little a magic for just a few years is a well intentioned attempt to let little ones have a childhood before the world steps in. My children are grown now, but this year - as I do ever year - I'll be going outside on Christmas Eve and standing there until I think I may hear the sleighbells.

What I learned from my parents, who lied to me about Santa, was how much fun it is to feel the magic; and how even though the magic is smaller once we're grown, there are still ways to find it. If I had another child tomorrow, yes, I'd lie to that one too.

The Eleven US Federal Holidays

 According to the United States Postal Service schedule of holidays, there are ten holidays a year that are considered "Federal holidays". Federal holidays are those holidays recognized by the Federal government and on which non-essential government offices are closed. Banks and stock exchanges generally close as well. Every four years the inauguration of a new president brings the number of Federal holidays that year to eleven.

New Years Day (January 1) is the first holiday of the year. Since New Years Day is a holiday celebrated by many people in the population, and since it follows the New Years Eve celebration many people enjoy, it should be, and remain, a holiday.

Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday is remembered each year on the third Monday in January, although Dr. King's birthday was actually January 15. The commemoration of the birth of this influencial civil rights leader is a holiday for which legislation was enacted (in 1983) only after much controversy about whether the day should be a holiday. Honoring the man who did so much to move Black Americans away from the gross inequalities and injustices of the past would seem to me a fair and reasonable thing to do.

Inauguration Day (January 20 every fourth year). The day on which a new president is sworn is recognized as a holiday in Washington D.C. and parts of Virginia and Maryland. This is a matter of reducing traffic conjestion on such an eventful day.

While Abraham Lincoln's birthdaywas once one holiday (February 14) and George Washington's birthday (February 22) were once celebrated at two separate holiday, today we celebrate Presidents' Day as one holiday, the specific date of which changes in order to celebrate Presidents' Day on a Monday in February. I, personally, think it was entirely reasonable to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington, general in the Revolutionary War and the nation's first president; and Abraham Lincoln, 16th president in office during the time of the Civil War, and remembered for The Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery); having the two holidays so close together led to combining them and celebrating, instead, President's Day.

In view of the role of both President Washington and President Lincoln, I believe these two holidays should be holidays, should remain holidays, and, in fact, should be celebrated beyond having sales at car dealerships in the name of Presidents' Day.

Memorial Day, celebrated on a Monday at the end of May, is most definitely a holiday which should be one and remain one. Memorial Day is the day on which Americans honor the nation's war dead, as well as remembering deceased veterans of wars. Although this day has become associated with backyard barbeques and pool parties, Memorial Day remembrances and parades are dedicated to the war dead, with tributes and visits to war memorials and cemeteries.

Independence Day, which is celebrated on July 4 (and often referred to as, "The Fourth of July") is the celebration of the nation's birth, when the Declaration of Independence was signed and nation became an independent nation. The independence of the 13 original colonies was won as a result of the Revolutionary War. Independence Day is a day of great celebration and, for most people, deepest patriotism. Many people find Independence Day to be their favorite holiday. The nation's birthday should, of course, be a holiday and remain one.

Labor Day. (The first Monday in September.) Labor Day is a holiday dedicated to working Americans, as a tribute to their contribution to the well being, strength, and prosperity of the nation. The first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5 1882 in New York, as planned by the Central Labor Union. In 1884 it was proposed that the first Monday in September be dedicated to the American worker each year. As labor organizations grew, the holiday was later celebrated across the country. Americans today see Labor Day as "the official end of summer", and the three-day weekend Labor Day brings allows for activities from family get-togethers to finishing up home repairs. The idea of celebrating American workers, who have built the nation, is a reasonable one; and since Independence Day is the only holiday of summer, it seems reasonable to have one additional summer holiday before autumn begins. Many Americans have only two or three weeks' vacation a year. Adding the extra summer holiday, again, would seem reasonable in view of that.

Columbus Day. Columbus Day was declared a holiday in 1937, by President Roosevelt. The holiday was to commemorate Christopher Columbus, who, in 1492, embarked on a voyage to "The New World", which would mark the beginning of further exploration and colonization of the Americas. Although there has been controversy over Columbus' role in the exploration and colonization of the land by Europeans, it is generally agreed upon that Columbus' discovery of the land was a turning point in history. The era of exploration and colonization of land in America is obviously significant in American history, and so, in my opinion and in spite of any controversy surrounding Christopher Columbus or later exploration, the holiday should be and remain a holiday. In 1971 the holiday was changed from October 12 to the second Monday in October, which gives Americans one more three-day weekend each year.

Veterans Day (November 11). Veterans Day is a day to remember and honor all of the nation's veterans, living and deceased. In view of the fact that all veterans have given their time to the nation; and in view of the fact that many veterans have suffered tremendous loss in one way or another in their service, as well as risking and losing their lives for their country; most people agree that having one holiday a year on which to honor the nation's veterans is not only reasonable, but very important. Veterans Day should be and remain a holiday.

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Although, throughout history, many cultures have associated crop harvest with gods; American Thanksgiving is associated with the Pilgrims, who sailed from England in 1620, and landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. After devastating sickness, death, and brutal New England winter, the Pilgrims are said to have celebrated the succesful harvesting of the warm-weather crops with a feast.

In 1863 President Lincoln proclaimed that the nation should celebrate the fourth Thursday of November as a day of giving thanks. Thanksgiving is a family holiday, when families (and guests) enjoy a holiday feast and just a day of having family together. The holiday is a reminder that we need to take time to think about what there is to be thankful for in life, and it should remain a holiday. Any holiday that promotes closeness within families and thinking about what one has to be thankful for, and any holiday for which warm, inviting, decorations remind Americans of their predecessors, the Pilgrims, is a reminder of some of the more important things in life, as well as an opportunity to spend time with family.

Christmas. (December 25) Many of the traditions associated with American (and non-American) Christmas date back thousands of years. An excellent link to the history of Christmas traditions ihttp://www.holidays.net/christmas/story.htms. With roots in festivals and rituals related to the new year, the winter solstice, gods, warding off evil spirits, and even belief in trolls; winter festivals/traditions were celebrated by a number of different cultures. As Christianity spread, Christians were opposed to the pagan celebrations and tried to end them, without success. Christians then "converted" the meaning of the winter celebrations so that it would be associated with the birth of Christ. As a result, the celebrations and festivals that were once considered "pagan" could be, instead, considered, "holy".

Christmas in American has, throughout history, generally been associated with the birth of Jesus Christ, although, much to the dismay of many devout Christians, non-Christians often celebrate this major American holiday with emphasis on family traditions and the idea of "peace on Earth".

While Christmas remains an important holy day (and holiday) for devout Christians, it also plays a major role in the lives of many other Americans as well. It is seen by those who celebrate it as a beautiful holiday (regardless of what it means to each person), and it remains a time when dark winter nights are illuminated by sparkling lights. A family dinner, gifts, decorations, and Christmas music are part of Christmas for most people, as are giving to charity, doing special things for the needy, and Christmas presentations and performances. Religious services remain an important part of Christmas for people of various religions, while people who do not belong to a religion often find the focus on family, gift-giving, charity, music, and peace on Earth heartwarming and special. Even some Americans who don't necessarily share Christian beliefs about Jesus Christ may recognize that this was someone who had a powerful and important role in teaching right from wrong, and peace, in a more primitive world; so even they may believe that having a holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ is a reasonable thing to do.

In view of the fact that winter festivities, rituals, and celebrations have taken place as far back as 4000 years ago; and considering that much of the world celebrates Christmas, Christmas should be, and remain, a US holiday. Whether Americans choose to see Christmas as a winter holiday that, like Americans themselves, is a "melting pot" of different beliefs and traditions; or a religious holiday just for Christians; Christmas time is a time that gives people a chance to have some beauty, sentiment, tradition, and even a little magic take center stage in life - and so Christmas is good for the soul.

As one looks at the list of American holidays, it is clear that some holidays in America are about people who have had powerful impact on the lives of others (both in their time and for generations to come). They are also about family traditions and closeness. American holidays are about the nation's history, the people who have served the nation, the principles on which the nation was founded, and appreciation for others or for the ways in which we have been fortunate.

Our holidays include beautiful or festive decorations, music, introspection, small and large gatherings, thoughts of family and friends, and days when companies and government agencies close in order that people have time to celebrate with their families.

One of the things I found most delightful about American holidays is the way so many Americans seem to share them, not just with their own circle of family and friends, but with every other American. Before Christmas it can seem as if every other car on the road has a tree tied to its roof. Before Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and the Fourth of July, flags spring up on homes and in downtown areas across the country. Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day bring crowds to the grocery stores, and everyone seems to buying the same kinds of foods in stores that are decorated in red, white, and blue. Thanksgiving time brings traditional orange pumpkins and fall flowers to so many doorsteps, as well (of course) as filling the baking items aisle in the grocery store.

American holidays are about American families, American history. They're about sacrifices made on our behalf and on behalf of the nation, and they're about appreciation of who we are, how blessed we have been, and what so many of us have in common. They are about what has been, and remains, important to Americans both as individuals and as a nation; and so, I vote to keep all the holidays we have (even if that ever-bothersome Christmas season can at times be pretty stressful).

Christmas Magic in January

A few Christmases ago I had one of those years of going through the motions and being acutely and appropriately aware that there would be no Christmas wonder and magic for me.  As expected, the season and the day came and went without my having felt the least bit “Christmas-y” for even one minute.  It was with tremendous relief for me that the dreaded holiday finally passed, and I could look forward to a new and better year.  New Year’s Day came and went, and all that was left over Christmas were a few wreaths on neighborhood doors.  

It was in the middle of January when a sparkling blanket of snow fell in mid evening.  In my wish to bring out my kitchen trash before more snow fell, I headed out to the trash containers in the yard.  Throughout the neighborhood the front porch and driveway lights made the snow crystals sparkle, and in the silence of the night I suddenly felt that “magic of Christmas” come over me.  I’m not a particularly big fan of snow and cold, so I don’t know why (particularly since I went out in shirt sleeves) this overpowering sense of Christmas came over me.  It occurred to me that the very absence of decorations could have been such a relief that my mood improved.  That’s the thing about magic, though:  As I said earlier, it comes when we least expect it.

For whatever reason my moment of Christmas came that January night, it felt to me as if it was one of those unexpected messages from God (or the universe) that my life would not remain without magic, even if Christmas had come and gone without any.   

Christmas, for those of us who celebrate it and expect so much of it, is a part of life, just as December is.  It is too much for any of us to expect life to bring magic “as scheduled”, so we just need to remember all those times when – Christmas lights or no Christmas lights – magic has surprised us and reminded us that even on cold Winter nights there can be a little magic.

When Holiday Decorations Should Go Up - According to Me

Just before the Fourth of July I figured I'd run into HomeGoods to see if there were any little extras I could put out to add some new holiday decorations. There were NO Fourth of July items whatsoever - not even napkins. There were, however, a bunch of Jack O' Lantern dishes.

I haven't been happy seeing Halloween aisles pop up in stores in August over recent years, so even though I loved the Halloween dishes at HomeGoods (and will probably go back and see if there are any left) I found it ridiculous that they were out at the end of June.

I have a very strict schedule for when holiday decorations should show up in stores and when they should show up on houses. If everyone would follow this schedule the world would be a better place:

Here's when stores should put decorations out:

Halloween: September 1

Thanksgiving: October 1

Christmas: November 1
(That doesn't mean people can't buy gifts earlier, but decorations shouldn't be picked over by Thanksgiving.)

New Years Eve: December 1

Valentine's Day: January 14

St Patrick's Day: March 1 (nobody needs more time than that for this "holiday")

Easter: March 1 (but under no circumstances should St. Patrick's Day and Easter decorations conflict on houses in neighborhoods; if Easter will come in March the decorations have to wait until March 18 or else the St Patrick's Day decorations should be skipped that year)

Memorial Day: May 1 (again, no more time is needed than that)

Fourth of July: June 1

and this brings us to Labor Day (no decorations) and then Halloween. (Well, it actually brings it to my son's August birthday, but that's my own personal thing.)

When it comes to putting up those decorations on/in houses:

Halloween: October 1 (The petunias still look good in September, and petunias and mums conflict.) Decorations should come down on November 2 in the morning, which allows November 1 as one more day of cute pumpkins.

Thanksgiving: November 1 (Nobody needs ceramic pilgrims up longer than three weeks or so.) All Thanksgiving decorations should be taken down the day after Thanksgiving. Room has to be made for Christmas, and nobody wants to look at those pilgrims for one more day.

Christmas: December 1 (If decorations go up on December 1 and stay up until January 1 or a few days later that's a whole month. That's enough. There is one exception, and that is a traditional green wreath with a bow is still acceptable through the end of January. ) (My neighbor leaves her wreath up until she puts up a St. Patrick's Day decoration in March. This is just all wrong - in my humble opinion.)

Inside the House, New Years Decorations: Up December 31. Down January 2.

Valentine's Day: February 1 (This holiday doesn't require more than a couple of weeks of pink and red decorations.) Valentine decorations really should be whipped down late at night on Valentine's Day, although - I suppose - Feburary 15 would be ok.

St. Patrick's Day: March 1 if there's no conflict with Easter. (Again, nobody needs more than two weeks or so of St. Pat decorations.) Decorations ought to come down on the evening of March 17.

Easter: March 18 unless Easter falls in March, in which case there should be no St Patrick's Day decorations, and Easter decorations should go up on March 1. Easter decorations should come down the day after Easter. I've selected my March 18 date for non-March Easters because most people like to leave the Spring decorations a little longer than other decorations are left. March 18 gives an April Easter a couple of extra weeks (and helps people feel as if Spring is REALLY on the way that much sooner).

Memorial Day: May 24 Putting up a few flags, bows, or red and white flowers the week before Memorial Day ought to do it. Once June 1 arrives Memorial Day decorations don't really look appropriate.

Fourth of July: Up June 20 (which helps prepare people for the big day and keeps the festive mood for a little longer). All non-flag decorations should be down on July 6, which allows that one extra day after the holiday. One small flag may remain for an additional five days (or throughout July if it looks particularly good).

and once again, we're back to my son's August birthday.

If everyone followed this schedule we wouldn't have those neighborhoods that have old Christmas decorations, Valentine decorations, St. Patrick's Day and Easter eggs hanging from bare branches in February and March.

and - for goodness sake - I wish those people on the next street over would get that string of lights off their steps before next Christmas.