Have you noticed that department stores and retail establishments all across the land have started putting up Christmas stuff earlier and earlier? It used to be that Santa and his merry elves would only emerge from the arctic North about a month before the holiday. Thanksgiving Parades would reach their denouement with the first visit from the fat guy in the red suit. As time has gone on, November 1 became the day that Halloween Candy was hastily ripped from the shelves and the yuletide festivities and accompanying decorations were on display. Yet the calendar got even more rolled back this year. I started noticing X-mas decorations and displays going up directly after Labor Day?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? As soon as Back-To-School Sales ended, up went Rudolph, the stockings, the twinkling lights and artificial cotton batting doubling as snowfall. There's a local radio station that starts playing Bing Crosby, Elvis, Rosemary Clooney and Alvin and The Chipmunks holiday music 24 hours a day, 7 days week effective last week. What the heck?
Why are we as a society so compelled to speed everything up? We diminish the significance of day to day knowledge and growth to careen toward the future, unbridled to stop and smell the roses, and as a result, we miss precious opportunities to be grounded and share ourselves with others, or allow others to share themselves with us. Thanksgiving has become merely the day before the biggest shopping day in the year. Is this what John Smith and Sacajewa had in mind for us?
I miss sitting around with my family and sharing quality time laughing and enjoying each other's company. At the time, it sure was a chore loading up in a cramped Chevy Impala and driving the 40 miles to my grandmother's house (no-we didn't go over the meadow and through the woods), for weekend visits where we'd sit around and play cards, watch football, go for ice cream and build a soon-to-be demolished pseudo dam in the creek behind their house. But now, with everything so sped up, those sassperilla Saturdays sure seem idyllic.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Is It Too Early to be Thinking About Christmas?
by Man from U.N.C.L.E. (guest blogger who doesn't like mayo)
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4 comments:
I love lollygagging with my family any time, but most of all around Christmas. I am a big proponent of board games, including Nonopoly and The Game of Life. Recently, I played the latter. No kids! I started off as a doctor, went back to school, kept being a doctor until I lost my job and had to join the police force. Mr. Nonny Nu had twins, plus a boy and a girl. I kept laughing at him because I thought he'd have to pay for extras but, no, not Mr. Nonny Nu. In fact, he got extra moolah when he retired from all those kids! Unfortunately, Mr. Nonny Nu is only lucky on board games and not in real life.
Have you ever played "Cribbage?" It's an old fashioned card game that can be played with two, four, six, or eight people. I used to play it with my grandparents all the time, but haven't played in years. They taught me to play when I was about 6. All I can remember is there is a board on which you keep track of the score, and you count by 15's. It was a lot of fun.
Sorry to hear of Mr. Nonny Nu's lack of luck in real life, but I'm sure he thinks he's the luckiest guy in the world because he married you, Nonny Nu.
*gagging noises fade into the distance*
I'm sure he thinks he's the luckiest guy in the world because he married you, Nonny Nu.
Don't get smart.
But, yes! I love Cribbage! Mr. Nonny Nu and I used to play with this couple when he was going to law school. We would have a crab leg dinner and then play cribbage. I never got paired with my friend (the woman in the other couple) so, again, Mr. Nonny Nu gets all the luck in board games. She was super cool, but we lost contact after the boys graduated.
We also played Hand and Foot. Do you know that one?
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