Christmas Now Past

Happy Holidays every one. In this season I often complain about the gift exchange custom. It is mostly because I am selfish and lazy and lousy at giving gifts. Even when the process goes well I still feel a bit or a lot embarassed by the whole thing. The thing I hate worst about it is seeing year after year and time after time, middle class people running around in a frenzied deadline to get eachother gifts they don't need, and don't want. They waste time on this when they could be enjoying the moments of the holiday. The day off work. Time spent with family. Watching the snowflakes and relaxing from their stressed lives. The gift apparently is very important because it is for xmas day. The day after, not so much.

My wife and I decided to buy our own gifts for ourselves. Boy did I make a haul. It turns out I'm really good at buying things for myself. I don't have to worry about whether the gift is suitable. It is automatically perfect. Wife and I agreed that we would not give eachother gifts on xmas day especially. But I wound up getting about three little gifts from my wife wrapped beautifully on xmas morning. I had nothing wrapped for her as per our agreement. She just couldn't help herself. That's fine. I liked the little gifts very much. And the night before on xmas eve we had dined in a very fancy dining room in an elegant b and b in Easton. The decor was exquisite. And the food delecate and pleasing. In a clumsy toast I tried to tell my wife that she gives me a Christmas gift every single day by being who she is, and what she is to me. It was trite, but I really meant it.

I'm a Christmas Libertarian. I don't want Xmas rules and customs forced upon me. It's the exchange of gifts I don't like. The giving is fine. Let's do more of it all year long. I just don't like the quid pro quo aspect of it. And I don't like the deadline. Do you ever find yourself looking forward to Xmas and dreading it at the same time? Remember the three wise men, (or were they kings) gave gifts to the baby Jesus. Nobody gave them gifts back. Mary didn't give them a tie they didn't really want or something.

I tried hard this year not to stress over Christmas. Keep the good part of it and throw out the rat race bathwater. (That's my xmas mixed metephor). On xmas day I put 215 miles on wife's car. I went to four xmas's and missed the last one. I got home at 2AM. It all went well until I was only ten miles from home. Then I got pulled over by a trooper. I was on a road called "Black Dog Alley". He was looking for DUI's and I wasn't one. He let me off for speeding with a warning. And it wasn't even Xmas anymore as it was after midnight. I hadn't gone a half mile when I came quickly upon a deer. A doe who stood frozen in my lane. It was a standoff. My heart was still pounding from the cop. The doe finally walked away and I shook my head and drove on home in the wee hour. Now I was wide awake. A christmas carol, that my brother had beautifully sang with his guitar at the family gathering ealier, was repeating over and over in my mind: "The rising of the sun, and the running of the deer"

LLITTY :::::+:::::