SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS . . .

Another year older, a new one just begun

The sights, sounds and smells are all familiar, and each plays a role. The people are a different - in appearance at least. The children are not so wide eyed, having reached sizes never really contemplated. One on the verge of collegian status in a few months . . . the other itching to drive.

The lights remain beautiful, beckoning as they do to a gentler time, an innocent era where deadlines were non existent, worries were few and aches and pains both sparse and fleeting. Both George Bailey's realization of his value, and Scrooge's redemption still bring the same welled up emotional reactions. The card design discussion and creation evokes spirited discussions and eager anticipation to see if the idea works as well in the eyes of others as it seemed to in our collective minds' eyes. The list of recipients grows, like some list of the "nice" kids must surely do so in the nether reaches of the North.

There is a sense though, this Christmas, of a reckoning to Come; that this is a last hurrah of sorts to the kind of temporal excess that has come to typify the Holiday for this household, and define it for so many others. It carries with it the feeling that there are many others this year whose want is keenly felt, fewer who are in the throes of rejoicing abundance, and that next year will find that trend expanded. So the lesson is that it doesn't have to be about stuff, things, consumption, excess. RIght? It should be about finding ways to intervene in human affairs for good, before each one of us loses that power.

Have yourself a Merry Merry Christmas,
Have yourself a good time,
just remember the kids who got nothin',
while you're drinking down your wine

Here's hoping that the new team in D.C. can throw all the right switches, and pull the right levers to get the country and all of its reaches back on its feet. Here's to people figuring out how to cover their needs, better manage their wants, and control their more counterproductive impulses. Raise a toast to a lessening of avarice and greed, and a dawning of the time of lasting compassion for one another. The BIrthday Boy would be proud of us all for that effort.

Merry Christmas