It's Christmaaaaas!
I love everything about this season, which for me begins with Thanksgiving... as Thanksgiving! It's not just the Day Before Black Friday, but a separate, independent holiday that's worth celebrating all on its own. That it kicks off the countdown to Christmas is nice, but I don't rush through it in a mad frenzy to get to Christmas.
Of course, that inevitably brings us to the Christmas Holiday season. I love it. Yeah, radio stations go to an all-carol format, which gets a little repetitive. I don't care. I can always change the station or play my own music if I want to.
I watch lots of wonderful movies for weeks, as well as some Christmas-themed specials of ordinary TV shows. From "The Simpsons" to "Blackadder", there are some delightfully creative stories in there.
I relax my low-carb regimen for a month and exult in eggnog (I use bourbon, not rum) and banana bread and chocolate and gingerbread and The Feast of 7 Fishes. Caloric penance can wait till January.
I don't ask Santa for anything expensive; books or music or movies are about as extravagant as I ever want. But I enjoy giving unexpected surprises.
I believe the "I get so depressed by Christmas" stories are wildly overblown, and never supported by statistically valid data so I ignore them. There always have been and always will be self-appointed Grinches; I don't let them spoil it for me.
Also, I welcome learning about coinciding celebrations. I believe Christmas can get along fine with Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and any others that happen to fall at the same time. "Peace on earth, good will toward men"; maybe I'm terminally naive, but I really do believe in that.
I don't mind getting pestered for donations by every charity under the sun. I don't support them all, but every time I kick a few bucks toward a reputable one I feel optimistic about the future of humanity.
And it doesn't just collapse after the 25th. A week later we always stay up to welcome the new year with kisses and champagne and revelry.
Perhaps I haven't fully made my position clear. So I'll conclude with "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"