when i first moved to the woodlands, it was a big deal to see the lighting of the doves. i remember the pagentry and festiveness of being amongst the crowd over by what is now a conglamoration of eateries by the mall and seeing santa parachute in thanksgiving night so that he could be in the mall the next five saturdays for the kiddies. the awe and wonder of the christmas carols being sung, then the silent anticipation as the lights went out briefly just before the beautiful doves were lit on the lake robbins bridge.
now, it’s all become sadly over-commercialized and de-senstitized; the village shopping centers began putting up their christmas decorations just after halloween – some even before. the new wal-mart had christmas decor and candy for sale alongside of the halloween treats. in the rush to get in as many sales as possible in the fourth quarter, stores have been actively advertising holiday specials for nearly a month already. it’s sad. tragic, really.
christmas used to be my favorite holiday. there was a magic to it. a sense of sharing and kindess to strangers. of love all around. i relished seeing the joy in children’s faces when they opened a long-anticipated gift. i warmly looked forward to sharing some homemade treats fresh from my kitchen. now it’s all changed. now it’s about the inconvenience of the office being closed, the anticipated stimulus to the economy, whether or not debt will be further extended to allow for all the grossly overblown greed of spoiled young and old alike.
and never mind thanksgiving; it’s been reduced to little more than a formality where family has to be endured for a day only because there’s nothing better to do and the stores are all closed.
i plead with you, my fellow woodlands residents; as some of the last surviving middle-class for whom the bubble has not completely burst – take heed. don’t believe the hype. spend time with loved one’s this christmas season. don’t buy everything for everyone just because you still can. find the one thing for each very special person that can only be described as very special to them, and maybe get that. or don’t. instead, make cocoa with milk and real chocolate; bake cookies from scratch. don’t e-card, mail real ones (hallmark, preferably). share a moment or two – curl up on the couch and watch a movie; decorate the tree together. and above all (and this is most important) don’t wish anyone happy holidays. it’s merry christmas, damnit.
heh.
bah, humbug