One year, when doing my taxes, I realized that my son’s birth on December 31st had given me a tax credit for the entire year. Those few hours of life on one day covered the past, present and future with regard to the amount I owed the government. This year, I’m reminded of another birth …
I have fond memories of Christmases past. Although we stayed home many years, some of my most remembered holidays were the ones when we traveled. We would often go to visit my grandparents. My cousins were usually there and we had a great time playing, exploring and eating. Like most kids, presents on Christmas morning …
The other day I was going into my local Home Depot when I noticed their holiday hours sign on the entrance door. For Christmas Eve and Christmas day, someone had written X-Mas Eve and X-Mas day. I’m not one of those people who get offended easily at things people say or do. But I was …
I was wrapping presents over the weekend and thought about how nice it is that most wrapping paper comes with a grid of lines on the back. Gift givers used to really need to pay attention to what they were doing to get a nice straight cut. Now it’s easy to get a perfect cut …
I’m all for abstract art but I think there has to be a limit. For me, that limit is a Christmas wreath made from a toilet seat. Don’t get me wrong, there are far worse holiday offenses out there like adults dressing up like pink bunnies, putting out cookies for fat reverse burglars and the …
I try not to get annoyed at too many things in life. Annoyances, left unchecked, tend to make people miserable. But there are a handful of things that still really get to me. One of those things is the displaying of Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. We play up Halloween as if it’s a real holiday …
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how holidays in the US have shifted so radically to be meaningless. What were once celebrations of people and events of meaning and consequence have turned into excuses to eat and drink to excess. Today is Saint Patrick’s Day. Saint Patrick’s Day has historically been a celebration of …