Time Flies

Can you believe it? The days are speeding by like crazy and Christmas is coming upon us like an out-of-control Greyhound bus in the wrong lane, portending a gruesome crash. Well, it’s not really that bad!
by Charlie Leck

Question!
Does any period of the year – any month’s worth of time – speed by more quickly as does that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas?

At Thanksgiving, with the family gathered, we talk a bit about Christmas and what everyone has on his/her wish list. It seems then – while we are talking about this – that there is plenty of time before the big day itself to get all the shopping and little chores done. And now, here it is, ten days until Christmas morning and I’ve still not carried out all the plans I carefully laid out to be completed by this time. I’ve still dozens of chores to do, and more gifts to shop for, and decorating to do.

My check list is not half completed. I haven’t sent out more than a half-dozen greeting cards – and those only to compliment the beauty of some card that we’ve just received. I’ll never get cards sent to everyone this year. If you on my usual list, please forgive me!

One simple explanation for my tardiness – and an excuse, I guess – is that I just can’t go at the pace I did in years gone by. I can’t walk as far; and I can’t walk as quickly; and I can’t go for as long a period of time. A couple of hours of shopping and I’m gassed. Yet, I refuse to give into on-line shopping and on-line Christmas cards. I want to touch things that I buy for people and measure the quality of these items.

My wife is done with her shopping and Amazon is all the happier for it! The giant, on-line retailer loves to serve her. She uses them for nearly all her purchases. The UPS driver has brought all the items to the front stoop; Anne has opened the big boxes, wrapped those few gifts that weren’t already wrapped for her, and stashed them beneath the tree. She smirks at me and my old fashioned idea of searching for and fighting for a parking space, traipsing through store after store, and carting everything home in awkward, clumsy bags.

Well, today – a week later than on my original schedule – I’ll ship the gifts that have to go across the country. That job I can then check off! There’s another dozen or so gifts to pick up here and there and I’ll work on that a bit this afternoon and tomorrow. My goal is to have everything wrapped up – so to speak – by the end of the day on Monday – one full week before the big morning itself.

Then I’ll be able to concentrate on shopping for our family dinner. I’ll make gravlax for Christmas morning – served with toasted bagels and a wonderful organic cream cheese. A very nice lady taught me how to make the gravlax about 10 years ago or so and her recipe never fails me – as long as I’m alert in purchasing the right kind of salmon. One daughter brings a wonderful egg-bake to go with the lax. Yummy stuff!

It seems like I’ve got a lot of time to do all this, but it’s slippery time and slides by like greased lightening (whatever the hell greased lightening is)!

So, if I blog less than every day between now and Christmas, you’ll know it’s because I’m out on the byways, trying to get all my little Christmas chores done. And, I promise you, none of it will be done on-line (except for one generous donation to the American Cancer Society as one of our kids asks us to do as a gift to her).

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to you all!

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