'Tis the Season

Deck the halls with boughs of holly

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

'Tis the season to be jolly

Fol de rol de rol, oh fol de rol.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere we go. The holly's there, but there's not much jolly. So far, just about everyone I know is having quite a bit of emotional turmoil and trauma, mostly related to family situations.

Unless you deeply and truly buy into the religious aspect of Christmas, which probably most people will at least claim to do so they won't seem crassly commercial and shallow, the holidays can be special only in their increased amount of stress put on psyches and souls.

I like the crass commercialism of Christmas. I love the lights and colors and songs and sounds and all that stuff. I used to like presents more, too, but now I don't want another damn thing in my life to have to store. Bah, humbug. Still, I get presents and I like them after I have them. Rank hypocricy!

Mostly I love Christmas trees. Mostly my own, because I know every ornament we put on it, and it's heavenly to sit with only Christmas tree lights on in the house. I love the memories of childhood Christmases because they make me feel good. Mostly.

But often, all that is not enough to keep me jolly through the awareness of the underlying human condition. Wonder if that what's stopping much of the jolly everywhere this year?