Monday, December 26, 2011

from one 'mas' to another





Yay! That's over for another year.

There is one reason why I do like christmas day though. Not the christmas season, not the two months of having a holiday I don't celebrate crammed down my throat everywhere I go, not the attendant hypocrisy of good will and gift giving and good deed doing by people who every other day of the year can't be bothered with those things, but the actual day.

Christmas day is one of the few days of the year when you can be a complete slug, spend the whole day on the couch with a good book doing nothing, accomplishing nothing and no one will think ill of you for doing so.

I know the madness isn't really over yet, not for a few more days while everyone takes back those gifts that were lovingly or thoughtlessly selected, those gifts they really don't want and exchanges them for something else. It sort of cheapens the whole thing to me, this wanting the value of the gift but not the gift.

So here we are now on the other side of the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night. The days are now getting incrementally longer, the light is increasing but with it also comes the coldest days of the year. Now, winter sets in for real. The solstice here was ushered in with a thunderstorm and it's been cold, overcast, and rainy, ever since.

I am glad of the rain. We've had more rain this week than in all of last year I think. There are still some puddles here and there around town. The ground has been so dry that puddles have been a rare sight. I heard last week that they think Texas lost a half a billion trees from the drought. Five hundred million trees died of thirst.

Well, the only thing left to do before the end of the year is Marcmas. That's tomorrow. It's the special 60th anniversary this year. We think we might drive down to Aransas Pass and see the whooping cranes to celebrate. Maybe. Marc already got a present...

sniff sniff sneeze





15 comments:

  1. Marcmas?! ha! :)

    hey, i was raised Catholic, and i'm not a big fan of Christmas, either. sorry to say, i've never liked it - even as a kid. too much pressure. so much heartache.

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  2. Happy Marcmas to Marc! Has he thanked you for his cold yet?

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  3. Bah humbugmas is my fave holiday this year. Enjoy the Marcmas festivities and have a Po Boy for me.....that's where I ate my very first one around 20 years ago.

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  4. Oh yes, those who visited me did just that! Me, I shopped, wrapped, decorated, cleaned, prepped, stocked, cooked, cleaned up and then, finally, collapsed.
    Merry is overrated.

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  5. Wow. I am in the wrong place.

    It must be so awful for you Ellen to be so persecuted year, after year with no place to go, to escape to. Thank goodness you have the solstice to enjoy. I never imagined just how terrible it was for those that don't celebrate Christmas in any fashion.

    Perhaps there is an island somewhere where there is nary a baby Jesus or a strand of tinsel that you can vacation at and avoid the fray? [If there isn't, there really should be. I mean, it is only fair.]

    Enjoy Marcmas. :)

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  6. Oh Happy Marcmas to the man. :) I'm always happy to have December behind us, though I'm not looking forward to those -40 wind chills of January and February.

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  7. Happy Marcmas!!! Enjoy! I am one who enjoys Christmas!! I love all the lights and sounds and the fam and friends getting together!!
    Love it!!
    Sigh!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  8. Every year I forget about Marcmas. What is wrong with my head! Please give him my biggest birthday greetings.

    I think it would behoove you to choose a day every month in which you can flop on the couch, read, and be a total slug. No one will judge you! (Well ... maybe yourself.)

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  9. ha reya grabbed the thought i was hauling up from my post-christmas brain on a couch to afford yourself the privilege of days on the couch anytime ellen!!! why wait to cruise through an otherwise empty day!!!! whooping cranes. cool. happy marcliness. steven

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  10. My sentiments exactly. I'm glad it's done and that the days are getting longer and I'm trusting there will be no blizzards in the next couple of months. Then, 3-4 months of nice and then we can start griping about the heat. Does it never end?

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  11. Everything you said, except it's movies on this side of the Red River. Happy New Year.

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  12. Hurrah, it's (nearly0 over.
    Glad that your are finally getting the rain you so desperately need.

    Have a lovely whatevermas and a very happy 2012!

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  13. Enforced slugness (nothing open, really) and gravy.

    :-)

    Yum.

    Pearl

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  14. You can lie around and do nothing other days too if you don't let anyone know about it. People also cut you more slack the older you get.

    Happy whooping cranes.

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  15. Happy Marcmas!!
    I too am more than happy to be done with all the hoopla
    if not for Hope I would ignore it all together
    now we have those who think the clock at 12 on 12/31 can actually change something without their doing anything, that has always puzzled me

    I love the photo

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