Christmas 2008

So Yolo County, how is it going out there?

Hopefully you are sitting in a comfortable chair, reading the newspaper on Christmas morning with a warm beverage and feeling of relief that in a few hours, all the wrapping paper and gifts will be picked up and your home will return to normal. Well, except for the tree in your living room.

Are you one of those people who take down the tree on Christmas day or do you wait until after New Year's day? I usually wait until the last bowl game of the season to take the tree down, but they have so darn many bowl games these days, it's almost February before the championship game. Other folks want their house back immediately. I have seen a home fully decorated in Christmas trappings, taken down, boxed up, and de-Christmased with the speed and efficiency of a NASCAR pit crew. At seven o'clock you open presents, at eight you eat breakfast, by nine you better hide your tinsel because it's going in a box and heading to the garage by ten.

If you do not celebrate Christmas, this article should at least make you smile with the knowledge that you have saved untold hundreds of dollars and countless hours on a something you view as a silly tradition. Sometimes I wonder if the rest of us who do celebrate Christmas have become so focused on gifts, decorations and family, that we have forgotten the reason for the season. This is nothing new, Christmas has changed over the years and even the centuries from a Christian, Holy Day to a holiday. What once was Christ's Mass, a day set aside to celebrate the birth and the incredible gift given to us through Jesus, has evolved into a reason to buy a new iPhone for your spouse. I'm not sure this is progress.

Okay, I'll step down off my soap box now. Why? Because I too have been seduced by the 'Dark Side' of Christmas. You couldn't fit another present under our tree with a shoehorn. If you have kids, you know what I mean. As long as we keep the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts throughout the year, that is what matter most. At least that is what I tell myself as I buy yet another Christmas present.

It has been a wonderful experience being able to share my thoughts with you this year. I would like to thank the Daily Democrat for offering me the chance to do so. I don't always agree with the Democrat on the issues, but we should try to disagree without being disagreeable. As we look forward to a new year, one that will bring political change to our nation, I hope we remember that we are all Americans. We are all in this together, let's make the best of it.

Have a very Merry Christmas Yolo County.