WITH ABOUT TWO WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS there are some things that I’d like to share while attempting to get into the Christmas spirit.
– First of all, it’s not “Happy Holidays”, it’s “Merry Christmas”. If you don’t want to celebrate the holiday, that’s fine. Go on about your business.
Christmas is like Arbor Day, if you don’t want to celebrate; then don’t. But I haven’t seen anyone decide that they will celebrate Foliage Day instead of Arbor Day in order to include more species of plants.
I have no problem with Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, but don’t wrap them all together.
– There should be an official start of the Christmas season, and everyone should hold to that date, no exceptions. This year I saw store employees taking down Halloween decor and replacing it with Christmas trees. That’s just too soon.
Even “Black Friday” is creeping back. Many stores this year started their “Black Friday” sales either on Thanksgiving or even the day before. If we’re not careful, we’ll move all the way back to “Black Tuesday”, and we had one of those in 1929, and most people didn’t like it.
Everyone just calm down. You don’t have to stand in the freezing cold at 4 a.m. to get the stuff you want. They make stuff all the time. In fact, if you procrastinate like I do and go right before the holidays, if you can make your way through the debris and carnage, you can actually find some good deals.
Better yet, shop at home when you can this season. There are plenty of great gifts right here in the county.
– Have you noticed that everyone is going to get an extended Christmas season this year? With Christmas on Friday; that means that it becomes a three-day weekend before heading back to work. The same thing happens a week later for New Year’s; so it will be a great time for family and friends to get together and enjoy the season.
At my house, there will probably be shopping involved somewhere, but I’ll just have to tough it out.
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And then there are some non-Christmas thoughts:
– I’m in favor of our county and local police departments turning Highway 156 between the Markland Dam and the town of Vevay into the biggest speed trap in the state when it comes to semi trucks. I don’t even attempt to turn left onto Main Street in Vevay anymore unless I’m at the stoplight, because trying to pick your time and pull out into traffic is becoming akin to putting your money on “Black 8” at the casino.
You may win – or you may get squashed.
If semis have to travel the River Road while the Madison-Milton Bridge is replaced, then they should at least be slowed down rather than turning the road into another Kentucky Speedway.
– While I’m on semis, can we find them somewhere else to park on the west side of town? It’s good that drivers stop for a soda and/or some food at the convenient mart; but just try and pull into traffic off of Arch Street with two semis parked along the highway. Again, roll the dice and hope no one is coming, because if they are, it’s too late.
By the way, another personal peeve: turn onto Arch Street and then turn into the store, rather than just cutting the corner. As a person who travels that street a lot, it’s an accident waiting to happen.
– Leave Tiger Woods alone and let him sort out his own personal life. Everyone’s up in arms like he’s married to their sister. What he did is inexcusable, but you may recall that Rick Pitino had a liaison on a table in a restaurant in Louisville with a woman who wasn’t his wife.
Now that the Cardinals are off to a good start in the basketball season, that’s all been forgotten; and as soon as Tiger wins another major, his indiscretions will be, also.
Until then, there has to be a point where even a public person gets some privacy.
– There is no excuse and no justification for the horror that has unfolded in Rising Sun over the past two weeks. None of us can imagine the pain and anguish that the parents are going through; all we can do as an extended community is support them in anyway we can.
There are times when we search for answers, but the perplexing thing is, in a situation like this there either are no answers; or the ones we get don’t give us comfort.
All we are left with is the ability to pray for the family and to stand ready to help and comfort them during this time.