Page 353 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author/publisher,
Dane F. Baylis

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS

OR

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

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Another holiday has passed. My daughter and her boyfriend have departed for Sacramento with our granddaughter and, after a week of chatter, TVs, kitchen talk, and entertaining, the house is suddenly quiet. In most parts of the country people are staring out through frost coated windows at the wintry weather that's supposed  to indicate this time on the calendar. Here, about an hour north of Los Angeles, it's been a day of Santa Ana winds and temperatures reaching just above eighty degrees Fahrenheit. But, when you've got a six year old running around in a household that has somehow been designated as the West Coast sanctuary of all things traditional, singing such standards as LET IT SNOW and SILVER BELLS just seems the right thing to do.

 

We aren't religious in any noticeable way, nor do we insist that things be viewed from one position or another, we just try to remember that the whole thing is really about kids and conviviality. Our door and table is open to all comers and we take trips through the neighborhoods to ooh and aah at the holiday displays. Also, we try to take a good bit of strain off those having a harder go of it than we are at the moment. After all, it isn't a gift giving challenge, it's about sharing time and enjoying each other's company. That, and the mixture of the practical with the totally inane and humorous, to try and take the burden off some who come here for a day or more of refuge.

 

So, here we are headed for the New Year, and at least we won't have tirades flying over what the meaning of that holiday is or by what sobriquet we should address one another. I hope your Christmas, or whatever you called it, or didn't, was as full of family and friends as ours was. I wish you a stress-free trip to the next event and a safe and sane celebration. Take a few minutes to reflect on what you have and what you might be able to do for those who don't. The world is a crazy place and only you can make your small piece of it less maddening. In our small dwelling, the cats can now come back out in relative safety!

 

Just a helpful hint from your Uncle Dane.

 

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Meanwhile...live, love, write.

 

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Tomorrow,

 

Dane F. Baylis

Author/Publisher.