Noticed during my walk last night that a few of the houses that have been dark since New Year’s were lit up as if it was Christmas Eve. Given that it’s Little Christmas Eve it was nice to see. ‘Twas a time when we used to keep our tree up until the Feast of the Epiphany and put our lights on for one last blast at Christmas, but those days are long since past. Too bad, really, but there’s so much commercialism around Christmas with the stores putting their Christmas trees up as soon as Halloween is done, you just get sick of the holidays and when they’re over you’re just glad their over.

I don’t think I enjoyed any holiday season less than I did this year. Work was awful, but the whole nonstop commercial onslaught (especially those absurd “buy a Lexus for Christmas” spits that ran three times every hour, it seemed) was just way too much for me. Too much cooking and cleaning to do, too much dealing with all the house stuff and my sister-in-law’s move, I was just fried on both sides and burned out. I’m still trying to catch up on my sleep.

But I digress…

I like the whole twelve days of Christmas bit – the old-fashioned tradition of putting your tree up on Christmas Eve and leaving it up through Little Christmas. Maybe one of these years I’ll just try to shut the whole thing out, gear back, and let the season just roll over me like a soft, sentimental, colorful, and peaceful wave. But that’s a huge maybe. Until then enjoy this final little ode to the season.