Why the Cookie?

As I watch the cookie tins accumulate on our kitchen counter I find myself wondering just what it is about the Christmas season that triggers a desire... no, a need..... to bake cookies.

Memorial Day, Labor Day, Fourth of July.... when these holidays approach no one races to the grocery store for bags and pounds of flour, sugar, chocolate morsels and colored sprinkles. No one spends hours on end in the kitchen slipping baking sheets in and out of the oven.   And no one feels slighted if there's no oven-browned morsels for desert. No one shows up at a barbecue and says What - no cookies?

So why the need to generate and devour cookies by the peck and bushel at Christmas?

It suppose it means that we haven't moved as far from animal behavior as we like to think we have.  As darkness lingers for better than half of each 24 hour day, as crops disappear from the fields, as fresh water turns to ice, our animal instincts kick in.  Like squirrels stuffing their cheeks full of nuts, we humans stuff our bellies to the misshapen bursting point.

Yet there are far healthier foods we could cram into our mouths - foods that would leave us still feeling satisfyingly full hours later.  Which brings me back to.... what is it about cookies at Christmas?

Is That You Santa Claus?

Over the weekend I had the privilege of hearing Santa talk about something that affects all of us at some time in our lives.  What should children do when they find themselves doubting the existence of Santa Claus.

Santa's response was so wonderful that I felt compelled to share.

Doubt is a natural part of growing up.  Doubt is part of learning about truth.  When we doubt we discover two things about truth. There are times when others can prove to us that something is true and there are times when truth is found in our own hearts.

Sometimes when our friends have doubts about things, they tell stories about their doubts. And sometimes those stories can make us feel uncomfortable.  Any time children find themselves feeling uncomfortable they should talk with a trusted adult - a parent, grandparent, teacher, or counselor. These adults can help children work through their concerns.

These days people want instant answers to their questions. The only thing instant about Santa Claus is the way he delivers his gifts. The rest of Christmas is magic, faith, and belief. The things that live in our hearts.

The true magic of Christmas is that at Christmas time even adults think like children - and when they think like children they discover the faith and belief that is Christmas.

Imagine a Rewind

On this anniversary of the day John Lennon was taken from the world take a moment to.... Imagine.

Imagine being able to rewind time to 10:45 p.m. December 8, 1980.

Imagine the opportunity to delay either John Lennon or Mark David Chapman by just a few minutes so that they wouldn't meet in front of the Dakota in Manhattan.

Imagine John Lennon being with us today.  Imagine his impact on music.

John spent much of his time trying to get us to understand that love and peace are of paramount importance.

I can't help but wonder if he would want us to love Mark David Chapman - to find peace within ourselves for Mark taking a life from us.  Offering love and peace to John Lennon's killer would be a challenge for any of us I expect.  But that would be in keeping with John's expectations - that we challenge ourselves daily to love unconditionally and give peace a chance.

.....And the world would be a better place.

Imagine all of us achieving what John strove to teach us.

Twisted Wire

We have those icicle Christmas lights hanging from the rain gutters on our house.  I have decided the lights must be sentient and only play at being inanimate objects when brought out into the light.

I packed the lights away quite carefully last year - made sure there were no tangles, tied each string into a separate bundle, etc. Each bundle was carefully laid into a storage container with ample interior space. The container was then placed into storage where it remained untouched until this past weekend.

So there was no reason for the lights to be tangled when I opened the plastic container. And yet they were an intertwined mess. Strings were twisted together three times over. The only way that could have happened is for the lights to have been fraternizing over the past eleven months.

I am imagining one string reaching tenuously out to another - inviting more intimate contact. I'm also imagining the discussions that took place in that crate.

But Dad, he loves me!  Cobalt Blue, number seventeen on the string. The one with cutest little bubble near the very tip.

Now, Susie, you know that can never work out - he's from the wrong side of the circuit.

This Is A Strategy?

If you heard the sound of someone shaking their head in utter amazement today - it was me.

The U.S. Postal Service, faced with declining business, has decided to address this concern by.... providing LESS value for the money.  Priority mail will no longer be treated as a priority. Rather it will arrive at its destination, well... when it get's there.

This less than astute business decision could be equaled only if the captain of the Titanic had said: Steer directly for that iceberg.

I'm considering investing in horse breeding operations and manufacturers of saddles and bridles since the Postal Service will no doubt next roll out the cutting edge idea of a pony express.

Perhaps, rather than laying off thousands of workers, the Postal Service would be better off giving some of the executives an unpaid leave of absence to read some of those how to succeed in business books that now get delivered by UPS and Fed-X.

Hidden Progress

Coming home from work tonight I realized what it is about Standard Time in December, January, and February that's so depressing.

Well, actually, there's about a dozen things about this time year that fail to float my boat - but I'll focus on just one for right now.

When I'm driving in the dark there's no sense of progress being made. Most familiar landmarks are lost behind a black veil which leads to whole portions of the drive being the equivalent of being stuck in a bottomless pit.

Perhaps I need to order a pair of those x-ray glasses that used to be advertised on the inside of Bazooka Bubble Gum wrappers. Then, just like Bazooka Joe, I could see hidden objects all along the roadside and be able to chart my progress.

Or perhaps we should make it mandatory that every home and business display Christmas lights from the middle on November through the end of March. Then a commuter such as I could track progress by the Santa on the roof versus the snowman on the front porch versus the icicle lights hanging from the rain gutters.

To Read or E-read

I figured a Caribbean vacation would be the perfect opportunity to conduct an unofficial survey.

My survey involved e-readers (nooks, kindles, etc). I figured airline travel and the Caribbean beach scene would be a good indicator of the acceptance of e-readers. I was guessing no one wanted to carry more than than they had to when they traveled, and carrying one electronic device versus a stack of books would be viewed favorably by the general population.  (I, myself, had purchased an e-reader just before vacation to avoid the need for a separate suitcase just for books.)

My unofficial survey was conducted by observing the airline passengers and the chaise lounge occupants.  The results surprised me.

Of the folks who were reading, no more than 1 in 25 was using an e-reader.  The rest had opted to carry good old fashioned books with them. The paperback exchange library at the resort was as active a gathering point as ever.

I had expected to find I was a technological dinosaur for having waited so long to buy an e-reader. Instead I discovered I was ahead of the curve.

Although I now own an e-reader, given a choice for recreational reading when I'm not traveling I'll still choose to hold an honest-to-goodness book in my hands.  It feels good to know I'm in the majority on this.