One of my heroes, I think, is that good old Grinch. The one who stole Christmas. As it turns out, Christmas really cannot be pilfered. However. All that “hub-bub” CAN be taken away. And actually, I am all good with that. Take away the swirl, and keep the Little-Cindy-Lou-Who Sentiment.
But before I go further, I would be remiss if I did not mention the weather of this Grinch season.
Today is the last day of Fall. It sure seems like it has been Winter for a long time around these parts. We’ve had snows, and sleets, and such. Bluster. But Winter officially starts tomorrow. The 21st.
You know how it goes. When the Winter Solstice occurs in the northern hemisphere, where we live, we experience our shortest day and longest night of the year. The big dark.
And of course, the opposite is true when the summer solstice occurs, when we get the longest day and shortest night. But for now, we are on the short end of the stick. The upside. For those of you who like daylight, we start getting longer days from here on out.
The winter solstice is also referred to as Midwinter, the Longest Night, and Yule.
Yule always reminds me of Christmas. And there it is, just around the corner.
As I mentioned earlier, Christmas these days is filled with an awful lot of jabber-flash. Scores and scores of people get their undies in a bunch about Christmas. The shopping, the preparations, the gift wrapping, house-cleaning, meal-making, family dynamics, travel, lack of Figgy Pudding, the abundance of Fruit Cakes. It is just so much. We lose sight of the Spiritual Meaning. Ho. Ho. Ho.
The truth of the entire deal is that I’m a little bit of a Grinch when it comes to the crazy-buzz we create around this Holiday. He can sneak in and take it away as far as I’m concerned.
It really puts the works on some people. That’s why I don’t like this Holiday so much. Or at least, what it has become.
A case in point of the stress it causes people, from the young to the old.
I read in the news today a story about a 5-year-old boy (named TyLon) who called 911, in Byram, Mississippi. He was intent on reporting the thievery of the Grinch. Yes, he called the police and alerted them that the Grinch was stealing Christmas. (It was a cute news piece. An officer went to his house, and put his little mind at ease.)
But she went one step further. The Byram Police Department brought in a character dressed as the Grinch, telling TyLon they were putting that mean old Grinch in a holding cell for the attempted theft of Christmas.
When TyLon asked the Grinch why he was stealing Christmas, the Grinch just shrugged. But then the Green Fuzz spoke. “You have saved Christmas for the people of Byram,” the Grinch told TyLon. “Your bravery is unmatched; you have saved the day.”
I bet that kid does not forget that particular day. A good Grinch. A good little piece of Christmas. The kind you can’t steal. It is called love.
So, on that note, I lovingly wish you a Happy Winter Solstice.
P.S. I bet Yule be jealous of my new wall clock. My hero.
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“How did it get so late so soon?”
― Dr. Seuss
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“Time is the longest distance between two places.”
― Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
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“Time is an illusion.”
― Albert Einstein
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