Betcha thought I was gonna say Christmas.
Ask people what the best day of the year is and you will get a lot of different answers. Many - especially kids - would likely pick Christmas (this upcoming Sunday for those readers not keeping track). Who doesn’t love a day filled with gifts and tracking Santa on NORAD?
Then, for the football lovers/social revelers among us, there is New Year’s Eve (including this year’s Ohio State college playoff game with Georgia) and New Year’s Day, when a record amount of traditional pork roast will be consumed while watching more football and trying to get rid of headaches from the night before.
For my grand twins, Izzy and Jake, yesterday - their 16th birthday - was the best day EVER. Not so much for their parents, who are currently combing through auto insurance quotes for not one, but two, new drivers.
That said, I think the best and most important day of the year is actually tomorrow - the official start of Winter. Why, you ask? Only 90 more days till Spring and 180 till Summer. Yes. That's right. Just six short months till we can crank up some new skin cancers sitting in the blazing Ohio sun.
Have you noticed that every year at this time a large cloud emanates along the western shores of Lake Erie (think Toledo) and peacefully covers the lake for the next few months? And, that the days have been getting progressively shorter? No sun and short days is not a good combination. But, the first day of Winter is the last day that is shorter than the one before. For the next six months, starting tomorrow, every day will be longer than the one before. Summer is on the way.
I have a tree I like a lot. It’s a pin oak. While my other trees (and various shrubs) drop their leaves in the fall, the pin oak drops its leaves in Spring and, immediately thereafter, new buds and leaves sprout. So, if you see me raking leaves in May, you know Summer is next.
In the meantime, put a smile on your face. Enjoy the filthy slush that will destroy your driving vision as you careen into the side of somebody else’s vehicle. If you fall, remember the joy of catching yourself as you slide down your driveway and stop right at the edge of the street. That’s an annual sport I wouldn’t want to miss. And, don’t forget to have a blanket in your car just in case you have to turn it into a motel some night. A motel without a blanket is not a good thing.
Hope is here and help is on the way. Keep your head up. Here comes Summer.
And, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa - or, as daughter, Tracy, used to say - Happy Christmahanukwanzika!
DY: In Just a Few Words is a blog that comes out when something needs to be said or every Tuesday - whichever comes first. Davis Young is a communications professional who adds 50+ years of experience and perspective to issues of the day. His emphasis in DY: In Just a Few Words will be humor (a touch of sarcasm here, a pinch of facetiousness there...). Once in a while, he will touch on something a bit more serious - but hopefully not too deep or depressing.
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