20 Days Till Xmas

I spent some time in Rockport Mass this weekend. Its an historic, picturesque little town with a prime location on the North Shore. The Bearskin Neck of Rockport is a perfectly quaint place...a piece of land that extends out into the Atlantic Ocean, lined with small shops and a small main drag that is more occupied by pedestrians than automobiles. This is the kind of town that really, really gets into the Xmas spirit.

I've often wondered how people in warmer places even celebrate Xmas. Xmas is supposed to be cold, preferably covered in snow, starring a fat man in a red suit far too cozy, snug and warm to be worn in say...Nevada. Do malls in Nevada even do the whole Santa thing? I wonder. I fell into a conversation with a passerby while in Rockport. We were brought together by that favorite American topic, the weather. While lamenting on the flurries of the morn, she told me about a time she lived through the holiday season in Florida, where the excesses of the Xmas season(like the kind we here in New England are immersed in from the day after Thanksgiving till New Years) were almost hard to come by. Perhaps I should move to Florida.

But I must admit, the Xmas Carolers in Rockport were lovely. The fact that Santa Claus arrived on a boat yesterday was really kind of charming. And it was nice to see that the Bear Skin Neck was alive with something at this frigid time of year, even if it was that damned Holiday Spirit.

Happy 5th night of Hanukah!