[at-l] A Strange Christmas

[Jim Bullard]

It's a strange Christmas. The temperature is in the high 40s and there
isn't a flake of snow to be seen. That may not seem strange to folks
in more Southern climes but here in Northern NY about 20 miles from
the Quebec border green Christmases are a rarity. Plus there seems to
be a dearth of Christmas Joy. I noticed driving around the last few
days that only about 1 in 5 homes have holiday lights up, perhaps as
many as 1 in 4 if you count non-lighted displays and people I meet
don't seem to have that infectious happiness I associate with the
season in the past.

Perhaps it is the world situation. In this morning's paper there was a
story about a Christmas tree seller in Baghdad. He is a 77 year old
Moslem who lives in a mixed neighborhood and has been selling
Christmas trees for the past 10 years. Normally the street where he is
selling trees would have tree sellers all along it but this year he is
alone because Christians are a target for insurgents and he is risking
his life to sell trees to those who are willing to risk their lives to
buy one.

Two other stories that caught my eye were the one about the huge
bonuses on Wall Street this year (average of $300K for Goldman Sacks
employees) with an upsurge in sales of high end cars and other luxury
items and the story about how thrift stores are doing a booming
business selling used items for Christmas gifts. They were weren't in
the same section of the paper but I was struck by the contrast between
the two stories none the less. It is a strange Christmas.

For my part I've found it a bit difficult to get into the mood but I
did put out some Christmas lights in attempt to cheer things in my
neighborhood. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

-- 
Jim Bullard
http://jims-ramblings.blogspot.com/